William Goldman’s Suspense Thriller Marathon Man: Is it Safe?
Truth be told it is William Goldman who was the true master of suspense in the late 70s, and not Stephen King. Stephen King would probably be the first to agree; he’s a big fan of William Goldman; why not, it was Goldman who wrote the screenplay for Misery. Marathon Man is the kind of suspense thriller that just doesn’t appear very often, combining a fast-moving plot filled with unexpected twists and turns with unusually deep characterizations. The first half of Marathon Man reads like a split-screen narrative, shifting back and forth between the story grad student Babe Levy as he attempts to put together his dissertation in history while training to become a marathon runner, and a mysterious killer for hire known simpy as Scylla.
Of course before we get to that, the reader is treated to a hilariously violent episode in which two old men men give in to road rage that results in fiery death.
How this accident and the death of one of these men will bring the two disconnected stories of Babe and Scylla together is simply the first of an ever-mounting series mysteries in Marathon Man that will eventually be revealed. It turns out that Babe and Scylla are actually brothers; don’t worry, that’s not really a spoiler since that particular revelation comes fairly early in the tale. The two brothers couldn’t be more different.
It turns out that not only is Scylla an assassin, but he’s actually in the employ of the a shadowy government agency that feels more realistic today than when the novel was written. Of course, Babe doesn’t know any of this; he’s under the impression that his brother is a big business type whom Babe looks upon with a certain level of scorn. Scylla and Babe are soon forced to confront each other’s secrets because the government agency’s role in dealing with a former Nazi dentist undergoes a dramatic and unexpected transformation.
There is historical basis for the US dealing with Nazi war criminals and this fascistic leaning of the American government is an omnipresent undertone of Marathon Man. That dissertation that Babe is working on is concerned with the fascistic elements of the US, including the communist witch hunt and the detention of Japanese-Americans during World War II. The Nazi dentist is a representative of just how dirty America has been willing to get its hands in exchange for what it wants.
Things have been running smoothly for the Nazi dentist, but something has happened that now forces him to come to America from the South American hiding place that has protected him. The Nazi is forced to come to America despite fears that, well, it isn’t safe. The cause for his undertaking this dangerous trip has to do with diamonds in New York. And against all odds, the only person standing in his way is the somewhat nerdy grad student who dreams of running the lonely long distance of the marathon.
The tension in Marathon Man is nearly unbearable, and the story goes through more plot twists and surprises than should even be possible in such a relatively short novel. The characterizations in Marathon Man are so much more deeply fleshed out than in your typical suspense novel or thriller. And the really amazing thing about Marathon Man is it never feels as if the plot is driving the characters; a common complaint made against the suspense novels of such writers as Robert Ludlum or Tom Clancy. Amazingly for such a quick read-this is one of those novels that you can begin and finish on a lazy Sunday afternoon quite easily-at times it feels more like a character study than a thriller.
The most famous scene in Marathon Man-perhaps infamous would be a more apt description-is of course the “Is it safe?” scene. William Goldman probably never made a more brilliantly creative decision in his life than in making his Nazi villain a dentist. Some might be tempted to say that a Nazi dentist is an oxymoron. Not only does the Nazi dentist, Szell, possess in spades the requisite sadistic qualities that we suspect all dentists must have, but he also possesses the sadism that we know all Nazis did have. Combining the two was nothing short of sublime, and the harrowing scene Goldman writes where Szell tortures Babe through simple dentistry has never been topped in terms of sheer dramatic potency.
Marathon Man is a classic of the suspense thriller genre and is just another major accomplishment from the man responsible responsible for both the novel and filim versions of The Princess Bride, as well as the screenplays for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President’s Men.
