The Man with the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren

[George]

Please comment here on’The Man with the Golden Arm’ by Nelson Algren, 1950 National Book Award winner.

[Irene]

I am more than half way through. The writing is amazing. He creates such a vivid sense of place and characters that I could be in the room with these people. Of course, that also means that this is a difficult and exhausting book since the story is so dark and the characters so broken and desperate.

[Irene]

The Man With The Golden Arm by Nelson Algren
Irene (Harborcreek, PA)’s review of The Man with the Golden Arm | Goodreads

Algren brings a world to life with such clarity that I could hear the glasses clink in the bar, smell the unwashed bodies and cheap perfume, feel the bitter desperation of the characters. The dialogue is perfect. As a result, this novel is emotionally exhausting and so hard to read.

[George]

I am two thirds the way through this book. Yes, this is a well written novel with very realistic characters. I particularly like the conversations where criminals provide excuses for their seemingly obvious crimes to law enforcement officers.

There are a lot of sad, tragic, hopeless characters. There is not a much plot momentum and the characters lives do not seem to be improving! Still, I want to know how each of these well developed characters end up. A very worthwhile, interesting read.

[Irene]

I agree that the back and forth between court officials and those being booked was entertaining.

[George]

I finally finished the novel.

I found the book an interesting, sad, tragic, depressing, sometimes humorous, realistic, character based novel. Frankie Machine is a sad, hopeless character, as are those he associates with.

I found the novel a struggle to read during the second half as things go from bad to worse!

This book is very well written with very well developed characters and realistic dialogue.

A worthwhile, memorable read.

[Irene]

I had the 50th anniversary edition which had a number of essays. In one, it said that Algren was originally part of the team to adapt the book to a movie, but left, angry with the direction the movie script was taking. Later, after the movie became a huge success, he denied any connection between the book and the movie. Has anyone seen the movie? If so, how does it differ from the book?