The Manchurian Candidate

By: Richard Condon

Narrated by: Christopher Hurt

Buried deep within the consciousness of Sergeant Raymond Shaw is the mechanism of an assassin, a time bomb ticking toward explosion, controlled by the delicate skill of its Communist masters. Shaw returns from the Korean War to an idolizing and unsuspecting country. In a farcical, uproarious scene, he is greeted amid flashbulbs and frock coats by his power-hungry, domineering mother and her politician husband, who have decided to use Shaw's fame to further their own unscrupulous ambitions. What follows is at once a spy story, a love story, and a sobering, yet outrageously funny satire on demagoguery in American politics. Two tender love stories provide an undercurrent theme: the powers of light against the powers of dark. Shaw, the pawn, the brainwashed, is caught between the forces struggling for his soul.©1959 by Richard Condon (P)1995 by Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"A psychoanalytic horror tale...and an irate sociopolitical satire." (The New York Times)
"Filled with that 'un-put-downable' element which makes this sort of [listening] a great deal of fun indeed." (San Francisco Chronicle)

What a wonderful title!

Both the author and the narrator of this book are truly skilled and make this title a genuine treat. The speed of both the plot and narration are perfectly excecuted and the characterization is superb. What is an excellent plot is made even better by this narration!

Great story; great narrator.

I've seen both versions of the movie, but they didn't take anything away from the book version. Excellent writing.

Balancing terror with humor with shocking effect

In the pale light of our North American crime wave in Washington. The Russians and Chinese use of “brainwashing” seems ironically amateur.

Monotonous performance

Great story, but unfortunately, I struggled to finish due to the monotony of the naration.

Why was I reading phrases from Robert Grave’s “I, Claudius”

I can certainly understand why Robert Graves would be a model for an extraordinary writer, but this author has literally lifted exact phrasing from his historical fiction novel, “I, Claudius”. I would invite anyone to read the passages about Livia and Augustus, her previous marriage and divorce from Tiberius Claudius Nero, and subsequent marriage to Augustus - literally the EXACT same situation, relationships, characterization of personalities and phrasing. Why?

a classic

struggled to finish. good basic story but no excitement but shows how brain washing done

Well Known Political Thriller

The Manchurian Candidate is possibly best known from its film adaptations, the first being the old black and white version starring Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury, and the second being more modern featuring Denzel Washington and Liev Schrieber. I have only seen the first of these adaptations, and can say that the film version does not stray very far from the novel it is adapted from. I am curious about reading the novel more, as the narrators delivery was a bit bumpy. It was noir-ish and while not terrible, I think his delivery downplayed significantly tense events. The sound quality overall left something to be desired as this sounded like an old recording. All in all not a bad listen, but not a great one.

Better than the movie...

I loved this book and now have to pull out my copy of the movie so I can see how much they missed (don't recall the special relationship with Raymond and his Mother so much). I always liked the movie but sometimes find it confusing. The book was pretty easy to follow. Such a good story, especially for you MK Ultra junkies. Narration was good but it's the same reader who reads Stranger in a Strange Land and I had to listen a couple of times to get Valentine Smith out of my head. But all in all, well performed and I'll probably listen a third time.

Relevant even today.

Very revealing and prophetic. Was unaware until reading this how pervasive the cancer of those who use fear mongering to achieve their goals even back then. So much reminded me of recent past events

Great listen!

Wow what a great listen. I saw the original movie years ago. But had never read the book. I enjoyed it very much.