Bad sex from Mailer

Maybe it's an odd last word to have on Mailer and Castle in the Forest but the decision by the Literary Review to award the recently deceased writer this year’s Bad Sex in Fiction award for a scene between Hitler’s mother and father is apt. No doubt the problem was not deciding on Mailer but knowing which of the many crude sex scenes from his book to choose from.

book review - Castle in the Forest

There have been hundreds of books about Adolf Hitler all not only detailing how he came to power and what he did once he got there but also trying to get to the bottom of the dictator. Because of his anti-Semitic views, the holocaust and his wilful destruction of millions of lives he rates pretty highly on the evil index. So it is a brave author who decides to put Hitler as one of the main characters in a novel. Norman Mailer does take that on and then to make it even more uncomfortable hurls a fair amount of abuse at the reader.

On the positive side Mailer not only gets you to think about where Hitler's evilness came from but also makes you ask some questions about the nature and nurture debate as well as provoking thoughts about good and evil in the form of the devil and god. You are forced to dwell on the dark side and conclude that if someone is exposed to brutality in the form of parental abuse and sibling rivalry along with a helping hand from a demon then they might well go onto become an evil dictator. The problem is that Mailer overdoes the darkness and you find yourself being put off by old men who like young boys, mothers obsessed by the faeces and the arseholes of their children and fathers who sleep with their daughters.

The problem is that everyone bar Hitler's stepsister Angela and his brother Edward all come across as susceptible to the grotesque and Hitler almost gets lost in the line-up. There is also an odd tangent where Mailer's narrator demon heads of to the coronation of Nicholas the last Tsar. The point seems to be that the devil was busy looking at the bigger picture sowing the seeds of destruction that would lead to the Second World War. The fact he was making it difficult for the Tsar and thereby preparing the way for Stalin implies that he was backing both evil dictators.

This might not be that difficult to read in terms of clearly signposted chapters and a reasonable argument for why the focus is Hitler's family. The downside is that the book backs off just as Hitler starts to get interesting and close to the man he was to become. It also keeps suggesting that all of the seeds of hatred were planted early on - the bees being gassed by sulphur, the swastika over the monastery school entrance - but a great deal of Hitler's political thought was shaped by his experiences and response to the German defeat in the First World War.

This book got quite a few plaudits from the book reviewers when it came out and Mailer worked the circuit and most I heard or read applauded the bravery of choosing such a potentially challenging subject. But there is not that much of a story here other than the straight forward one that details the incestuous background of Hitler and exposing how demons work and what they do for their clients.

In fact that is the only real leap of the imagination. The rest could almost be a historical novel expect for the occasions relapses into perverted territory. If you buy into the idea that Hitler was shaped by the devil and a demon could have the possibility of writing a memoir about it then this is a solid go at describing what that world might look like. But that asks the reader to exercise the same sort of suspension of disbelief that you are expected to exercise when you go to the cinema. Because of the nature of reading, that tends to happen over several days, it is hard to maintain the illusion that this is a devil's memoir and the more that process takes the more the cracks start to show.

This was a tough book to read and one that was certainly not one that was enjoyable but maybe it wasn't meant to be and that's why Mailer can be so frustrating.

The Castle in the Forest - post IX

At last this book is over. That might sound unfair but it has felt like being taught history by someone determined to make you feel sick. Mailer really knows how to get your attention but you do come to the end of this book with the view that it could have been written without some of the sexual and bodily functional detail.

When this book came out everyone focused on the Hitler story, which is the main crux of the book apart from an odd diversion into Russia, but in my recollection, certainly of radio interviews with Mailer no one asked him why he obsessed with erections, masturbation, faeces, homosexuality and incest. No doubt those questions were not hinted at on the press release plus most interviewers had probably not read the book.

If they had they would have come to the end and sat back and agreed that if a demon had been involved with hand picking and helping Adolf Hitler grow up to become the dictator and Jew killing monster of the 1930s and 1940s then this is how it might have read as a memoir. But at the same time Hitler is just one of a cast of odd dark characters that implies if anything that it was almost impossible to come through a youthful existence in Austria in the 1890s without being severely damaged.

With death all around, parents that struggled and failed to break the bounds of a class system it is no wonder that Hitler grew up full of resentment and hatred.

The final section of the book covers the breakdown of the relationship between Adolf and his father and the latter’s death leaving the family reasonably well off but Hitler in power. He is an academic failure, a drifter who has a strong belief in his own ability and is left by Mailer in a position where all the tendency’s are there to make him a Nazi but there is a lot still left to do to get him there.

A difficult book to read because it was far from enjoyable. Mailer must have wanted to evoke a response of disgust and he manages to do that several time. While that might tie in with the theme of the devil and the darkness it hardly makes it an enjoyable experience.

A review will follow soon…

The Castle in the Forest - post VIII

It must be something to do with the nights drawing in but it seems like walking through treacle reading a book these last few weeks. Luckily there is light at the end of the tunnel with this heavy Mailer tome and when he starts going on about masturbation, the enjoyment of a father feeling his son’s buttocks and old perverts like Der Alte the end cannot come soon enough.

Watching Downfall the other night for the second time it struck me that where this book struggles is to try and make a young boy seem evil. In Downfall you know what Hitler has done and that is why it is possible to watch a situation that in other circumstances would inspire sympathy with a detached interest. The problem here is that it has to be worked on all the time that Hitler has the makings of a mass murdering egomaniac.

The result is that he is implicated in the death of his brother Edmund by passing him the measles and he is taught to appreciate the qualities of showing no pain but exploiting his strength of personality to command others.

It might have worked but Mailer makes almost every other character equally distorted and the more the father becomes a monster, apparently unassisted by demons but helped by drink, it makes Adolf seem almost normal, one grotesque in a gallery of them.

With the last 67 pages waiting it will be interesting to see how Mailer leaves it.

More tomorrow…

The Castle in the Forest - post VII

By now the whole idea that on top of this whole nature versus nurture debate they might be the influence of demons is starting to get disturbing. The problem is that although most of The Castle in the Forest goes past your eyes with you not really believing any of it, this central concept does start to get under your skin.

For the rest of it although there is plenty of historical references thrown in to make it all seem like a factual account (there is an extensive bibliography at the back showing the research has been done) it still seems unbelievable. Where mailer has been clever is that most accounts of Hitler start as young failed student with the pre 18 year-old days summed up in a brief chapter.

This might be a great idea for a novel to exploit a period that has not been widely written about but by now there are too many times that Mailer tries to suggest that seeds planted when Adolf was young came out in later life. For instance the bees being gassed and the swastika above the school entrance.

The problem is that as the story progresses and Adolf takes his seat as the eldest son after Alois junior burns his bridges after torching the bee hives, poisoning the dog and then stealing the horse and heading off to Vienna.

Now in a position of authority in the family Adolf starts to learn that enjoyment that can come from exercising authority via his voice and his position.

With not much more than 100 pages left to go it is going to be interesting to see where this story goes because although interesting right now it is nowhere near being a favourite read of 2007.

More to come…

The Castle in the Forest - post VI

There is something about Mailer that you have to either love or hate. He seems to relish the prospect of provoking distaste in the reader by either being sexually graphic or by describing smells and body parts you really would rather avoid.

But for all that, and it is a significant but, he does get you thinking. Is it possible that some people can be singled out be the dark side and as a result go in that direction? I was looking at my son tonight and wondering if it was possible and found the idea disturbing. Maybe that shows that Mailer has been successful in some way.

Back on the pages of the book the expedition to Russia ends with hundreds dying in a field as they wait to see the Tsar and celebrate his coronation. The devils make sure that not only the tragedy occurs but also that he is encouraged to go to the French embassy ball that night and dance while the corpses are counted.

The reason for the excursion to Russia is not clear and before it starts mailer advises you that there is the option to skip to page 261 and avoid it completely and stick with the Hitler story.

One of the reasons why you might not want to do that is to get an insight into how the demons fight the angels to try and influence events. But if that all seems like straying too far from the point then skipping might not be such a bad idea.

Back with Hitler’s family the eldest son returns and the highly sexed teenager decides that he will take advantage of the sexual yearning of the old bee keeper Der Alte and in a chapter that is really Mailer notching up the uncomfortable barometer the young man exploits the willingness of the older bee keeper.

Quite where it goes from here is not clear but it is almost odd to remark that Hitler seems almost normal against a backdrop of weird and evil characters.

More tomorrow…

The Castle in the Forest - post V

If you buy into the idea that the reason that Hitler did what he did was because he was walking hand in hand with the devil then this book must have you nodding along in that sort of ‘told you so’ agreement. If however you think that history and human nature is a bit more complicated than that then this starts to read like a perverted fairy tale.

After hinting that Hitler and the old bee keeper were going to become friends – the kind that has an old man leaving his knee on the young boy’s leg – the focus shifts to Russia with the coronation of Nicholas II.

The loving and godly tsar is almost beyond the reach of the demons so they try to make his coronation or at least the days after it marred by some act that they can influence.

Meanwhile the bees are progressing in the farm and Alois and Adolf are both interested in what will happen to the bees and the order and society within the hives seems to be interesting Hitler in a way that will become all too evident when he reaches power later on, particularly over the aspect of the weakest not deserving to live.

More tomorrow…

The Castle in the Forest - post IV

I was always told never to speak ill of the dead – thankfully that doesn’t apply to my boss as he is still breathing – but when it comes to Norman mailer some people just can’t resist.

In the Guardian today Joan Smith puts the boot in to Mailer describing him as a sexist homophobic reactionary who had pulled a confidence trick since the 1960s. No reference was made to The Castle in the Forest but it might have helped stand up some of her accusations.

The story slowly moves onto the location of the farm the family moves to after Alois the father retires to cultivate the land and indulge in some bee keeping. Hitler and the others have to adapt to farm life, which involves hard work and seeing a lot more of their father than either they or he are used to. It also provides the location for another pregnancy and a chance for the husband and wife to improve their relationship.

The demon narrator is busy carrying out his master’s bidding trying to work out whether or not Alois is heading towards some sort of godly moment with his love for nature and then working hard to put Hitler in front of an old man who sells bees and works for them.

The parts of the book that makes you feel slightly uncomfortable, not because so much the subject but the repetition, is around the idea of faeces, the anus and bodily odours. The devil it seems is obsessed with the first two and his chosen ones exhibit particularly bad cases of the later. After a few graphic illustrations you do get the point and can do without even more attempts to rub your nose in it if you pardon the pun.

More tomorrow…

The Castle in the Forest - post III

Having revealed that the narrator is a demon the possibility that you might have entertained the idea that this book had some sort of fresh insight to make into the history of Hitler does tend to fly out of the window.

“Indeed, it must be obvious by now that there is no clear classification for this book. It is more than a memoir and certainly has to be most curious as a biography since it is as privileged as a novel.”

From that privileged position the narrator reveals that after initially worrying that Hitler might die his mother comes to love him, as he grows stronger. But then mailer gets slightly obsessed about arseholes and faeces and it all seems to be verging on some odd psychotherapy session.

What keeps things going is the story of Hitler’s father Alois who manages to first of all illustrate to Hitler the way to show power over humble and loyal followers when his father beats the dog. But then the family move from location to location as his father is promoted and then finally pensioned off after having found that the heady heights came with snobs and back stabbers not to his liking.

Along with the Hitler family story there are plenty of observations thrown in by the narrator about God, the devil and the nature of their relationship and the way that demons work being assigned people like projects.

The slight problem with all of this is that we all know what happened to Hitler so it will be interesting to see where the narrative goes because it is not as if the conclusion could have been any different.

More tomorrow…

The Castle in the Forest - post II

Watching an interview on the Culture Show with Stephen Poliakoff tonight he remarked that in the drama that is showing on the BBC on Monday night, Capturing Mary, there is a character played by David Walliams, the tall one out of Little Britain, that is almost supernatural in its darkness. Although not too much of the plot was given away it seems that he is an evil man who tries to snuff out someone’s ambition and passion through controlling them.

When told it was almost supernatural Poliakoff said that he tried to shy away from that and make the evil at least grounded in a believable person.

It seems as if that is not something Mailer is worried about with the narrator stepping forward describing himself as an agent of the devil, some sort of demon, that was influencing the events leading up to Hitler’s birth as well as working for Himmler as a special investigator at the start of the story.

In chapters that describe Hitler’s father and mother it becomes clear that the father was a womanising drunkard who had not time to worry about the feelings of his three wives – with the first two dying – before upsetting the third who was probably his daughter as well as Hitler’s mother.

After three children die sex becomes something that does not come naturally to Klara but she finally succumbs to the plunging hound and with a little help from the devil on his shoulder the pair of father and daughter or at the very least cousins manage to conceive Hitler.

More to come…

The Castle in the Forest - post I

The only books I have read by Norman mailer have all been about Mailer. While he was as interesting person as any to be centre stage it did start to feel as if you were stuck with a pub bore who thought he was actually the most interesting person on earth.

So when you pick this up expecting Mailer to come stumbling into the narrative with tales of how he is upsetting his wife and annoying peers with his political views it is quite a shock to get an introduction to Himmler and his obsession with incest.

Thoughts on the first 38 pages (it is the weekend after all)

The narrator quickly places the activity in Nazi Germany with Himmler, the head of the SS and someone susceptible to bizarre theories, trying to ascertain if Hitler is the result of an incestuous relationship. Before he can verify that though he needs to discount the suggestions that Hitler was actually of Jewish descent. In chapters entitled The Search for Hitler’s Grandfather and then Adolf’s father you start to get an idea this is going to be an examination into an individual’s evil based on their family and development.

That’s not a bad idea but where the history lover in me gets a bit concerned is with the idea of putting words into people’s mouths that might never have happened. Just because someone is universally seen as evil – Himmler and Hitler – it does not necessarily give free reign to go to town with artistic license. That’s my view, something that others might think the opposite on believing that in fact if you have the guts to do it then fair game.

More to come of this…