The Castle in the Forest
by Norman Mailer
Random House, HK$270
At 84, Norman Mailer has an incredible hunger to be read and to book his seat among the highest class of writers. The flak Mailer has defied for almost 60 years has goaded the American. John Updike, 75, appears from his dotage only when the world hits a crisis worthy of a writer with his trophies. Last year's Terrorist was just a respectable Updike novel. After extolling the American of his day, Updike seemed unwilling to give his contemporary characters blood.
About the same time, Mailer had a quick shot at the Bush administration and the fallout from September 11 in The Big Empty, a series of interviews with his son. But that book was merely a break from working on a trilogy of novels that should take in just about every form of evil mankind could engineer.
Mailer usually devotes his novels to the sins and virtues of major players: generals, politicians, killers, athletes and artists. His last novel, The Gospel According to the Son, an exposition of Jesus Christ, is usually cited as his worst. Most writers would take that as advice to slow down. Mailer was inspired to take on the Bible's other lead role, Satan, and one of his malignant earthly monsters, Adolf Hitler.
The first of the trilogy, The Castle in the Forest, opens with narration by Dieter, an SS officer and a mid-ranking devil in the service of the Maestro, who we can only guess is Satan. Dieter is the bad angel assigned to sit on the shoulder of young Adolf and bring out his malevolent potential. He has the ultimate view of the Fuhrer's rise.