The Castle in the Forest by Norman Mailer (2007, Unabridged, Compact Disc)

The publication of a new Norman Mailer novel is an intellectually stimulating event. Mailer’s numerous adherents and his legion of detractors always find ample support for their feelings about his work. The octogenarian author is a risk-taker, proud to have a literary reputation as a pioneer rather than as a conformist who writes strictly within the confines of a pre-existing genre. This fictionalized account of Adolph Hitler’s first 16 years is a case in point. Studded with carefully researched historical fact, it is fantasy designed to make us understand reflexively how such a loathsome monster as Hitler developed: Satan’s minions vie with angels to shape mankind’s fate; Adolf becomes the Devil’s “client” before he’s old enough to be a blip on God’s radar screen. Conceived amid acts of unholy and incestuous debauchery, the child permanently reeks of and revels in his own inner foulness. The sexual and scatological references are heavy-handed and digressive enough so that one often is tempted to ask, “What’s the point of all of this?” Then, abruptly, Mailer switches his focus, gives us space and lets us think. And we know. Harris Yulin’s fully-articulated, chilling reading immerses listeners in the roiling forces of evil. Graphic and disturbing.