Few thriller-fans today may have ever read the original book which William Goldman wrote in the early 70s --from which, this much-later work I'm now going to describe to you--is the sequel. The earlier book redefined the thriller genre; was adapted into a fine movie (by the author himself, thankfully) with the most famous leading-men of the day acting in it; and even now it remains a book to which any new thriller must be compared to. That genre-benchmark was 'Marathon Man'--and its still as great as it ever was--though the numbers of readers who wend their way to it have of course, dwindled.In the digital publishing free-for-all occurring today, the only books which attract big sales are those which are currently being advertised and promoted. 'Marathon Man' only has fading word-of-mouth to help attract new fans. Its a shame, because for years, it was considered the single most powerful example of its genre. It is still quietly revered, by a savvy few--and that attests to its impact considering that books today are structured in 'series' or 'franchises'.For a long time too, it was a book no one (likely not even its author) even considered a sequel for. A sequel was unlooked-for because it ('Marathon Man') was not only too unique; too singular a story--but also so perfectly realized. It was dramatically succinct; complete; whole; fulfilled. It didn't need any tinkering, amending, or expanding. Really, to contemplate 'furthering it' might even harm the integrity and purity of the original concept. A great story usually has a firm, decisive ending. Loose ends (like sequels) are the sign of a sloppy product.And William Goldman never writes sloppy. He is a consummate craftsman who always writes to a certain high caliber. You can see it in all his concoctions. He has such a reliable smoothness and poise, such confident grasp of storytelling rhythm. When you flip through one of his page-turners, you always sense that he had a steady goal in mind, some spark which prompted him to labor in the first place. You know there had to be something which intrigued him, some idea to kickstart the process of writing which placed that book currently in your hand. He never writes unless he, himself, is excited about a concept; excited about sharing that concept with readers.That's what I tried to keep in mind when I encountered this sequel (to 'Marathon Man'). I always remind myself to keep faith with Goldman whenever I'm reading one of his more down-market works. 'Control' is another one. Since it didn't make a splash, you wonder whether he maybe botched it. But as I just explained above: he deserves that we trust him. He's 'earned his keep', too many times to give up on him.Nevertheless, I was worried as I cautiously made my way through this strange, (perhaps ill-starred?) add-on to his all-time phenomenon, 'Marathon Man'. Could he do it? Could he pen a sequel to stand alongside MM? If anyone could, surely it would be he.Still. For most of the book I was uneasy. One can't help it. Most Goldman thrillers ...you're just not sure how things will play out. That's his intention. He reserves the 'payoff' until the very last. That's how he writes his thrillers; that's what his knack is. Suspense. So here, my anticipation was two-fronted. First, evaluating the story itself--as a standalone thriller--then, rating how well those thrills might compare to its more famous progenitor (MM).This novel--this sequel--is called 'Brothers' and to fans of 'Marathon Man' the idea of the famous characters from the first book returning for more adventure is at once exciting and nervous-making; nervous, because we want it to be great. Nervous, because we don't want it to suck.Goldman of course, is adroit at exploring 'brother' or 'buddy' relationships. 'Marathon Man' gave us one of the best 'sibling' stories ever. So there's little chance that he's going to fumble that aspect of this continuing saga. And he doesn't: what happens to 'Babe' and 'Doc' in this tale is artistically deft and doesn't mar the earlier story when they meet again for further mayhem. But the overarching storyline in which they re-appear..well..that's perhaps where the weakness lies. I can't help but notice that its nowhere close in accomplishment to the earlier story-model found in MM. But maybe nothing ever can be. Lightning can't strike twice.What we do get though, is the awesomeness of seeing agent Scylla return from the dead; return for more action as only he can deliver. Scylla is every thriller fan's favorite hero. A renaissance butt-kicker. He simply demolishes ass. Sure, its a bit thin as we follow his return..the painful explaining of 'how he didn't really die', the last time we saw him. He was 'whisked away to a private island' and 'held as a hedge (by his agency) against some 'future, unexpected crisis'. Goldman asks a lot from us. We grudgingly let Goldman proceed ...and its okay. But only because the quality of the writing. The concept of this story would not be convincing enough in the hands of any other author. Its frankly, zany. It makes the story of Dr. Christian Szell look as sober as 'Buddenbrooks'. Its a story straight out of, 'The Man from UNCLE' TV series. Yes, that goofy. Someone is killing the world's political leaders, how are they doing it? With child assassins. Woah really? Yes. Who's behind it? That's the plot. Groan!Now the real weirdness of this book--the oddity that other reviews have commented on--is the human freakshow, the various encounters Scylla has along down the fairway of this carnival, as he unravels this bizarre global crisis. He's about to enter a series of perverse adventures more fitting for a Michael Anderson porn film.But here is where Goldman's professionalism comes to the fore. What he treats his readers to is a kind of a romp through sex, drugs, violence, sadism, science, and perversion of the kind you will probably never see in any other thriller. The most god-damned brutal, berserk encounters populate the middle of this story; stuff so weird you will never get rid it fully out of your head. Two giddy-in-love teenagers suddenly enter into a suicide pact; a mad scientist has sex with the girlfriend of a homicidal ex-con; a man gets violently kicked in the balls to test his integrity; a sweet older couple have their faces peeled off by a custom-designed switchblade razor; a man dangles from a hotel ledge by his fingertips; and last (but not least) forced interracial sodomy. All sorts of looney! You wonder what the HELL is this author doing??But he can do it. Goldman can go out on a limb like this and still squeak by. The same material in the hands of a lesser writer would wind up in a box in the closet next to 'The Story of O'. But Goldman alone, gets away with this. It all comes together eventually. There is ultimately a reward for polluting your brain with all this nonsense. You really do just have to trust Goldman. Never forget this! Trust Goldman! He always brings the bacon home!For some reason--maybe he needed money, maybe his last Hollywood expose' had closed doors for him--he turned his mind to the writing of a 'Marathon Man' sequel and this is what we got. Take it or leave it. As crazy as it is, there is still one of the all-time great fight scenes within these pages, as only Goldman can write a fight scene. Its a doozy. Its his other genius, his other trump-card. Goldman never fails to come up with something inventive when describing hand-to-hand combat. Thriller fans can't be remiss about this; you have to read Goldman at minimum, for his fistfight sequences.The giant Scylla bursts in on 'the Blonde' in a skyrise apartment, just after his enemy has finished a hit. Cue adrenalin. These are two of the world's top assassins fighting hand-to-hand combat. To the death. They start maneuvering in a kind of dance. There's just nothing like Goldman's gift for this kind of scene. He's got such fight scenes in almost every books he's ever written. Read him for this, alone! So, there you have it. That's my review. At the end of it all, I'm honored to write this little tribute to his oddball throwaway sequel. It wasn't a publishing success. Its successful only in the sense that it became something else of its own; rather than what was intended. Its good, in spite of its creator's finer aims. Remember that later, during this same period, he came up with 'Princess Bride'. Maybe 'Brothers' is a mistake. But William Goldman is the kind of author who can make mistakes ...and still be better than any 80% of what his competitors produce.
One of the most insane books I've ever read. For the first forty pages, you have no idea what is going on as new characters are continually introduced, each with a unique back story and a voice all their own. Some of the sight gags and jokes are as funny as anything Dave Barry could come up with, particularly an encounter a thug and his girlfriend have with a black porn actor. The action is punched up to unbelievable levels, and there are so many twists and turns, you will be kept in suspense until the closing pages. And the climax itself is sheer lunacy! The most messed up, tasteless, grotesque event imaginable. A bravo performance. A top shelf thriller. Beats any of the best sellers out there today by a mile.
What do You think about Brothers (1986)?
this book was fucking bizarre. honestly i am very upset....marathon man was the perfect book and, like, my hopes were not high, ok, everyone said this could not compare, that it was a mess, but no one told me it was a homophobic mess as well! there were parts i did enjoy reading because i really do love goldman's writing but mostly it was just upsetting. and, y'know, ridiculous and overdone and why was there a super super unnecessary attempted rape scene and honestly what was up with the end? what was up with that? i do not understandread marathon man do not read this
—aud
Brothers - a sequel to Marathon Man - is completely over the top. Goldman may well have written this on an opiate/alcohol bender. It could be one of the most egregious Mary Sue offences ever, but I loved it. It's as if Goldman figured "Edged Weapons" was an unappreciated masterpiece, but suffered from an excess of subtlety.There will never be a movie. The plot reads like Get Smart delivered with a straight face, but why did I love it?Perhaps because of Goldman's gift for literary slo-mo, and the audaciousness to fuck Dustin Hoffman's character from Marathon Man so deeply in the ass. As I read the book, I constantly imagined Roy Scheider reprising his role as Scylla, so successfully did he convey the idea of Scylla in his abbreviated role in Schlesinger's adaptation of the first instalment. The death of Scheider - such a loss.Goldman has a gift for showing the reader something before pulling the rug from under them. One of the best examples of this is from The Color of Light, where, between chapters, a child is apparently saved, yet lost. It's reminiscent of a particular scene in John Irving's The World According to Garp, where the fate of a child is unexplained for a chapter or two, until the awful truth is revealed. In this novel, this concept is used to articulate the twists and turns of the secret agent genre, but also, it signposts a terrible tragedy early in the piece, which later feeds into a tragic, if somewhat chaotic, bitter end.There's no moral to the story here, but the alias "Elmer Snerd" will forever be a memorable counterpoint to Ian Fleming's cooler than cool "Bond, James Bond" idiom.
—Jesse
