The Castle in the Forest tells the story of Adolf Hitler's childhood through the words of a demon.
The opening lines recall Melville's Moby Dick, "You may call me D.T. That is short for Dieter, a German name, and D.T. will do, now that I am in America, this curious nation."
This is Norman Mailer's first novel in a decade.
You can hear NPR talk about the book here.
You can read a couple of reviews here: MSNBC.com, BAMM.com, Barnes & Noble
I don't think the New York Times has formally reviewed the novel yet. But from what I've read it will be a tough go, but worth the read.
theteach :)
2 comments:
The New York Times has reviewed The Castle in the Forest,
and it will be the lead review in this Sunday's Book Review.Interestingly, the Times editors seem to have decided not to let Michiko Kakutani have first crack at it, given the stink Mailer has raised over her past habit of issuing him habitually negative reviews up to two weeks prior to a book's release date. Or perhaps Kakutani decided to recuse herself this time out. Either way, we are spared the droning of an exceptionally dull reviewer on the writing of an exceedingly brilliant novelist. She has, to paraphrase a line Mailer from Mailer, a mind like a flat iron.
The essay they have published will make Mailer enthusists very happy, and is, in fact,a rather extensive critical appreciation of Mailer's work as a writer in which former New Republic critic Lee Siegle parses the writer's themes, concerns and behavior in an argument for Mailer as one of America's greatest authors. This builds up to Castle in the Forest, and the review is an unqualified rave.
Ted, thank you for commenting with so much info on Mailer's new novel. I'll be looking for the review in this week's Sunday Times.
How interesting to learn about Mailer and Michiko Kakutani, a couple of my friends (died-in-the-wool Sunday Times readers too) will love to hear how the Times decided to review Mailer's book. I'm going to take a look at your blog. Thanks again.
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