The Castle in the Forest by Norman Mailer
Jul
'08
This was my first Norman Mailer book. Popping in and out of book forums around the Internet I discovered that a lot of people hold this author in very high regard. Some people even have related handles, and to create an alias from a living person (well, living at the time) must imply a certain degree of admiration. So I decided I would read a Norman Mailer book sometime, and it was when I was trying to decide which one looked interesting to me that The Castle in the Forest came out. Enamored as I am with European history of that era, the contest ended. This was going to be my first Norman Mailer book. It would decide whether or not I’d continue on to another one.
This is not for the weak of heart. The Book Thief, as I said in my review, may be too painful a work to read especially for those who find the events to be too close for comfort. This, however, is a vivid illustration of an Austrian family ridden with incest, hatred, fear, apprehension, manipulation, and above all, a mother’s love. This is not just the story of Adolf Hitler’s childhood; it is an explanation of the seeds which created his evil and a portrait of the mother and father who nourished him.
The narrator, a devil, possesses the body of an SS man named Dieter. He tells the reader of a pre-Adolf world; the bulk of the book seemed more about his father than about him, but his mother certainly holds a strong role in the play. As do his brothers and sisters - in fact, every character is so fully explained in this book that it makes one feel like it is not at all about Adolf but more about “the Hitlers.” Though the devil was assigned to follow dear Adi, he somehow managed to sink into much more familial detail.
No matter. It strengthened the painting to have such details intensified. This, as I’ve said, is not the story of the man you and I think of when we hear the name “Adolf Hitler.” Just the same, I say it’s not for the faint of heart. Nothing in this book excuses Adolf’s decisions, but as the narrator works for Satan, you can’t imagine the narration to be all too pleasant. I couldn’t put it down, but others may be offended by the language. To be sure, there wasn’t a lot of cursing, but intricate description of less-than-attractive subjects are certainly present. And the smells! There are so many smells described in this book that the reader finds herself shivering on more than one occasion.
So, against the rules of his kind, this devil in the form of an SS in service to Heinrich Himmler has decided to write down his research into Adolf Hitler’s history. It is only in the end where he explains the title of the book, another reason I would give caution to anyone jumping into the idea of reading this. It’s good - very good, actually - and I am more prone to purchase other Norman Mailer books and read them now. I will probably recommend this more often than not. But it throws a curve ball at you. It reminds you that you cannot blame one single individual for such abominable crimes.
Some people, I know, would not like to admit this. They would like to single out one name, something that sounds particularly evil, and blame just him for the acts of many. I would not suggest this book to those people.
Ach, so it makes you think. There are a few scenes which are implanted on my brain right now, though I don’t know if it’s because they were particularly sweet and disturbing, or because they were so well described. This is one of those books which, after you’ve read it, you wish you knew someone else who’d also read it so the two of you could talk about it in some depth. There isn’t much in the way of politics here, except perhaps Alois’ (Adolf’s father) desire to climb up the social ladder. You don’t even meet Adolf until half the book is already in your memory, and when you do meet him it’s with varying degrees of hatred and pity. It isn’t one of those books that falsely makes you want the character to succeed. It doesn’t claim you so much that you feel the devil is inside you also. It’s merely a narrative well and fully presented. The story of a family and the struggles each individual in that family had to face.
The only thing I didn’t like about this book was the tangents the devil would go into. He’s helpful with it - lets you know the exact page he’ll be getting back to Adolf’s life, if you wanted to skip his tangents - but I still can’t figure out why it was necessary to include a whole section on the Tsar of Russia and his involvement with a massacre. If this was about that devil and his experiences influencing and inspiring his clients, yes, then it would be understandable. It made me wonder if perhaps this was more the story of that devil and the powers that devils have in this world rather than simply a narration about a well-known historical figure. It’d be interesting, I think, but probably not so interesting without Norman Mailer.
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Hmmm, not sure if I want to read this or not, but that was a perfect review. You gave just the right amount of information and no spoilers.
Jul
'08