Marathon Man (novel)
| Marathon Man | |
|---|---|
 1st edition | |
| Author | William Goldman |
| Cover artist | Paul Bacon[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Conspiracy thriller novel |
| Publisher | Delacorte Press |
Publication date | 1974 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 309 pp |
| ISBN | 0-440-05327-7 |
| OCLC | 940709 |
| Dewey Decimal | 813/.5/4 |
| LC Class | PZ4.G635 Mar PS3557.O384 |
| Followed by | Brothers |
Marathon Man is a 1974 conspiracy thriller novel by William Goldman. It was Goldman's most successful thriller novel, and his second suspense novel.[2]
In 1976 it was made into a film of the same name, with screenplay by Goldman, starring Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, and Roy Scheider and directed by John Schlesinger.
Plot synopsis
A former Nazi SS dentist at Auschwitz, Dr. Christian Szell, now residing in Paraguay, aims to smuggle many diamonds out of the United States after the accidental death of his brother in New York City. This involves a secret intelligence agency named "The Division".
Meanwhile, at Columbia University, Thomas Babington "Babe" Levy[3] (the first and middle names are a reference to Thomas Babington,[4] and the nickname is a reference to Babe Ruth[citation needed]) is a postgraduate student in history and an aspiring marathon runner. He is haunted by the suicide of his brilliant academic father, H.V. Levy, provoked by the activities of Senator McCarthy when Tom/Babe was ten. Tom's PhD dissertation aims to clear his father's name of alleged Nazi collaboration. Unbeknown to Babe, his elder brother by ten years (and best friend), 'Doc', works in The Division.
Szell tortures Babe by drilling into his teeth, without anesthetic, and repeatedly asks the question, "Is it safe?" Babe does not know what the question means, nor the interrogator's identity. In the course of torturing him, Szell offers him the analgesic clove oil as inducement to cooperate.
Background
Goldman says he was inspired by the idea of bringing a major Nazi to the biggest Jewish city in the world. He wrote the book after the death of his beloved editor Hiram Hayden, who had edited all of his books from 1960 to 1974, and feels he never would have written something as commercial as Marathon Man had Hayden been alive.[5]
Goldman later expressed dissatisfaction with the novel, but it went on to be his most successful book to that date.[5]
References
- ↑ Modern first editions - a set on Flickr
- ↑ D'Ammassa, Don. Encyclopedia of Adventure Fiction. Infobase Publishing, 2009. 139. Retrieved from Google Books on January 31, 2012. ISBN 0-8160-7573-5, ISBN 978-0-8160-7573-7.
- ↑ Goldman, William. Marathon Man. Random House Digital, Inc., Jul 3, 2001. p. 237. Retrieved from Google Books on January 9, 2012. ISBN 0-345-43972-4, ISBN 978-0-345-43972-7. '"Here lies Thomas Babington Levy, 1948-1973, Caught by a Cripple."'
- ↑ Goldman, William. Marathon Man. Random House Digital, Inc., Jul 3, 2001. 224. Retrieved from Google Books on January 9, 2012. ISBN 0-345-43972-4, ISBN 978-0-345-43972-7. "After, of course, the great British historian."
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Richard Andersen (1979). William Goldman. Twayne Publishers. p. 94.
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