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The Castle in the Forest (Abridged) Audiobook
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(3.00) - 1,546 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
A MAJOR NEW NOVEL FROM ONE OF AMERICA'S GREATEST MEN OF LETTERS
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 Muhammad Ali to Jesus Christ. Now, in his first major work of fiction in more than a decade, The Castle in the Forest offers what may be Mailer's consummate literary endeavor: he has set out to explore the evil of Adolf Hitler.
The narrator, a mysterious SS man in possession of some extraordinary secrets, takes the young Adolf from birth through his adolescence. En route, revealing portraits are offered of Hitler's father and mother, and his sisters and brothers.
A tapestry of unforgettable characters, The Castle in the Forest delivers its myriad 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 is employed with stunning originality. Now, on the eve of his eighty-fourth birthday, Norman Mailer may well be saying more than he ever has before.
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"Forgive me for the following cliche: This was a page-turner. Also forgive me for the fact that this book happened to be about Adolf Hitler. Insightful, hilarious, tongue-biting, and overall genius. I actually punched in late a few times for wont of reading on my lunch break at work. "
— Chris (5 out of 5 stars)
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“This remarkable novel about the young Adolf Hitler, his family, and their shifting circumstances, is Mailer’s most perfect apprehension of the absolutely alien…Mailer doesn’t inhabit these historical figures so much as possess them…Mailer the wild empathizer, the maestro of the human ego, is keen and blunt about…what, in effect, are the deceptively homey psychological origins of evil.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“Terrifically creepy…Mailer has an inclusive vision of evil, one that embraces nurture, nature, and supernatural demonic forces, all of which come together in that perfect storm over the spin-and-span Hitler home…An icy and convincing portrait of the dictator as a young sociopath.”
— Entertainment Weekly -
“Mailer’s great strengths as a novelist shine: his feeling for character and detail, his empathy for the unworthy and the sly, his wit…Mailer knows Hitler’s life intimately…and his insights and intuition into how that warped mind was influenced and grew are genuinely intriguing.”
— Washington Post -
“Saturated with a very material sense of evil: The moods, textures, auras, and above all the smells that announce the entrance of the Devil into earthly affairs.”
— Boston Globe
Awards
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A New York Times bestseller
The Castle in the Forest Listener Reviews
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" Well-written and exhaustively researched, but felt like it lacked some sort of conclusion. The premise was fascinating, but there were no great truths, no secrets revealed. "
— Derek, 2/19/2014 -
" I've never made it through a Norman Mailer book before so this is an accomplishment for me. Very interesting take on the youth of Adolf Hitler and a reminder how Satan works, and walks, among us all. "
— Cindy, 2/12/2014 -
" What a sick bastard. I'm of course talking about Norman Mailer. "
— Gunnar, 2/9/2014 -
" It's unfortunate that Norman Mailer passed away before he could finish what was supposed to be a trilogy. A fictional look into Adolph Hitler's childhood. "
— John, 2/9/2014 -
" This book was well written but very slow. I purchased it two years ago and I still haven't finished the thing. I fell asleep somewhere between Hitler being a naughty boy and his father being a bee keeper. At least that is what I think was going on. "
— Kayla, 1/16/2014 -
" Very strange yet interesting book. "
— Travis, 1/14/2014 -
" Started reading this January 4, 2011. "
— Kent, 1/11/2014 -
" I'm still reading this and it's quite strange...not sure what I would have to say about it besides that (and the fact that it's jam-packed with incest). "
— Angela, 1/4/2014 -
" after The Naked And The Dead, this was a huge disappointment for me... an interesting thought maybe, but nothing more "
— Matus, 12/30/2013 -
" This had quite interesting premise, but didn't seem to go anywhere. I gave up somewhere before page 150. "
— Sami, 12/21/2013 -
" I actually listened to this on audio. Picked it up at the library mainly because I saw Norman Mailer. The decision turned out to be a mistake. Not sure what to think really except that if there was a half star option I would have given it that. "
— joelene, 12/8/2013 -
" One of my top favorites. Such a good read. "
— Anna, 12/7/2013 -
" I gave up after a few chapeters. "
— Ryan, 10/17/2013 -
" i really enjoyed this book. Mailer put a face and reason behind the world's most evil man. "
— Barry, 7/6/2013 -
" Read about 150 pages and finally decided to stop (too many other good things to read). Was greatly bothered by Mailer's the-Devil-made-me-do-it approach. Besides, I had to keep up with my tradition of never finishing a Norman Mailer book. "
— Carolyn, 5/3/2013 -
" Forgive me for the following cliche: This was a page-turner. Also forgive me for the fact that this book happened to be about Adolf Hitler. Insightful, hilarious, tongue-biting, and overall genius. I actually punched in late a few times for wont of reading on my lunch break at work. "
— Chris, 8/1/2011 -
" An interesting read, but didn't hold my interest well. Felt like I was slogging through it. "
— Terry, 6/16/2011 -
" Complicated story, and I wish it would have lasted longer, let's say at least through Hitler's twentysomething years.. It stopped right where his actual life should have started! But it was a very good book, i could not let it out of my hand. "
— Ana, 5/17/2011 -
" A bazaar book. Not one of Mailer's best! "
— Kmkoppy, 4/21/2011 -
" Very interesting, dark book about Hitler as a boy. Disturbing, but fascinating. "
— Laura, 4/7/2011 -
" This is a strange but interesting story of Hitler's childhood and events that lead up to his birth. It is told from the perspective of what one might call a demon -- one assigned to oversee his progress. Very unusual but it was, after all, written by Norman Mailer. "
— Toni, 3/21/2011 -
" Interesting premise (devil observes life of young Hitler) but very bizarre and dull digressions. Lots of talk about piss and Nicholas II. Come on, Norman, you could've done better than this. "
— Kaworu, 1/22/2011 -
" Started reading this January 4, 2011. "
— Kent, 1/18/2011 -
" Captivating and masterfully written. The one disappointment is that Mailer intended this book, his last before he died, to be the first of a trilogy. In that sense, the ending may seem unsatisfying, but the rest of it is so great that it hardly makes a difference. I loved this book. "
— Marc, 12/19/2010 -
" i really enjoyed this book. Mailer put a face and reason behind the world's most evil man. "
— Barry, 11/26/2010
About Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer (1923–2007) wrote more than thirty books, including The Naked and the Dead; The Armies of the Night, for which he won a National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize; The Executioner’s Song, for which he won his second Pulitzer Prize; Harlot’s Ghost; Oswald’s Tale; The Gospel According to the Son; and The Castle in the Forest. He was one of the cofounders of the Village Voice.
About Harris Yulin
Harris Yulin is an Emmy-nominated stage, film, and television actor who is best known for his work in Scarface, Training Day, Rush Hour 2, and his appearances in Frasier, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Law & Order. He has also directed a number of plays, including This Lime Tree Bower, Don Juan in Hell, and Intimacy.