The "Executioner's Song" may have deserved the Pulitzer price since the way it's written is exceptional, in my humble opinion and from my layman point of view. I consider Mailer a superb writer, having read "Of a fire on the moon" and "The Armies of the Night" and plan to read a couple more books.
However, the main theme is at moments repulsive, a reflection of a real life. Making a book about a low life character and thinking if he deserves all the attention could cause a mental dilemma. It has some " Romeo and Juliet" characteristics, but the whole background is dirty and on a criminal level. The media coverage described could be considered exploitative, immoral and unethical (in spite of having financed the making of this book).
This book shows some of the inclinations of Mailer who liked tough and dirty talk, and made me wonder if he symphatized with the main character of the book, Gilmore, having had some criminal behavior himself when Mailer stabbed his wife.
Something that makes this book important is the detailed description of an average small town in America and a particular moment that reflecte a different era. The way that Mailer can describe the tiles of a floor or the hardware of a door are almost photographic. This is an aspect of life that can be considered of historic value and a point of view usually forgotten,
The book may have a practical purpose which is to ponder about the jail system, system that does not rehabilitate in most cases, on the contrary, criminals may get worst as in the case of Gilmore. Also, it helps create an opinion about the death penalty. As always, Mailer will not give you the right direction but will offer you the several posibilities of analysis on any topic such as the death penalty. In this case having read that killing someone who killed made me make up my mind against it,since it is a contradiction. Also, it makes you think about those who pulled the trigger and the guilt they may experience in the rest of their lives,
What I was not expecting to find was how the media can profit from a criminal life. It makes you think about the moral issue of celebrating a murderer and how money may flow into non-deserving pockets. Gilmore was paid for the rights of his story and distributed the money amongst his family and "friends". In another proof of his crook mind he gave $2,000 to a jail mate and only thought about his needy mother when he was reminded of her and instructed his uncle to give her only $1,000 (from about $50,000).
The story also shows how desconsiderate Gilmore was, when he brainwashed his girlfriend to commit suicide, knowing that she had two kids that would be left out without a mother, and a family who would suffer. The book mentions the high IQ of Gilmore, who at the same time behaved like a retarded and selfish person.
Conclusion, this is a well written book, probably not for everybody since it needs to be read with a mature mind.
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Top reviews from other countries
Mauricio S Jardini
I liked more the part about if one should or not appel when sentenced to death penalty
Reviewed in Brazil on July 16, 2019Alejandro
Pésimo estado (Revisión del estado del libro, no del libro sensu stricto
Reviewed in Mexico on September 1, 2017
Alejandro
Reviewed in Mexico on September 1, 2017
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