tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21116761.post116335625212398243..comments2009-01-02T10:10:13.447-08:00Comments on Mary's Library: Books We Could Do WithoutMaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17219413797615237650noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21116761.post-1163828110867729682006-11-17T21:35:00.000-08:002006-11-17T21:35:00.000-08:00If you dislike Mailer as a default position when h...If you dislike Mailer as a default position when his name is raised, it's unlikely you'll find anything to like in the book. Mailer writes difficult novels investigating the intuitive aspects of good and evil, and "The Castle in the Forest" is a rich imagining of the family history that gave the world a man who committed the greatest evil. It's an unsavory lot, his ancestors and relatives, and we do find some speculative gems as to what might have influenced a very young Adolph Hitler to effect history the way he did. Mailer, always an idiosyncratic religious existentialist of long standing, develops his ideas here in a way we haven't read before. Not to give too much away, but where Jesus had his say about the cranky nature of being the Son of God in "The Gospel According to the Son", the devil gets his due in the new book, through the voice of an especially slippery minion. I found it enthralling and brilliant much of the time. It's worth the read.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21116761.post-1163436010842512042006-11-13T08:40:00.000-08:002006-11-13T08:40:00.000-08:00Oh, dear. Am I going to have to read this book and...Oh, dear. Am I going to have to read this book and recant?<BR/><BR/>mdMaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17219413797615237650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21116761.post-1163397617919358502006-11-12T22:00:00.000-08:002006-11-12T22:00:00.000-08:00I've finished reading an advance reader's copy of ...I've finished reading an advance reader's copy of "The Castle in the Forest", and it's quite good. It easily approaches his best work.TED BURKEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16610296721891201100noreply@blogger.com