The Castle in the Forest by Norman Mailer Paperback Book

Details

Rent The Castle in the Forest

Author: Norman Mailer

Format: Quality Paperback, Unabridged-CD

Publisher: Random House Trade

Published: Dec 2007

Genre: Fiction - Historical - General

Retail Price: $18.00

Pages: 477

Synopsis

No career in modern American letters is at once so brilliant, varied, and controversial as that of Norman Mailer. In a span of more than six decades, Mailer has searched into subjects ranging from World War II to Ancient Egypt, from the march on the Pentagon to Marilyn Monroe, from Henry Miller and Mohammad Ali to Jesus Christ. Now, in The Castle in the Forest, his first major work of fiction in more than a decade, Mailer offers what may be his consummate literary endeavor: He has set out to explore the evil of Adolf Hitler.

The narrator, a mysterious SS man who is later revealed to be an exceptional presence, gives us young Adolf from birth, as well as Hitler's father and mother, his sisters and brothers, and the intimate details of his childhood and adolescence.

A tapestry of unforgettable characters, The Castle in the Forest delivers its playful twists and surprises with astonishing insight into the nature of the struggle between good and evil that exists in us all. At its core is a hypothesis that propels this novel and makes it a work of stunning originality. Now, on the eve of his eighty-fourth birthday, Norman Mailer may well be saying more than he ever has before.


From the Hardcover edition.

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Reviews

BookLender review by Bernadette on 2007-06-14 17:16:28

The premis is wonderful, the story of Hitler told by a devil - what a great idea. However, its fascination with excrement and bodily smells was a but offputting, and this narrator's voice I find a bit harsh. But, if stick with it, its an interesting, although not fast-paced, piece to listen to.