Categories: uncategorized
Date: 23 November 2007 08:43:28
2 weeks ago we were told of the death of Norman Mailer. To some people he was a colossus of American fiction; to some others he was a right wing bore; to others he was a "man's man".
I was introduced to Mailer's work by n old work colleague called Mike. Every Monday he'd bring in a box of books that he'd rooted out at local car boot sales and offer me first refusal. It was in this way that I discovered many books by people that I may not have otherwise read. It definitely helped to broaden my horizons. Without him I'd never have discovered, or probably not that early, Updike, Capote, Kenneally, Wolfe, early Rushdie or Coetzee.
My first Mailer novel was Harlot's Ghost, a story of the birth and gestation of the CIA from the late 40's through to the mid 60's. This peaked my interest enough to read The Naked and The Dead and Ancient Evenings. Then, for some reason, I got distracted by more of Mike's offerings and left Mailer alone. Last year I re-read Harlot's Ghost and Castle In The Forest, a story of Hitler's early childhood, and then decided to buy more but never got round to it.
Then I heard about Mailer's death and went out and ordered 3 more of his books to catch up on what I'd missed out on. So I bought Oswald's Story (about Lee Harvey Oswald); The Executioner's Song (about Gary Gilmore, hero of The Adverts' single Gary Gilmore's Eyes a great bit of 70's punk); and, The Fight (the story of the Ali-Fraser "Rumble in The Jungle").
I decided to read them in order of historical events and have begun readuong Oswald's Story. After only 30 pages I'm already hooked and wondering why I left it so long to read more Mailer.
Now we'll be denied any further additions to his canon of work. He'll be loved by many but disliked bny many others. To some his work will be off putting by their size alone - over 500 pages for many - or his image as a "man's man" , which is not popular in modern touchy feely literary circles. Maybe it's the fact that he wrote about events that I have also found interesting, or the fact he wrote in such an easy style, but I'll always return to Mailer when I need a shot of well written, manly prose.