Marathon Man (novel)
First edition
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| Author | William Goldman |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Paul Bacon |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Conspiracy thriller |
| Publisher | Delacorte Press |
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Publication date
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1974 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 309 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 940709 |
| 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.
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.
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 father (in the movie version, it's his brother) in New York City. This involves a secret intelligence agency named "The Division".
Meanwhile, at Columbia University, Thomas Babington "Babe" Levy (the first and middle names are a reference to Thomas Babington Macaulay, and the nickname is a reference to Babe Ruth) 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 Communist affiliations. Unbeknownst to Babe, his elder brother by ten years (and best friend), 'Doc', works in The Division.
Doc, who operates under the alias "Scylla", is murdered by Dr. Szell. Before he dies, Doc goes to Babe and dies in his brother's arms. Szell believes that Doc had told Babe about whether the diamonds he was planning to take are "safe" to take, so 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.
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