The Manchurian Candidate

A very interesting look at mind control - but I think the true strength of this book is how it looks at mind control...how this control is accepted as a means to an end by those that are aware of the control; an element of control that is much deeper and much more insidious than just political contr......more

If Kurt Vonnegut had written a political thriller it would have read a lot like this. The Manchurian Candidate is famous now for two reasons. First, it has inspired two films, one directed by John Frankenheimer in 1962, the other by Jonathon Demme in 2004. Second, it has proven as gloomily prophetic......more

Who doesn't like a little bit of mind control? A strange book. A thriller with little to no suspense. In fact, it feels more like a satire of late '50s American politics. Condon writes in a noir-ish style, that makes the narrative voice seem distant, more or less commenting on what happens. I got the......more

The Manchurian Candidate is a novel about conditioning, control and manipulation - and brilliantly explores all these topics. It's concise, well written and one of those brilliant books that you have to read with a straight face because you can't decide whether to laugh or grimace. Sergeant Raymond S......more

Intelligent, sharp satire disguised as a Ludlum-esque political thriller. I saw the '04 movie, which completely eliminated the dark-comedy elements of the story, long before I read the book, which colored my expectations to a certain degree. The movie is a very good action movie. The book is humorou......more