Marathon Man
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| Author | William Goldman |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Conspiracy thriller novel |
| Publisher | Delacorte Press |
| Released | 1974 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 309 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-440-05327-7 |
Marathon Man is a 1974 paranoid thriller novel by William Goldman that was made into a 1976 film directed by John Schlesinger. In 1976 it was made into a film of the same name starring Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier.
[edit] Plot introduction
The story is about a former Nazi SS dentist from Auschwitz, Dr. Christian Szell (presumably modelled, at least in part, on the real-life Josef Mengele), now residing in Paraguay, trying to smuggle a large quantity of diamonds out of the U.S. This involves an ultra-secret intelligence agency called "The Division". The plot revolves around Thomas "Babe" Levy, a history graduate student at Columbia University and runner who is haunted by the suicide of his father, which was caused by the witchhunts of McCarthyism decades earlier. Thomas also has a brother, who unbeknownst to him works for this secret governmental body.
