The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon (Epub)

Description

Sergeant Raymond Shaw, a former prisoner of war, Congressional Medal of Honor winner, and American hero, is transformed into a programmed assassin by a Chinese psychological expert during his captivity in North Korea, and his primary target is a U.S. presidential nominee. Reprint. (A Paramount Pictures film, directed by Jonathan Demme, releasing Summer 2004, starring Denzel Washington & Meryl Streep) (Suspense)

User’s Reviews

Born and raised in New York City, Richard Condon began writing fiction in his forties. He had previously worked in the movie business for more than twenty years as a press agent for Walt Disney productions, putting in time at nearly all of the major studios. In addition to The Manchurian Candidate — a work that many feel disturbingly foreshadowed the assassination of both President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert — he wrote numerous bestsellers, including Prizzi’s Honor and Prizzi’s Family. He died in 1996.

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:

⭐ I could do nothing but love this book and give it no less than 5 stars. This book was published before I was born. The first movie made from it; directed by the great John Frankenheimer, was released before my first birthday. I had to wait until I was in my 20s to ever see it. And I instantly loved it. Yet I never thought to track down a copy of the book.I found the book just wonderful and fascinating. It made me appreciate the two films that were adapted from it even more. While the story; American soldiers in the Korean conflict who are taken and brainwashed by a collective of Russian, Chinese and Korean ‘brain washers’ was shocking for its time, there are other subplots that would never make it past the Hayes Code of 1962 and even in 2016 are shocking.The book’s style is rather unique. It is a bit like the writing of the hard boiled detective novels if the author kept a thesaurus on their desk to drop in obscure and obsolete words and phrases. I was often using the dictionary function of my Kindle. There were even words that stumped the Kindle’s dictionary. The book is manly. Most of the main characters are men or women who act like men of the time. Yet the author repeats the theme of the love of a ‘good woman’ as a redemptive cure for what ails you.The other thing that I found amazing in this almost 60 year old book was that parts of it almost seemed to be ripped from the headlines of today. There is a Senator who is accusing everyone of working with the Russian Communists and who runs to the media to accuse all of his political enemies of this baseless charge.

⭐ Having become, in my very much “later life” (I’m 81) completely “reborn” in terms of involvement in current political events and circumstances, I became enthralled by references being made to previous literary works I’d never been concerned with before. This included references to “The Manchurian Candidate” apropos of our current president’s connection to Russia. While searching for this title on Amazon, I not only discovered a book by Paul Covell (which I haven’t read yet), but also the original novel by Richard Condon, now conveniently available in Kindle. I found it to be an interesting story, although not clearly relating to my current interests or concerns.The story, set while the Soviet Union was still a primary threat, involves the brainwashing of a captured American soldier to turn him into the ultimate assassin, then releasing him as a Medal of Honor recipient for completely fictional deeds of heroism. The brainwashing was actually accomplished not only on the protagonist, but on his entire platoon. However, his commanding officer and another individual from the group eventually broke out of the conditioning, and hence the nefarious scheme (which included the killing of a presidential candidate) was eventually foiled.This book is a good espionage tale, although I found the basic premise of the complete hypnotic conditioning of the entire platoon of soldiers a bit of a “reach”, and also didn’t quite see the connection to present day circumstances. Perhaps as I read the Covell book (which I purchased concurrently) that connection will become clearer. Meanwhile, perhaps Condon’s book has filled in a missing piece of my cultural awareness to some extent; old stories can none-the-less be good stories.

⭐ This is another book (and movie) I missed along the way. I enjoyed the story and the plot; some of the characters could have been developed more fully. We don’t discover that Raymond’s mother had a link to some sinister folks across the Pacific until late, and we are not told how that happened. The story’s pace stumbles somewhat in the first half, but picks up in intensity after the Queen of Diamonds makes her appearance. Raymond is a tough character to like, but also one with whom it’s easy to sympathize. I enjoyed the story and the political intrigue, especially in light of the current landscape. Looking forward to watching both movies. I was also disappointed in reading that several charges of plagiarism were leveled against Condon back in the day, but I couldn’t find out if any cases were successful.

⭐ The Manchurian Candidate was written in 1959 (I think) but it could well describe what happens today. The book takes a while to get started, but once it does, it moves quickly. One of the pleasing things about the movie of the same name made in 1962 with Frank Sinatra and Lawrence Harvey is that it follows the book quite closely. Usually when a movie is ‘based’ on a book, the only thing they have in common is the name. The book brings out the horror of what happened to the men of that patrol, and especially to the sgt. who was programed to kill on command and then have no memory of it. Although people have said that the book is supposed to be a political satire, there was little about it that I found satirical; rather, it was a chilling story of mind control. When Beb beats up the Korean houseboy who is actually an agent, you find yourself cheering him on. Payback of kind! I would recommend this book whether or not you subscribe to conspiracy theories or not.

⭐ Reading this book 50 years after it was written found me disappointed in it entirely! There were a few interesting connections to JFK’s assassination and our current situation, but overall I was surprised that it became the hit that it did. The idea that brainwashing of 10-12 men could be done within 4 days at that point, and to such a deep level, seemed implausible to me! And the sidetracking into some characters’ backgrounds was way too much. The main character’s relationship with his mother was VERY odd and I didn’t think fit the level of his continuous contempt. It’s worth reading to say that you’ve read it since it’s become a classic, though.

⭐ The book starts off slow, and appears to have parts that do not mean much to the story, but once the story grips you, it’s a good story and something that could happen. I found it interesting that the story was written at the same time as JFK was starting his run for the Presidency and assassinations affected real life and fiction. I havent seen the money yet and will soon. Would recommend this book at history and political students

⭐ This classic tale first published in 1959, is a quickly paced psychological thriller. At the center is Sgt. Raymond Shaw, unknowingly chosen as an experiment in human brain washing for political power. To add to the intrigue, there’s a domineering mother, a sad sack step-father, 2 members of Raymond’s platoon with recurring nightmares and love lost, found and lost again.

⭐ The plot and story of THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE is classic, and everyone should read it.But I sure am glad I was reading the kindle edition, because Richard Condon wore out his thesaurus writing this book. I have a fairly large vocabulary, and read a lot of books, but I was looking up words more frequently than I ever have.That being said, this is a timeless classic, dealing with political maneuvering, psychological trauma and manipulation, and limitless ambition for power.

⭐ I have loved the movie the Manchurian Candidate from the first time I saw it in my 20s. The book is even better. I was surprised how much of the book was in the movie. Like the part where Marco and Rosie meet for the first time on the train. I thought that was some movie dialogue because it was so goofy.The background information that you get in the book on things like Raymond’s real father gives insight and understanding of why Raymond’s mother acts the way that she does. It does not explain her ties to everyone.I thought it was funny the way the book stereotypes Marco and the girls he meets always making him spaghetti and having the red sauce fly on his walls. I’m sure that had some symbolic meaning.The description of the fight between Marco and Chujin is easier to understand in the book.I like the fact that throughout the book until you find out who has brainwashed Raymond they only refer to the person as his American Operator. The American Operator is in many scenes before you find out who they but in the movie that wouldn’t have worked so because you would have seen them.The part that is different about the book is the trip to Europe with Raymond’s Mother and the things that he does there.In the book Marco is more cold hearted yet a better friend to Raymond. After all in the book they live together for some time.Raymond relationship with his mother has to be the best part of the book and the things that she pulls on him.The murders in the book are more brutal probably because you have to picture them in your head.Condon’s sardonic humor though out the book gives you the feeling of what people must have gone through in the 50s who were blacklisted.I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes political thrillers this is a real page turner and it was hard to put down.

⭐ Writer seemed interested only in displaying his large vocabulary

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