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ombraluce's review
4.0
Hitler e la sua genesi demoniaca, così come la racconta il demone che presiedette al suo concepimento, col corollario dell'educazione di un mostro da parte di un padre inadatto e di una madre inadeguata, ovviamente con i dovuti interventi del demonio.
Un'opera di pura fantasia, che batte su molte delle leggente che hanno circondato il male assoluto che dallo scorso secolo ancora getta la sua ombra sul mondo, forse un modo per non dimenticare.
Un'opera di pura fantasia, che batte su molte delle leggente che hanno circondato il male assoluto che dallo scorso secolo ancora getta la sua ombra sul mondo, forse un modo per non dimenticare.
one4_thebooks's review against another edition
1.0
Good lord, this was bad. I'll confess that I didn't but skim the rest of it after about two-thirds of the way through.
It had so much promise, the premise of this book. I've been wanting to read some of Mailer's stuff. I'm sorry I picked this as my first. No wonder this book cost less than 5 dollars in hardcover at Barnes and Noble.
It was disgusting. I've read some gross things before, but this was unnecessarily disgusting. No thanks, Mailer, I'd really rather not read about an old man and a young boy having sex. Seriously? Was that necessary? That's where I gave up.
I understand that this was supposed to be the first in a trilogy...so I guess I'm willing to let it slide that almost none of the story centered around Adolf Hitler himself. But it was still disappointing.
Please do yourself a favor and never read this. Read something else by Mailer, but not this.
It had so much promise, the premise of this book. I've been wanting to read some of Mailer's stuff. I'm sorry I picked this as my first. No wonder this book cost less than 5 dollars in hardcover at Barnes and Noble.
It was disgusting. I've read some gross things before, but this was unnecessarily disgusting. No thanks, Mailer, I'd really rather not read about an old man and a young boy having sex. Seriously? Was that necessary? That's where I gave up.
I understand that this was supposed to be the first in a trilogy...so I guess I'm willing to let it slide that almost none of the story centered around Adolf Hitler himself. But it was still disappointing.
Please do yourself a favor and never read this. Read something else by Mailer, but not this.
pietopper's review against another edition
4.0
A senior devil in Lucifer's army manages and observes the heritage and childhood of Adolf Hitler. Well written and quite engaging. The description of the mating that conceives Adolf Hitler, panned as the "most horrific sex scene ever written" is , well, rather tame. A whole mythology is built up and explained about God, the Devil, the angels and a whole supernatural world that (somewhat) controls our thoughts and actions. Sometimes these asides go on a bit much.
A plausible (but unlikely) explanation is offered that Hitler was the product of multiple instances of incest, culminating in his father's (unknowingly) coupling with his own daughter - the child of his relationship with his sister. It gets a bit complicated.
Well worth reading just for the prose and the atmosphere of late nineteenth century Austria.
A plausible (but unlikely) explanation is offered that Hitler was the product of multiple instances of incest, culminating in his father's (unknowingly) coupling with his own daughter - the child of his relationship with his sister. It gets a bit complicated.
Well worth reading just for the prose and the atmosphere of late nineteenth century Austria.
hxtian88's review against another edition
1.0
I started this book about a month ago and I've been struggling to get through it. First, I thought it was about one thing, then the narrator switched things up on me and it became something different. Now, the narrator has done it again on page 214 he decides to go off on a totally different tangent and intends to do so for the next 50 pages. He graciously lets me know, however, that if I have no interest in this detour I can proceed to page 261. What? The last straw in a very frustrating read. I'll do you one better, Mr. Narrator - I'll just skip the rest of the book altogether!
tim_g's review against another edition
1.0
What impression does Norman Mailer's first novel in more than a decade leave? It's probably irony. Promoted as an exploration of the struggle between good and evil, The Castle in the Forest comes off making Adolf Hitler, a poster child of evil, little more than relatively commonplace. In addition, while Mailer writes as well as ever, his talents largely serve to make staying with a relatively plodding story less trying.[return][return]Mailer's novel purports to use Hitler's life from birth to approximately age 16 as a vehicle to explore the nature of evil. Yet most of the book focuses on Hitler's father, Alois, including his uncertain parentage and the extent to which that rendered Adolf "a First-Degree Incestuary." Throw in extensive discussion of beekeeping, a lengthy diversion about the coronation of Tsar Nicholas and a seeming fascination with excrement and sex and you begin to wonder where the battle between good and evil went.[return][return]The story is told by D.T., a middle-ranking demon among Satan's minions. He is called D.T. because, when we first meet him, he inhabits the body of an SS intelligence officer named Dieter. Satan, usually called "the Maestro" or occasionally "the Evil One," assigned the as yet unborn Adolf as D.T.'s client, a "project" D.T. is to monitor. Yet the ultimate message seems to be that those imbued with evil of Hitlerian proportions are born with it and what occurs in their formative years merely fine tunes and reinforces the necessary traits.[return][return]Balance of review at http://prairieprogressive.com/?p=967
kped347's review against another edition
1.0
I get it. Hitler was the most despicable, vile being that has walked the earth. I didn't need to listen to all the depravity to prove that to me. I enjoyed Mailer's opus The Executioner's Song. I thought he took a human who had done terrible things and provided some context, garnering some sympathy. It reminded me a bit of the squirmy feeling after reading Lolita.
This, however, just left me frustrated, angry and I don't see how anyone can get a decent human to feel any sympathy, empathy or any emotion except disgust toward Hitler. I can't fathom what made Mailer go in this direction. It wasn't well-conceived or well-executed.
This, however, just left me frustrated, angry and I don't see how anyone can get a decent human to feel any sympathy, empathy or any emotion except disgust toward Hitler. I can't fathom what made Mailer go in this direction. It wasn't well-conceived or well-executed.
andyber's review against another edition
2.0
Finally forced my way through this one after several attempts. Not great.