The Castle in the Forest
This was the last book Norman Mailer wrote before passing away some time ago. Mailer has always had a lot to live up to after the great success in early twenties with ‘The Naked and The Dead’ and has been a very productive writer his entire life. He has often written in the gray zones between fiction and fact, writing about Lee Harvey Oswald, Jesus, Marilyn Monroe and the workings of the CIA. The Castle in the Forest is his account of the childhood if Adolf Hitler.
It takes a lot to pull of a project like that. Historical facts cannot be too ignored writing about such a historical figure, also there is the challenge of saying something new about someone who has been so massively researched. However, Norman Mailer is definitely up to the task, great writer such as he was at (most) times. He handles this subject with grace and ease; blends the facts with the speculative fiction and finds a narrative thread that enables him go into the mind of young Hitler. This book is great from a lot of perspectives, not the least being that Mailer is an author who is extremely intelligent, and always had an explorative mind capable of discussing various ‘big’ topics (life, death, nature of evil, god, satan etc) in ways that not many other can match.
This way of writing excellent literary fiction in a true historical setting (the list of references takes three pages) reminds me of P.O Enquist. So if you like this book, try ‘Liväkarens Besök’ and vice versa.