Richard Condon (1) (1915–1996)

The Manchurian Candidate tells a completely implausible story - or does it?

Following his capture by Soviet troops during the Korean War, a U.S. soldier named Raymond Shaw is brainwashed and turned into the perfect killing machine. Ultimately, his mission -- eight years in the future -- is to assassinate a leading American political figure (using a Soviet sniper rifle). This would put the candidate favoured by the Soviets and Communist Chinese into the White House.

Within four years of its show more publication, the book was seen as prescient following the assassination -- by sniper -- of President John F. Kennedy. That assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, had lived for some time in Soviet Russia, though no one alleged that he had been brainwashed into carrying out the attack.

More than a half century later, some saw parallels to The Manchurian Candidate in the allegations of post-Soviet Russian interference in another U.S. presidential election.

But even without those examples, the book's completely bonkers idea that a person could be programmed to become an assassin is less crazy than it might appear. Early in the book, one of the leading characters, a Chinese scientist who is demonstrating to his Soviet and Chinese superiors the success of his method, cites a number of articles and books that back up his theory. And the truly strange thing is this: all the books and articles he cites are real, and we can read them today.

Interestingly, during the Second World War there were some suggestions that this could be done, and that at least one high-profile Nazi held in Britain might be "hypnotised" into returning to Germany and assassinating Himmler. But it was never tried.

The author, Richard Condon, was probably not suggesting that one could (or should) turn people like Raymond Shaw into robotic killing machines. His book is more of a satire of the Cold War and American politics of the McCarthy era (with Shaw's step-father cast as the McCarthy figure).

But it does make one think. show less

Condon's The Manchurian Candidate is sometimes apt: "Iselin is a man who shall forever stand guard at the door of the mind to protect the people of this great nation from facts.” It is often weighty, filled with handfuls of mot recherché and esoteric allusions: "He felt the sadness of Lucifer." It is sometimes flippant: "Their brains had not merely been washed, they had been dry-cleaned." But, it is always compelling.
Raymond Shaw has been taken to Manchuria, along with all the other show more members of his captive platoon, by Chinese and Russian agents who succeed using Pavlovian response theory to so deeply hypnotize him that they can control him for years to come as an assassin spreading chaos through the West. The other members of his unit are hypnotized into believing that Shaw performed actions so heroic that they were deserving of the Medal of Honor which will give Shaw tremendous influence. Yen Lo, the genius who has developed the brain washing technique has Shaw murder coldly two of his mates, Mavole and Lembeck by way of demonstration. Lieutenant Ben Marco who has been brainwashed sufficiently to submit the imaginary heroic action for consideration a few months after the captives are returned to the battleground has absorbed the hypnosis consciously but is haunted by his subconscious through constant nightmares of the brutal murders of Mavole and Lembeck.
The moving force of this novel is Raymond Shaw's mother, a malevolent, incestuous, drug addicted, megalomaniacal, manipulative force behind Raymond, and her husband Johnny Iselin whom she scheming to advance to the U.S. Presidency. show less

Your Wife or Your Life
Review of the Berkeley Books movie tie-in edition paperback (June, 1985) of the Coward, McCann & Geoghegan hardcover original (March, 1982).

"There is no choice, Charley. The existence of the Prizzi family is in your hands."...
"But she is my wife, Padrino." Charley's voice broke.
"She is your wife, we are your life," his father said. "Tell us your answer, Charley."

I just had to do a re-read of Prizzi's Honor when I found its author Richard Condon listed in Christopher show more Fowler's The Book of Forgotten Authors (2017). How could the author of books such as The Manchurian Candidate (1959) be forgotten? Admittedly it would be difficult to find one of Condon's books in a bricks & mortar bookstore these days, even if the 1959 novel was resurrected as recently as its 2004 film adaptation with Denzel Washington. The title itself has become somewhat of a catchphrase for describing a political candidate being a front for someone else. I remember it being used as a description of Donald Trump being manipulated by Vladimir Putin for instance.

In any case, Prizzi's Honor did not fail to entertain even in what must have been my upteenth reading of it. The satirical tale of a mob family protecting its so-called "honor" (which was simply the desire for more wealth and power) was just as hilarious, but also as cold-blooded as ever. The story can of course be read as a parable for all sorts of corrupt business or political families. The Prizzi saga continued with 3 additional books with the improbably entry of former family hitman Charley Partanna into the American political world. No one at GR has even bothered to do a Listopia of the books which, in addition, are Prizzi's Family (#2 1987), Prizzi's Glory (#3 1988) and Prizzi's Money (#4 1994). Perhaps that is another sign of being forgotten.

Trivia and Links
Prizzi's Honor was adapted for the same-titled 1985 film by director John Huston with a screenplay by author Richard Condon with Janet Roach. Anjelica Huston won the Best Supporting Female Actor Oscar for her performance as Maerose Prizzi. You can watch the trailer for the film here, and an extended clip with Anjelica Huston and William Hickey as the head of the Prizzi family, Don Corrado Prizzi here. show less

You've probably heard about the movie, but not the book, but please read the book, and don't see the movie. If you are going to see the movie, see the original with Frank Sinatra.

This book blew me away because never had I read a book so full of characters I despised. One character is so disrespected by the author that he does not even give her a name and she is a main character in the book. This book touches on many mores and I understand why it has study guides. It is a brilliant and show more thought and provoking book, but keep in mind that it is a work of fiction. show less