Customer Reviews

Marathon Man

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Though he's best known as a screenwriter, William Goldman has also written quite a few novels of note. His best probably remains the thriller Marathon Man. With a nicely complex but hardly difficult plot and amazingly strong characterization from the major players to the minor placeholders, this is a thrilling, at times harrowing book that also manages to provide a great deal of humor and a strong subtext of lost dreams. With his villians, Goldman truly manages to capture the outright banality of some of the world's greatest evil. And as for his hero -- I would defy anyone not to root for poor, awkward Babe Levy from the first minute they meet him. In recent years, its become strangely unfasionable to run the risk of injecting anything resembling humor or humanity into thrillers and instead, those qualities have too often been replaced with meaningless violence and a smirking sadism. Read Marathon Man and see how great a good thriller can truly be.

William Goldman has a gift for creating three dimensional characters and larger than life situations that actually seem possible. Besides this his prose is entertaining with tight plotting.

Of his fiction Marathon Man is a perfect example of all the features of Goldman's skills. I remember starting to read this a few hours before a really hot date. I became so engrossed in the plot, the twists and turns and tension growing within Marathon Man which initiated a first for me. I called and ended up cancelling the date just to finish the last 100 pages.

It is a rare book that motivates me to drop everything else and read it from page to page. Marathon Man was the first and one of very few.

You feel for the protagonist and visualize his experiences in your minds eye. You feel the terror, the racing heartbeat and surprise with each page. Goldman had a run where he was the master of the thriller novel. Getting freaked out in a literate fashion is truly a unique experience, one you should experience if you have not yet read Marathon Man.

In the end I made up for my faux pas of cancelling the date in part by giving this book to the woman I cancelled on. She confirmed she couldn't put it down either, chances are neither will you.

Highest recommendations...

William Goldman's "Marathon Man" is my favorite novel of all time. I have probably reread it 20 times. It can act as a virtual textbook on the creation of suspense and terror. Goldman has a firm grasp of what frightens people. He juxtaposes different points of view very effectively and creates characters which you cannot help but care about. It contains what is probably the most famous (and infamous) torture sequence ever commited to paper. The novel is violent but doesn't glorify violence which is a very delicate line to walk on. Goldman is wordsmith without peer. His prose sparkles and is memorable. He lately has been concentrating on screenplays and has not written a novel since 1986 (which coincidentally was a sequel to this novel called "Brothers".) I can only hope that he finds the time to produce a few more novels. Thirteen years has been too long to wait for another Goldman novel. Read all of his novels, you won't be disappointed.

A well crafted thriller with interesting, complex characters. It is one that I did not want to put down. I only wish there were more pages to it with more background of the characters and more details. It is one that I did not want to end but couldn't wait to get through it to get the whole story.

This is a spy classic. It hasn't lost its edge over time at all. It is some of the best suspense, action writing I have read--skillful and artistic not like some of the packaged, thesaraus writing milled out by some of today's writers.

Go for it; you will be pleased I think.

(...)

Marathon Man, by William Goldman, is an epic thriller, that which simply begs to be read over and over again. The initially mysterious characters and their odd lives that begin to intertwine and show themselves later on are enthralling, and the book is impossible to put down. Marathon Man attracts an audience of virtually anyone who can enjoy the typical fast-paced action-packed spy novel, and yet sense and enjoy the clever wit woven into the text by the author.
(...) When confronted with the question of "How good was this book?" I can only answer one way: Fantastic. The book sets the pace in the beginning with a cryptic car crash, the necessity of this being explained later on in a sort of "light-bulb over your head" moment. To read the book is to be frequently interrupted by your own intermittent cries of, "So that's who he was!" and "Oh! I get it! How amazing!". The narrator pelts with you sarcasm and charm throughout the book, making light of the most dire situations and adding a touch of surrealism to the whole situation in the protagonist's point of view. Every event in the book has some sort of logical place in the story. Nothing is insignificant. It's a puzzle, and the pieces gradually begin falling together as more and more is found out. You begin to crave to know more, to understand more, and you form your own ideas, predictions, and suspicions, until another puzzle piece falls into place and totally spins you around in bewilderment.
The only criticisms that could be genuinely made on the book are that the situation is almost fantasy and unreal. How many siblings do you have that are connected to Nazi scientists from Auschwitz? Personally, I didn't give a damn that the whole plot was full of sheer implausibility; I was enjoying myself far too much to actually give in to a few minor errors that didn't make any difference whatsoever.
Overall, the book is of exponential distinction and acclaim. It grabs you with the first scene, and plunges you into a thrilling and intoxicating world of scandal, mystery, and terror. To put down the book and become occupied with some random, irksome task is ridiculous and highly unlikely for any reader. Marathon Man is a thrill ride, but lucky you, you don't even have to leave your bedroom!

I sprinted through this short novel. I'm very familiar with the wonderful film version, having seen in many times over the years, but have only just read this great book.

If you have seen the movie, I would still urge you to read the novel as there are a few distinctions between the two that really make it worthwhile. One of the biggest differences involves Doc, the spy. I won't spoil it, but I was quite surprised, considering when this novel was written.

The protagonist in the book is Babe, a college student and marathon trainee. He's a brilliant young man, much like his older brother, and almost in the same league as his idolized father. Goldman did a remarkable job bringing these characters to life, with humor, guts, and some surprise qualities as well. One thing that impressed me about the book was the hard edge it has, despite some terrific moments of levity and wit. When needed, several of the characters display a capacity for violence that is unexpected. I enjoyed the intellect of the characters, which was a big theme in this novel. Brains vs. brawn, and the willingness to put mind over matter.

Many books are described as "page turners" and such. This is one of those rare books that live up to the hype.

This is one of my all time favorite books. Goldman's characters are perhaps a bit exaggerated, but in a good way. They're the polar opposite of what you'd find in most 'popcorn thrillers' nowadays, which develop characters only as plot vehicles. This book is much more colorful when compared to 'classic' works by authors like Fleming and Ludlum.
And while the movie is good, it DOES NOT do this book justice. It carries none of Goldman's wit, humor, and edginess that make this book so brilliant. The film version also completely changed (and ruined) the book's darkly satisfying ending.

This book is a fast, quick read, but that doesn't mean it's made of fluff. I highly recommend it.

I don't normally read thrillers but Goldman is just irresistible. The relationships are actually really emotional and provide a backstory that adds meaning to the whole conflict. Aside from the suspense/mystery component, the story fundamentally involves a man finding the resourcefulness and courage within himself to rise above life threatening obstacles. In addition Goldman is a master humorist- the beginning scene with the two old men driving crazily is hilarious. I find that few writers can describe action such as distance running in an interesting, engaging way, but Goldman achieves this by describing the runner's thoughts, the inspiration he finds in his hero Abebe Bikila, and including the physical agony he feels and how much he wants to give up.

I watched the movie with Dustin Hoffman after reading this book and I like the book much better. There are a few scenes they do very well, including the scene with Lawrence Olivier as the dentist, which reminded me of the movie Brazil, but the ending is very different and, I feel, not as good.

Overall I'm impressed by how well Goldman draws together many different worlds- seamlessly bringing together Nazis, Columbian historians, and assassins. He must know and read a lot about many things in order to write about them so believably. I feel I learned a lot and I enjoyed the experience.

When I was eight or so (possibly younger), I strayed on the torture scene from the film Marathon Man on a hotel room TV. I've never quite forgotten it, and I don't think I'll ever quite forget this book.

In Marathon Man, Thomas Babington Levy is a struggling graduate student majoring in history at Columbia University. He's also a marathon man, training to run in his first marathon. When he unwittingly gets drawn in to a world of spying and espionage, he must use his wits and his limited resources to survive.

Goldman's writing--possibly because he's a screenwriter--is as taut and edgy as a too-sharp violin string; he doesn't waste a word, and he plays the tension so tight you're not going to put this book down even when you want to. Yet he deftly manages to sprinkle the book with humor, and the twists are truly clever and--to me, at least--unexpected, though they were integral to the story. Fans of Stuart Neville and John LeCarré will probably like this book, too.

This is, hands down, one of the greatest thrillers ever written. I read it when I was around seventeen years old and it had such a visceral impact on me that I knew this was the type of book I wanted to write. I've been trying to achieve the same thing with my own work ever since. Goldman has a style, a wit, a voice that simply sings. And, as usual with his genre books, he gives us a whopper of a twist. Followed by another later down the line. I almost feel guilty even telling you there ARE twists, but then it wouldn't be vintage Goldman without them.

A lot of people judge Goldman's work by his movies, having never read the books they were based on. I urge you to enjoy the movie version, but take a look at the original work and see how wonderful it is. If it sounds like I'm gushing, it's because I am.