Marathon Man: A Novel by William Goldman (Epub)

Description

At Columbia University, Thomas “Babe” Levy, a postgrad history student and aspiring marathon runner, is working to clear his late father’s name after the scandal of his suicide, triggered by the McCarthy hearings and accusations of Communist affiliations.

In Paraguay, Dr. Christian Szell, former Nazi dentist and protégé of Josef Mengele, has been in exile for decades. Infamous as the “White Angel of Auschwitz,” he’s leaving his South American sanctuary to smuggle a fortune in gems out of New York City.

Meanwhile, in London’s Kensington Gardens, an international assassin known only as Scylla has completed a hit. A man with too many secrets and twice as many enemies, Scylla has become a target himself, with only one place left to turn.

Then, when Babe’s revered older brother, Doc, pays him a fateful and unexpected visit, it sets in motion a chain of events plunging Babe into a paranoid nightmare of family betrayal, international conspiracy, and the dark crimes of history. Now, the marathon man is running for his life, and closer to answering a single cryptic and terrifying question: “Is it safe?”

William Goldman’s Marathon Man was adapted by the author for the award-winning 1976 film starring Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier. Upon its publication, the Washington Post called it “one of the best novels of the year,” and it remains a powerful, horrifying read. In the words of #1 New York Times–bestselling author Harlan Coben: “I found myself racing through it. You could have put a gun to my head, and I wouldn’t have been able to put [Marathon Man] down.”
This ebook features a biography of William Goldman.

User’s Reviews

Review “One hell of a read.” —The Washington Post “A cliff-hanger. . . . International skull-duggery, clandestine mayhem and sweet revenge.” —Fort Worth Star-Telegram “An exciting—often funny, often sad—chase. . . . Goldman does a masterly job.” —Associated Press

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ Something which defines William Goldman’s writing is his cleverness. His dead-pan jokes color the various twists in his plot and make the characters more interesting. (It could be noted that, perhaps, his bad guys are more compelling than the good, though that’s my opinion).Marathon Man is the story of a young college student and runner who discovers that the two people closest to him – his beloved brother and beautiful girlfriend – are not who they say they are. Central to the plot are Nazis trying to live out the rest of their days in luxury, undetected and unpunished for their crimes. As Goldman writes, there’s no better bad guy than a Nazi. Thus all the revolving players must slowly converge for betrayal, torture, and fighting for their lives.

⭐ This book had flashes of excellent writing but was marred by plot holes the size of Jupiter, annoying, unnecessary details, (Seriously!! Stop with the dumb nicknames!) and an unrealistic, weak ending.The reason for the main character’s possession and expertise with a gun was completely unbelievable. Twisted. The recurring toothache was an annoying, unnecessary detail. Why bother? The final scenes seem completely outside his character and the ending is unsatisfactory.I was interested in reading this based on the glowing reviews, but in relooking at the common themes, I’d suggest that you rent the movie instead.

⭐ The best thriller I’ve ever read. Better than the movie, but both are 5-stars.If you love 1970’s NYC, this is your story.Goldman spins a masterful tale. No dull moments and NAZIs.

⭐ I did not really know much about the book going in, but it did not disappoint (and now I really want to watch the movie). The characters are pretty well fleshed out (maybe the main character a little too much so), and the suspense is tangible. I will say, I actually liked a few of the side characters quite a bit more than the main guy (he was a little whiny through most of it), but he improved as the book went on.Without getting too spoiler-y, I can say I was VERY happy that Babe was not just making stupid decisions throughout the book. As his character grew and changed (realistically), he was largely responsible for his own success/failure, and that is refreshing. Too often authors get lazy, their characters do not spot the obvious, and they make idiotic decisions based on their own stupidity. Not (so much) the case with Babe, and it really made for a fantastic narrative.The reason it only gets 4 stars? Golding has a tendency to be a bit *too* verbose at times. It doesn’t detract much, but it would be better if he could cut some his longer paragraphs down.

⭐ Magnificent page turner. Given that Mr. Goldman recently passed, it seemed fitting to try one of his novels. Ranks with the very best stories! Many surprises, and written in a fast, unique style. Required reading, IMHO.

⭐ My first exposure to Goldman was “The Princess Bride”, a brilliant, comical tale of adventure, romance, and adventure. This novel is decidedly darker, but also very smartly put-together. I somehow never saw the Hoffman-Olivier film (though I see it’s now on Amazon Prime), so this was entirely new to me. Strongly recommended.

⭐ I read this book decades ago when I was in high school and remember loving it. I thought I would reread it to see if it would be as good as I thought it was or if I was viewing it through rose – colored glasses. Well, to me, it still holds up. There are multiple spots around the second half the book where Goldman changes the whole direction of the story with a single sentence. (Saying more would give too much away.) These twists may seem obvious or cliche to some readers but I still feel that they are well done and enjoyed experiencing them again. It is not a long book and is definitely worth your time!

⭐ William Goldman is a writer in a class by himself. Do you want a thriller you will never forget, read Marathon Man! This story starts out on a run and goes for there. The villain is evil incarnate. The hero discovers his brother is not the businessman he thought, but a spy. Reading this book will change you forever.

⭐ Tense. Thrilling. Very human characters. Wrapped in history. Loved Babe, the Marathon Man – realistically nerdy, deep, academic, passionate, learning, messing up, standing for what’s genuinely right. Felt like I was inside Babe’s skin – that’s how good it was. And I’m not a 25-year-old man, I’m a 73-year-old woman. I’ll remember this book a long time.

⭐ 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.

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