Journal Entry 1 by carlissa from Miami, Florida USA on Friday, March 16, 2007

Synopsis (from Barnes & Noble)

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.

Publishers Weekly

Mailer did Jesus in The Gospel According to the Son; now he plumbs the psyche of history's most demonic figure in this chilling fictional chronicle of Hitler's boyhood. Mailer tells the story through the eyes of Dieter, a devil tasked by Satan (usually called the Maestro) with fostering Hitler's nascent evil, but in this study of a dysfunctional 19th-century middle-class Austrian household, the real presiding spirit is Freud. Young Adolph (often called Adi) is the offspring of an incestuous marriage between a coarse, domineering civil servant and a lasciviously indulgent mom. The boy duly develops an obsession with feces, a fascination with power, a grandiose self-image and a sexually charged yen for mass slaughter (the sight of gassed or burning beehives thrills him). Dieter frets over Hitler's ego-formation while marveling at the future dictator's burning gaze, his ability to sway weak minds and the instinctive fuhrerprinzip that emerges when he plays war with neighborhood boys-talents furthered by Central Europe's ambient romantic nationalism. Mailer's view of evil embraces religions and metaphysics, but it's rooted in the squalid soil of toilet-training travails and perverted sexual urges. The novel sometimes feels like a psychoanalytic version of The Screwtape Letters, but Mailer arrives at a somber, compelling portrait of a monstrous soul. (Jan. 23) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
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Abridged, on 6 CDs. Read by Harris Yulin.

I just bought this audiobook at Costco today. 

Journal Entry 2 by carlissa from Miami, Florida USA on Sunday, May 18, 2008

I put this in my CD only audio bookbox. 

Journal Entry 3 by BigJohnLefty from Des Moines, Iowa USA on Saturday, May 24, 2008

Pulled out of Carlissa's Audio CD-only BookBox. 

Journal Entry 4 by BigJohnLefty from Des Moines, Iowa USA on Tuesday, October 07, 2008

THis one kind of dragged along - I really don't see what's so great about Mailer, anyway.
I was, however, glad to find some light shed on the incest that may have had a hand in the creation of one of the world's most evil men.
But the narration technique was not believeable - although I don't deny the possibility (advanced by many in recent years) that Hitler was an occultist. And while I can believe that he was influenced by Satan's minions, it just made the book more surreal. 

Journal Entry 5 by BigJohnLefty at Bookbox, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Friday, November 14, 2008

Released 3 yrs ago (11/14/2008 UTC) at Bookbox, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Putting this into Booklady331's CD-only Audiobookbox. 

Journal Entry 6 by booklady331 from Cape Coral, Florida USA on Friday, March 27, 2009

This arrived home in my CD only bookbox. I'll probably put it in round 3. 

Journal Entry 7 by booklady331 at Controlled Release, Given to a fellow bookcrosser -- Controlled Releases on Thursday, April 09, 2009

Released 3 yrs ago (4/9/2009 UTC) at Controlled Release, Given to a fellow bookcrosser -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Enjoy! Traveling for ROUND 3 in the CD only bookbox. 

Journal Entry 8 by tostle from Salt Lake City, Utah USA on Sunday, July 12, 2009

I am taking this from Booklady331's CD-only Audiobookbox. thanks for sharing! 

Journal Entry 9 by tostle from Salt Lake City, Utah USA on Saturday, August 01, 2009

This audio book is going into BigJohnLefty's CD-only Bookbox! Happy Travels! 

Journal Entry 10 by BigJohnLefty from Des Moines, Iowa USA on Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Have had this one before - it came back to me yesterday when my bookbox returned, will send it out again when I start up another one..... 

Journal Entry 11 by BigJohnLefty at Des Moines, Iowa USA on Friday, June 25, 2010

Released 1 yr ago (6/25/2010 UTC) at Des Moines, Iowa USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Going into an audio book box-Putting this in the mail today -- enjoy! 

Journal Entry 12 by k00kaburra at San Jose, California USA on Tuesday, October 19, 2010

This book enjoyed a brief visit in San Jose, California before continuing its travels with the CD Only Bookbox! 

Journal Entry 13 by booklady331 at Cape Coral, Florida USA on Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Took out of carlissa's CD only bookbox. Sounds interesting. Funny, I didn't take it when it arrived in my CD only bookbox.  

Journal Entry 14 by booklady331 at Cape Coral, Florida USA on Tuesday, September 20, 2011

This is my first Mailer book. I agree with BigJohnLefty - don't know what all the hype is about him. We're led to believe this is a story of Hitler's formative years.
This book appears to be about good and evil. Now what to do with the book next?????

 

Journal Entry 15 by booklady331 at Cape Coral, Florida USA on Monday, January 16, 2012

Released 4 mos ago (1/16/2012 UTC) at Cape Coral, Florida USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Enjoy! Adding to round 6 of my CD only bookbox 

Journal Entry 16 by k00kaburra at San Jose, California USA on Saturday, May 26, 2012

I'm so sorry - I forgot to update this book when I took it out of the bookbox! I started listening to it yesterday morning.