Customer Reviews

Six Days of the Condor

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I first read this suspense and spy novel sometime in the mid-1970s, while living in Utah and working for the federal government. The picture it paints of a murderous renegade network operating within the Central Intelligence Agency is both frightening and plausible, and is delivered by author James Grady in a tight, well-developed thread of events that spins way out of control as the protagonist tries to figure out who is at the center of the bloody plot and why he and his cohorts at a special studies institute sponsored by the Agency are targets. This book is extremely well written!

The level of paranoia as well as the multiple levels of deceit and deception described in the book seemed outlandish at the time, but given the temper of the times, it somehow seemed much more plausible in the backwash of Watergate and all that was revealed about the machinations of the so-called "invisible government" then. The hero's ability to parse together the facts and learn and adapt as he progresses makes the novel work especially well, and one can relate to his growing frustration as he realizes there just may not be any way out alive. And between the margins of the paragraphs are some intriguing questions regarding the role of secrecy in an open and supposedly democratic society that add a measure of intellectual acumen and "gravitas" to the tale.

So popular was this novel in the bookstores that very quickly after it was turned into a screenplay and filmed as a revised story under the title "Three Days Of The Condor" starring Robert Redford, Fay Dunaway, and Cliff Robertson. This novel makes an absorbing way to escape the humdrum of everyday life with a stunning tale of murder, mayhem, and betrayal. I highly recommend this book. Enjoy!

That's one of Grady's lines in the book. This is one case where the movie dwarfs the book. Malcom, the main character in the novel, is crude and hardly thinks or speaks like a well-read man. Grady's prose is minimal and often almost comical, as are the coincidences. A man grabs a woman at gunpoint, then gives her the gun and takes a thirty minute shower and she's cooking dinner when he gets out? Please. Grady also writes in omniscient point-of-view, so we jump into heads like ping pong balls. The three stars are for the premise, which is enticing and fun, and for its time, fresh. But if you want action that flows from circumstance and a main character who is ill-equipped to compete in the world of the CIA and must rely on some gambits and brains, forget the book and read the screenplay.

I first read this book in High School and got caught up in it. I have read it a second time and still think its great. I didn't care for the movie all that much. The book is written very graphically and it kept me interested the whole way. I read it as an assignment for a book report the first time and loved it. The second time was just for fun. There are only a few books that I have read cover to cover that I thought were worth it. This was one of them.

This concise book is fast and suspenseful. It starts out slower than the movie, which had a better "hook" when Condor slips out the back door to make a food run at lunchtime and returns to find everybody murdered. The book takes longer to get to the "hook", but then heats up in a hurry!

When Condor meets the complete stranger who eventually becomes his female accomplice, the book is less plausible than the movie about the initial interaction. But rather than a 2-night stand, the relationship develops more intimately and deeply between them. And whereas in the movie his oriental coworker was his female companion who was murdered along with everyone else when Condor was out to lunch, in the book there is no oriental coworker and his eventual female accomplice becomes his intimate loss when Joubert catches up with them and she takes a bullet meant for Condor.

The rest of the book from this point is simply head and shoulders above the movie. Instead of chatting later on like friends about how Joubert seems to know it all (assassinations on behalf of CIA), Condor can't wait to put a bullet between his eyes for killing his newfound girl friend. Only, unknown to Condor, she was only injured.

Great book. You'll read it through in a day.

This 1974 novel used sources like "The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia" by Alfred W. McCoy, and the others listed in the 'Preface'. It takes place in Washington DC. Ronald Malcolm works for the "American Literary Historical Society", and reads detective and mystery novels to summarize its plots for his employer. One day their new accountant tells Malcolm there is a discrepancy in the records; of seven crates shipped from Seattle only five crates arrived in Washington. This had not been noticed previously. The accountant reports this loss in a memo.

Malcolm reports to work on Thursday. It is his turn to go out for sandwiches for lunch, and he uses a basement exit for a short-cut. He also runs an errand. He returns to find the front door locked; he has to use his key. Then he finds that all of his co-workers have been killed by professional assassins. Malcolm leaves the building and calls the "panic number" from a public phone to report the maximum damage; he is told to disappear and call back later. When Malcolm calls back, he is told to make contact in an alley of a Georgetown theater. But his rescue team takes a shot at Malcolm, who fires back, escapes, and goes to ground. Will Malcolm be rescued by he CIA or found by the killers? And who is the double agent?

After you read this novel you can better understand the film, which is a simplified and condensed version (called "Three Days ...). The story was changed from drug smuggling (to censor drug references?), and relocated to NY city. This story seems implausible to me, since eliminating the one link in Seattle would avoid the furious investigation that would follow a massacre of seven in Washington DC.

I read this book years before it was ever made into a movie, which by the way i thought sucked bigtime. It held my interest and not too many books now days can do that. A nice piece of fiction.

The ingenious premise still works in this swift thriller, and there are some interesting real-world details. Unfortunately, there are some clumsy notes, pretty wild coincidences and lots of nondescript characters filling out the action.

The book Six Days of the Condor contains both the original text, and a hipper updated version.
They are a classic example of the "Spy Novella". In context of the Cold War times, the original text is an interesting read, as one of the progenitors of the Government Evil Conspiracy novel.
Later authors have taken this concept an run with it, such as the immensely popular "Bourne Ultimatum" series by Ludlum.
I enjoyed the movie 'Three Days of the Condor' a bit more as Condor was made a more engaging character
than in the novella.
Nevertheless, as a classic spy read, 'Condor is interesting' if a bit dated.

This book should be considered a classic. Pace is breathtaking from start to finish. If you've seen the movie then you can't help but picture the main character as Robert Redford. Good spy thriller with a cool take on the subject: the main character is not a know-it-all trained spy but a book mole who's entangled in a conspiracy so great he's bound to loose... or is he? Great, fast summer read.

Of Course, James Grady's book is the basis for the excellent film, which I watch every time it is shown on TV, mainly to see and hear the performances of Cliff Robertson and Max von Sydow which are sadly missing in the book.
If anything, the screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and David Rayfiel make the story more believable. After being kidnapped at gunpoint, Kathy Hale, unlike Wendy Ross, was none to eager to hop in the sack with her uninvited guest.
The book is a good fast read and the book's Mcguffin was as valid as the film's.
Would have rated the book higher but for the incredulously over-eager bedroom escapades.