Mesmerising Mailer

Just finished reading An American Dream by Norman Mailer last night. Mailer has always interested me ever since I read at least three quarters of his saga on Pharaonic Egyptians, Ancient Evenings when I was in my early teens. Even though I found his work rich in metaphors and imagery then, the subject matter was a bit too sexual and the pace was too dull for me to continue. But it was a very educational book for me, the images stuck in my mind until now.

Since that early encounter with Mailer, I've had the opportunity to sample some of his essays and interviews. He interests me because he is the classic hard-drinking, womanizing, no-punches pulled macho writer reminiscent of Hemingway. His prose is tough, poetic and vulgar at the same time.

An American Dream is probably a good introduction to his works. It is not too daunting as a book compared to the brick-like Harlot's Ghost. The plot is simple and the narration is in first person. It is about a man who murdered his wife in a fit of lunacy. We follow his escapades for a day and a half after that murder; this includes torrid sex with his wife's maid, interrogation by the police, a fling with a mobster-linked lounge singer and a final tense confrontation with his wealthy but offensive father-in-law - all the events occur in a blur of drunkeness and lunatic hallucination. The prose moves in stream-of-consciousness urgency, dense with pungent metaphors.

This is a powerful piece of work but it is not for everyone's taste. Some will be repelled by the over-the-top wordiness which induces a certain lunacy in the reader's mind after a while. But that is also the strength of this novel. Mailer will never be contented with a simple murder story; we are instead thrust into the demented mind of the protagonist, Rojack as he lunges and rages through his encounters with a variety of interesting characters; in settings ranging from opulent upper-class New York apartments to seedy bars and banal police stations all through this reckless odyssey.

I had enjoyed this Mailer very much and should look forward to more of his works in the near future.