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Acclaimed for such Academy Award—winning screenplays as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and such thrillers as Marathon Man, not to mention the bestselling classic The Princess Bride, William Goldman stands as one of the most beloved writers in America. But long before these triumphs, he caused a sensation with his brilliant first novel, a powerful story of reckless youth that was hailed as a worthy rival to The Catcher in the Rye.
THE TEMPLE OF GOLD
Ray Trevitt is coming of age in the American midwest of the late 1950s. Handsome, restless, eager to live life and to find his place in the world, Ray hurtles headlong through a young man’s rite of passage–searching for answers and somewhere to belong. What he discovers is that within friendships and love affairs, army tours and married life, victory and tragedy, lie the experiences that will shape his destiny, scar his soul, and ultimately teach him profound lessons he never expected.
THE TEMPLE OF GOLD
Ray Trevitt is coming of age in the American midwest of the late 1950s. Handsome, restless, eager to live life and to find his place in the world, Ray hurtles headlong through a young man’s rite of passage–searching for answers and somewhere to belong. What he discovers is that within friendships and love affairs, army tours and married life, victory and tragedy, lie the experiences that will shape his destiny, scar his soul, and ultimately teach him profound lessons he never expected.
280 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1957
94 people are currently reading
1297 people want to read
About the author
William Goldman
89 books2,669 followersGoldman grew up in a Jewish family in Highland Park, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, and obtained a BA degree at Oberlin College in 1952 and an MA degree at Columbia University in 1956.His brother was the late James Goldman, author and playwright.
William Goldman had published five novels and had three plays produced on Broadway before he began to write screenplays. Several of his novels he later used as the foundation for his screenplays.
In the 1980s he wrote a series of memoirs looking at his professional life on Broadway and in Hollywood (in one of these he famously remarked that "Nobody knows anything"). He then returned to writing novels. He then adapted his novel The Princess Bride to the screen, which marked his re-entry into screenwriting.
Goldman won two Academy Awards: an Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay for All the President's Men. He also won two Edgar Awards, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Best Motion Picture Screenplay: for Harper in 1967, and for Magic (adapted from his own 1976 novel) in 1979.
Goldman died in New York City on November 16, 2018, due to complications from colon cancer and pneumonia. He was eighty-seven years old.
William Goldman had published five novels and had three plays produced on Broadway before he began to write screenplays. Several of his novels he later used as the foundation for his screenplays.
In the 1980s he wrote a series of memoirs looking at his professional life on Broadway and in Hollywood (in one of these he famously remarked that "Nobody knows anything"). He then returned to writing novels. He then adapted his novel The Princess Bride to the screen, which marked his re-entry into screenwriting.
Goldman won two Academy Awards: an Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay for All the President's Men. He also won two Edgar Awards, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Best Motion Picture Screenplay: for Harper in 1967, and for Magic (adapted from his own 1976 novel) in 1979.
Goldman died in New York City on November 16, 2018, due to complications from colon cancer and pneumonia. He was eighty-seven years old.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 124 reviews
July 2, 2025
Стара книжка, с доста опърпана жълта корица, а на нея - Гунга Дун, надуващ своята тръба, покачен върху златния храм на моето юношество.
Четена и препрочитана неведнъж книга, незнайно как открита в дебрите на огромната библиотека на родителите ми.
Много, много любим роман, с наистина незабравими и вечни герои.
Еврипид и Зок са моите спасители в ръжта, други не ми трябват!
Четена и препрочитана неведнъж книга, незнайно как открита в дебрите на огромната библиотека на родителите ми.
Много, много любим роман, с наистина незабравими и вечни герои.
Еврипид и Зок са моите спасители в ръжта, други не ми трябват!
March 14, 2016
there is something so annoying yet so forgiveable about a first novel that is less about adventure and more about how the author thinks they have discovered What Life Is Truly All About. these kinds of novels often combine youthful idealism and cynicism in an awkward way that manages to be both refreshingly honest and irritatingly pretentious. oh where is that golden temple of satisfaction that we all strive so aimlessly towards? oh isn't life such a sad disappointment after all? where is this life leading us to: is that all there is?
Temple's combination of genuine sincerity and young-man-angry-at-the world IS often eye-rolling... but, just as often, it is sweetly fetching. it's easy to form a guilty kind of crush on this appealing and sensitive young novel. it means well, and it's ever so earnest.
the best time to have read this would have been in high school; the bitterness may have appeared less dogmatic. still, the protagonist deserves his place on the bookshelf between Catcher in the Rye's aggravating seeker of truths and The Wanderers' gang of confused malcontents.
Temple's combination of genuine sincerity and young-man-angry-at-the world IS often eye-rolling... but, just as often, it is sweetly fetching. it's easy to form a guilty kind of crush on this appealing and sensitive young novel. it means well, and it's ever so earnest.
the best time to have read this would have been in high school; the bitterness may have appeared less dogmatic. still, the protagonist deserves his place on the bookshelf between Catcher in the Rye's aggravating seeker of truths and The Wanderers' gang of confused malcontents.
August 14, 2018
I loved this book so much that when I started reading The Princess Bride and Goldman said in the introduction that "nobody cherished" The Temple of Gold, I immediately put down the book and wrote him a letter. It was a very long time ago that I read it, but I never forgot Raymond Euripides Trevitt and still quote him to this day--"I shall endeavor."
September 12, 2007
Better than Catcher in the Rye. There, I said it.
January 24, 2013
I read it around 1962 when I was in high school. A certain passage has stuck with me ever since. A new boy moves in next door, same age as our 12-year-old protagonist, and here is the first meeting:
A wonderfully-described friendship grows through junior high and high school. Then 43 pages later on their last night before parting to separate colleges and, they know, separate lives, feeling awkward and sad and yet cocky and on the verge of a new world:
Maybe I remember it because it so closely resembled my own boyhood friendship with an unlikely companion.
From that point, the rest of the novel is less satisfying. Very believable characters start doing unbelievable things. Goldman is such a compelling writer, you tend to forgive that he lets the plot determine what he writes so that the characters don't quite fit in. I'd rather he let the characters determine the plot.
Goldman graduated from Oberlin in 1952, just five years before this book was published. I guess it's no surprise that the description of high school years was so vivid and true, while the adult behavior seems more imagined.
My quibbles are only quibbles. Any writer who creates a passage I can still remember after 40 years has done something rare and valuable.
"I hear you're an absolute angel," I said to him that morning.
"I hear you're not," he came right back, which threw me, because I didn't know how the news had spread so fast.
A wonderfully-described friendship grows through junior high and high school. Then 43 pages later on their last night before parting to separate colleges and, they know, separate lives, feeling awkward and sad and yet cocky and on the verge of a new world:
"Well, Zocker," I said, belting him one on the arm, "don't take any wooden nickels."
"My mother has already warned me."
"And stay loose."
"I shall," he said. "I shall endeavor to try."
"Do endeavor so," I said, imitating him.
We shook hands. "Good-by," I said.
"Good-by, Euripedes."
"Good-by."
But neither of us moved.
"I hear you're an absolute angel," I said finally.
"I hear you're not," he said.
Then we both ran.
Maybe I remember it because it so closely resembled my own boyhood friendship with an unlikely companion.
From that point, the rest of the novel is less satisfying. Very believable characters start doing unbelievable things. Goldman is such a compelling writer, you tend to forgive that he lets the plot determine what he writes so that the characters don't quite fit in. I'd rather he let the characters determine the plot.
Goldman graduated from Oberlin in 1952, just five years before this book was published. I guess it's no surprise that the description of high school years was so vivid and true, while the adult behavior seems more imagined.
My quibbles are only quibbles. Any writer who creates a passage I can still remember after 40 years has done something rare and valuable.
September 1, 2014
Удоволствие!
И втория път я изгълтах неусетно. Странното е, че за осем години съвсем бях забравила какво се случва, въпреки че отново ми харесва със същата сила. Взех я на заем - любимата книга на най-добрия ми приятел; сега си я купих за два лева на старо. Тогава я четох до четири сутринта, този път ми отне едно пътуване от Варна до София.
Сякаш всичко става толкова лесно при Реймънд Еврипид Тревит - и дивотиите, и фаталните грешки и преодоляването им. Няма никакво съжаление в тази забележително четивна история. С прикрита лекота почти и не усещаш кога и как те докосва. Когато стигнах до последната страница, започнах да чета много бавно, а след последната точка си казвах "Не, не, не..." Не защо свърши така, а защо въобще свърши.
Толкова естествено се излива цялата история, съвсем логична в нелогичността си. Един от любимите ми моменти:
"Дявол да го вземе, да се оженя за теб е безсмислено. Ти си човек на място. Няма да има смисъл... Но някой като Тери... В това има смисъл... Да провърви с момиче като Тери... Т о в а е нещо."
Дяволска логика. Дяволска. Трънливия път до Златния храм, който... е, няма да издавам края. :)
Ще ми е интересно след още осем години пак да я препрочета. Струва си. И съм сигурна в това, както че Бог е създал зелените ябълки. :)
И втория път я изгълтах неусетно. Странното е, че за осем години съвсем бях забравила какво се случва, въпреки че отново ми харесва със същата сила. Взех я на заем - любимата книга на най-добрия ми приятел; сега си я купих за два лева на старо. Тогава я четох до четири сутринта, този път ми отне едно пътуване от Варна до София.
Сякаш всичко става толкова лесно при Реймънд Еврипид Тревит - и дивотиите, и фаталните грешки и преодоляването им. Няма никакво съжаление в тази забележително четивна история. С прикрита лекота почти и не усещаш кога и как те докосва. Когато стигнах до последната страница, започнах да чета много бавно, а след последната точка си казвах "Не, не, не..." Не защо свърши така, а защо въобще свърши.
Толкова естествено се излива цялата история, съвсем логична в нелогичността си. Един от любимите ми моменти:
"Дявол да го вземе, да се оженя за теб е безсмислено. Ти си човек на място. Няма да има смисъл... Но някой като Тери... В това има смисъл... Да провърви с момиче като Тери... Т о в а е нещо."
Дяволска логика. Дяволска. Трънливия път до Златния храм, който... е, няма да издавам края. :)
Ще ми е интересно след още осем години пак да я препрочета. Струва си. И съм сигурна в това, както че Бог е създал зелените ябълки. :)
February 4, 2010
I read this book in 1970, and it had an enormous impact on me. I'm not going to read it again because I don't want it out of time. J. D. Salinger just died, and I won't reread Franny and Zooey either. I'd rather remember them both as the most amazing books I've read in my life and leave the books and their brilliantly timely authors there.
February 2, 2024
Старогръцка трагедия, в която божествата на объркана Америка от 1954 г. забъркват също така елементи на модерен абсурд и безпътица, както и немалко хумор. Истинският хумор сякаш в основата си винаги е тъжен и страшно сериозен, така както и главният герой Еврипид, дори в следвоенна Америка, все пак отговаря на името си повече отколкото сам иска и предполага.
Към края Голдън ме поизгуби, но като цяло е силна книга.
3,5⭐️
——
▶️ Цитати:
“Нас не ни помнят с това, което сме били, нито с постъпките, които истински ни обрисуват, а много често с нещо дребно, нещо неприсъщо, сторено, когато сме прекрачили само за миг извън обичайната орбита на нашия живот.”
“Можеш да ги [рибките] поставиш в малък съд или в огромен басейн, пак ще плуват, ще се въртят в кръг, сигурно щастливи и никога няма да се оплакват. Намерили са разковничето. Нещо, с което малцина от нас могат да се похвалят.”
“Ако съм се отнесъл несправедливо към родителите си, било е неволно. Те бяха добро семейство, доколкото едно семейство може да бъде добро, и нямам никакви оплаквания. Това, което съм, предполагам, е или поради, или въпреки тях, което в края на краищата е едно и също. ”
“хората обичат да използват всеки удобен случай, за да изтъкнат, че нямат предразсъдъци, дори когато ги имат. Да могат по-късно да кажат: „В училище имах добър приятел, който беше католик“ или „Веднъж излязох с една еврейка и тя беше истинска дама“.”
Към края Голдън ме поизгуби, но като цяло е силна книга.
3,5⭐️
——
▶️ Цитати:
“Нас не ни помнят с това, което сме били, нито с постъпките, които истински ни обрисуват, а много често с нещо дребно, нещо неприсъщо, сторено, когато сме прекрачили само за миг извън обичайната орбита на нашия живот.”
“Можеш да ги [рибките] поставиш в малък съд или в огромен басейн, пак ще плуват, ще се въртят в кръг, сигурно щастливи и никога няма да се оплакват. Намерили са разковничето. Нещо, с което малцина от нас могат да се похвалят.”
“Ако съм се отнесъл несправедливо към родителите си, било е неволно. Те бяха добро семейство, доколкото едно семейство може да бъде добро, и нямам никакви оплаквания. Това, което съм, предполагам, е или поради, или въпреки тях, което в края на краищата е едно и също. ”
“хората обичат да използват всеки удобен случай, за да изтъкнат, че нямат предразсъдъци, дори когато ги имат. Да могат по-късно да кажат: „В училище имах добър приятел, който беше католик“ или „Веднъж излязох с една еврейка и тя беше истинска дама“.”
August 13, 2013
Maybe the best novel of its kind that I've read. A coming of age story with all the trappings you'd expect (sex, drinking, episodic storytelling, humor and tragedy) and a heavy dose of excellent writing and character work. William Goldman does the majority if his character development through dialogue, which makes sense given his later Oscar. Even minor characters that only stick around for a scene or so get the full benefit of his spectacular words. It really scares anybody with thoughts of becoming a winter that he sprung fully formed from the void. And maybe it's even more inspiring than scary.
May 2, 2017
Uh-no. Boring.
December 31, 2016
Probably one of the most important books I have ever read and far better than Catcher in The Rye. It isn't just about coming of age, it's about how one deals with the pressure that comes when you move into adult hood and all the disappointments and how to deal with him. It's a book with deep underlying them of mental illness and what drives one to eventual breakdown. I make it sound like a dark book, but it really isn't. There is plenty of humor in the book and plenty of adventures that Ray Trevitt takes us on. A wonderful book, that puts you in Ray's shoes and makes you feel what he is going through.
April 23, 2020
3.5 stars. The talent is there, but you can tell this is a first novel. Worth reading.
March 15, 2015
Wonderful
Original, funny, sad, and honest. One of those masterpieces that you cannot put down. A coming if age tale; a classic for sure.
Original, funny, sad, and honest. One of those masterpieces that you cannot put down. A coming if age tale; a classic for sure.
Read
November 30, 2018Goldman’s sad passing propelled me to check out this coming of age story, to the best of my knowledge the only non-genre novel he wrote. It’s Goldman’s first book, and not his best, and while there’s probably an interesting few hundred words to get here about the way in which Goldman’s genius as a crime/horror/western/fantasy/etc/writer don’t lend themselves to this more traditional task, I’m not going to bother with them cause I got other shit to do. Nil nisi bonum, and all that.
December 14, 2024
- Защо трябва да бъде толкова трудно? –пита се Реймънд Еврипид Тревит – Защо всичко трябва да бъде толкова трудно!
Подозирам, че комунистическата цензура е намерила свой отговор на тоя въпрос, че да подбере романа за издаване в България през 1960-те. Очевидно (за тях) е трудно, защото младежта е оставена на самотек да си създава проблеми, каквито не биха съществували в едно по-добре подредено общество, което да се грижи за нея и да ѝ дава насоки. Изборът в Америка е ненужно голям и свободен – да следва ли, да не следва ли; да ходи ли в казарма, да не ходи ли; да живее ли при техните, да не живее ли; с негъра ли да се сприятелява или с дървения философ; за лекото момиче ли да се жени или за редакторката на стенвестника. Как няма да е трудно! Дотолкова, че да халюцинира за някакъв златен храм от приключенски филм, възхваляващ империализма, и да бърка в раната на разбитото си сърце със секс на гроба на най-добрия си приятел.
- Те всички умират в ръцете ми! Всички умират! ... Господи, Тери, та те всички умират. Кралицата също!
(визира се Гертруда от Хамлет)
Аз не съм комунистически цензор, нито като юноша съм бил точно от поколението, което директно да се идентифицира с Еврипид и страховете му. Примерно, че е застанал неподвижно, докато всичко наоколо се движи, напуска го и го задминава! И че рано или късно всички край него ще почнат да вършат неща, които няма да му харесват!
Но на моята възраст в моето време изпитвам виновно удоволствие от позабравения вкус на без притеснения изписани съждения от рода на:
- И как мрази, че е негър. И как би искал да е по-дребен, нормален на ръст, за да не го зяпат всички, сякаш е педераст;
- Защо не му дадете щастлив край? Какво ще кажете на това: едно от момичетата в действителност е момче, преоблечено като момиче. Тогава те биха могли да живеят щастливо цял живот.
Същевременно мога да си позволя да бъда достатъчно юноша, че да харесвам, ако не решенията му в живота, то – начина му на мислене („ако баща ми е най-големият авторитет по Еврипид в академичния свят, то кой ли е вторият след него и дали цял живот мечтае да стане първи“) и изразяване („баща ми бе поканен да изнесе две лекции за символизма у Еврипид, което, откровено казано, не звучи особено прогресивно“).
Книгата е съкровищница от крилати фрази и реплики в диалози
… хората използват всеки удобен случай да изтъкват, че нямат предразсъдъци, дори когато ги имат. Сякаш получаваха златен медал, само защото случайно са седнали до него по геометрия;
… ако майка му го описваше, щеше да каже, че не е изгубил още бебешката си дебелина, докато всъщност той беше шишкав;
… Милтън е по-ужасен от китайско водно мъчение;
… крикетът е игра, която, ако имаше защо, бих намразил от сърце;
… филмът беше уестърн и стигнахме тъкмо за боя в кръчмата;
… Хариет огледа всички книги наоколо: Пеперудки ли сушиш? (в моето детство се сушаха листа, а не пеперудки! Пеперудките се забиваха с карфица на тапа)
Крилат е и преводът на blue jeans: сини каубойски панталони!
Което ни връща към размисъл за етимологията и датировката на навлизането на думата „дънки“ в книжовния българския език.
Филмът „Гънга Дин“ на Джордж Стивънс от 1939, впрочем, е жалонен за жанра приключенско кино! Даже Спилбърг го е цитирал с поклон в една от сериите за Индиана Джоунс (жокер: втората). Мисля си, че най-хубавото на тая книга е, че ми подсказа да го изровя и да го гледам. Оказва се, че английската дума за хайдук thug идвала от хинди. Оригиналните тхъги (thuggee, англ.) били според колониалните власти (и кралското географско общество) секта пладнешки разбойници, които се хранели от пътници по пътищата, грабейки ги и душейки ги, като същевременно намирали духовна опора у богинята Кали. Добрите (цивилизоващата британска имперска армия) и лошите (тхъгите) си дават среща в златен храм на Кали в североизточните територии на Британския радж през 1880-те. Главните герои са трима наперени сержанти и индиецът водоносец Гънга Дин, към когото се държат снизходително, преди да дойде Ръдиард Киплинг и с респект и смирение да възпее подвига му - да се изкачи смъртно ранен на купола на храма и, сигнализирайки с тръба, да промени хода на сражението в полза на британците.
(Това беше спойлер, но не е мой. Има го в книгата, в главата, в която Зок и Еврипид бягат от къщи на кино в Чикаго)
Подозирам, че комунистическата цензура е намерила свой отговор на тоя въпрос, че да подбере романа за издаване в България през 1960-те. Очевидно (за тях) е трудно, защото младежта е оставена на самотек да си създава проблеми, каквито не биха съществували в едно по-добре подредено общество, което да се грижи за нея и да ѝ дава насоки. Изборът в Америка е ненужно голям и свободен – да следва ли, да не следва ли; да ходи ли в казарма, да не ходи ли; да живее ли при техните, да не живее ли; с негъра ли да се сприятелява или с дървения философ; за лекото момиче ли да се жени или за редакторката на стенвестника. Как няма да е трудно! Дотолкова, че да халюцинира за някакъв златен храм от приключенски филм, възхваляващ империализма, и да бърка в раната на разбитото си сърце със секс на гроба на най-добрия си приятел.
- Те всички умират в ръцете ми! Всички умират! ... Господи, Тери, та те всички умират. Кралицата също!
(визира се Гертруда от Хамлет)
Аз не съм комунистически цензор, нито като юноша съм бил точно от поколението, което директно да се идентифицира с Еврипид и страховете му. Примерно, че е застанал неподвижно, докато всичко наоколо се движи, напуска го и го задминава! И че рано или късно всички край него ще почнат да вършат неща, които няма да му харесват!
Но на моята възраст в моето време изпитвам виновно удоволствие от позабравения вкус на без притеснения изписани съждения от рода на:
- И как мрази, че е негър. И как би искал да е по-дребен, нормален на ръст, за да не го зяпат всички, сякаш е педераст;
- Защо не му дадете щастлив край? Какво ще кажете на това: едно от момичетата в действителност е момче, преоблечено като момиче. Тогава те биха могли да живеят щастливо цял живот.
Същевременно мога да си позволя да бъда достатъчно юноша, че да харесвам, ако не решенията му в живота, то – начина му на мислене („ако баща ми е най-големият авторитет по Еврипид в академичния свят, то кой ли е вторият след него и дали цял живот мечтае да стане първи“) и изразяване („баща ми бе поканен да изнесе две лекции за символизма у Еврипид, което, откровено казано, не звучи особено прогресивно“).
Книгата е съкровищница от крилати фрази и реплики в диалози
… хората използват всеки удобен случай да изтъкват, че нямат предразсъдъци, дори когато ги имат. Сякаш получаваха златен медал, само защото случайно са седнали до него по геометрия;
… ако майка му го описваше, щеше да каже, че не е изгубил още бебешката си дебелина, докато всъщност той беше шишкав;
… Милтън е по-ужасен от китайско водно мъчение;
… крикетът е игра, която, ако имаше защо, бих намразил от сърце;
… филмът беше уестърн и стигнахме тъкмо за боя в кръчмата;
… Хариет огледа всички книги наоколо: Пеперудки ли сушиш? (в моето детство се сушаха листа, а не пеперудки! Пеперудките се забиваха с карфица на тапа)
Крилат е и преводът на blue jeans: сини каубойски панталони!
Което ни връща към размисъл за етимологията и датировката на навлизането на думата „дънки“ в книжовния българския език.
Филмът „Гънга Дин“ на Джордж Стивънс от 1939, впрочем, е жалонен за жанра приключенско кино! Даже Спилбърг го е цитирал с поклон в една от сериите за Индиана Джоунс (жокер: втората). Мисля си, че най-хубавото на тая книга е, че ми подсказа да го изровя и да го гледам. Оказва се, че английската дума за хайдук thug идвала от хинди. Оригиналните тхъги (thuggee, англ.) били според колониалните власти (и кралското географско общество) секта пладнешки разбойници, които се хранели от пътници по пътищата, грабейки ги и душейки ги, като същевременно намирали духовна опора у богинята Кали. Добрите (цивилизоващата британска имперска армия) и лошите (тхъгите) си дават среща в златен храм на Кали в североизточните територии на Британския радж през 1880-те. Главните герои са трима наперени сержанти и индиецът водоносец Гънга Дин, към когото се държат снизходително, преди да дойде Ръдиард Киплинг и с респект и смирение да възпее подвига му - да се изкачи смъртно ранен на купола на храма и, сигнализирайки с тръба, да промени хода на сражението в полза на британците.
(Това беше спойлер, но не е мой. Има го в книгата, в главата, в която Зок и Еврипид бягат от къщи на кино в Чикаго)
June 21, 2019
I read this book many years ago. It was borrowed and after that I haven't been able to find it. I remember I loved it a lot and thought it was much better than Catcher in the Rye. After so long i still have very vivid memories about it - a thing I can't say about other books that I have read and liked so long ago.
I would like to reread it now, but am somewhat afraid if I will like it as much as that first time.
I would like to reread it now, but am somewhat afraid if I will like it as much as that first time.
April 6, 2013
The Temple of Gold is a great book, genuine and simple. I loved it because of the way the main character, Ray, describes what's happening to him. The author's style really captures the way life twists and tuns and drag everyone along. It was recommended to me as a book similar to Kerouac's On the Road. I don't think they are alike, but it resembles a little The Catcher in the Rye. The Temple of Gold is a pleasant and easy read that teaches you many things.
March 8, 2021
While this novel is not an autobiography, one feels it is a psychologically valid memoir if not a factual life history for Goldman. Growing up awkwardly and having trouble navigating traumas, setbacks and love life the hero never really finds "the handle" and that is something we can all relate to.
Also, it makes me know I need to watch the film Gunga Din (1939).
Also, it makes me know I need to watch the film Gunga Din (1939).
February 19, 2016
Книга, която остава .....
January 1, 2026
A quick read to finish the year.
The temple of gold is unattainable and elusive, but always alluring. However, instead of taking a nihilist approach and saying “you’ll never find the perfect life, so why try?” This book states “moving forward and persevering is the ONLY way to live”. It’s the “trying” that gives all of this meaning.
I loved Harriet’s character. She shows us that the temple of gold cannot be found in another person, nor can it be found in the ideals of youth. She teaches Ray that something real, albeit imperfect, is better than something unattainable and fake. She forces the reader to realize that the search is over, not because we’ve found the temple of gold, but because we’ve realized it was never there to begin with. That, indeed, is the part of life that’s worth living.
The temple of gold is unattainable and elusive, but always alluring. However, instead of taking a nihilist approach and saying “you’ll never find the perfect life, so why try?” This book states “moving forward and persevering is the ONLY way to live”. It’s the “trying” that gives all of this meaning.
I loved Harriet’s character. She shows us that the temple of gold cannot be found in another person, nor can it be found in the ideals of youth. She teaches Ray that something real, albeit imperfect, is better than something unattainable and fake. She forces the reader to realize that the search is over, not because we’ve found the temple of gold, but because we’ve realized it was never there to begin with. That, indeed, is the part of life that’s worth living.
August 9, 2018
(FROM MY BLOG) Go meet the new family's son, Ray's mother tells him. He's about your age, and he seems like an absolute angel. Ray, a seventh grader bearing a grudge against life in general, hated him already.
William's Goldman's first novel, The Temple of Gold (1956), which he dashed off in three weeks, tells a tale that probably has been lived by many a small town kid. A childhood reasonably happy, because he doesn't know better. A high school career that is undistinguished academically, but fun, exciting -- the odd synergy between the two boys making them joint leaders among other students. Graduation. One boy remaining in his small Illinois town, aimless, messing around with girls, choosing girls badly, being repeatedly dumped. Spending night after night alone, drinking, drunk. The other boy living an exciting life in the Ivy League. All the makings of tragedy.
They part, following graduation, with characteristic humor.
Ray joins the Army four days later, unwittingly contributes to the death of a fellow recruit, and is discharged. He marries the whore who he's been seeing in town. As a newly married man, he determines to pull himself together. In effect -- although it's not made explicit -- he tries to live the life that Zock would have lived. Had he lived. Had Ray not killed him He enrolls in the local college. He studies hard and becomes an A student. He works his butt off to become editor of the school literary magazine. He fails to become editor only because the adviser can't forget the boy's past, and refuses to appoint him..
Meanwhile, his wife tires of his dedication to his studies and to the magazine. She's sick of being a "good girl." She has an affair with the 16-year-old boy next door, and then leaves. Unlucky at school; unlucky at love; unlocky at friendship.
Ray sinks lower and lower. Not for the first time, he ends up at Zock's grave in the cemetery.
The Temple of Gold was published at roughly the same time as Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. It is written in the same breezy, informal style, and is told by the same sort of confused adolescent, one whose decisions appear to the reader as disastrous and self-defeating. Goldman's work is darker, perhaps because it does not stop where Catcher in the Rye stops, at a stage where we still see some realistic hope for the future (as Goldman's original manuscript did, before his publisher insisted that the novel be doubled in length).
The story attempts something of a hopeful final few pages, but I had the feeling that Ray had played all of his cards, and had pretty much lost all of his chips. He's like guys we've all known, kids who might have made a good life for themselves, but who made poor decisions they lacked the resources to overcome later.
Ray's glory days were in high school, and his friendship with Zoch was the golden thread that ran through his life. He attempted to relate to his girlfriends with the same breezy, jokey, mildly-insulting approach that had been so successful with Zoch. It might have worked with some girls even then; it might well have worked in 2018. It didn't work in the 1950s, in small town Illinois.
All of the tragic aspects of the novel having been noted, the dialogue is often quite funny, especially in the early chapters between Ray and Zock, and between them and their high school friends.
Goldman's subsequent career was prolific. Among his novels, he wrote The Princess Bride. He has written numerous screenplays, including .All the President's Men and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
"I hear you're an absolute angel," I said to him that morning.Ray, a fairly nice looking, outdoorsy kid, who struggles to get by in school. Zock, an "ugly" straight-A student who loves poetry. They have nothing in common, and so, of course, after a brief fight, they become best friends.
"I hear you're not," he came right back, which threw me because I didn't know how the news had spread so fast.
William's Goldman's first novel, The Temple of Gold (1956), which he dashed off in three weeks, tells a tale that probably has been lived by many a small town kid. A childhood reasonably happy, because he doesn't know better. A high school career that is undistinguished academically, but fun, exciting -- the odd synergy between the two boys making them joint leaders among other students. Graduation. One boy remaining in his small Illinois town, aimless, messing around with girls, choosing girls badly, being repeatedly dumped. Spending night after night alone, drinking, drunk. The other boy living an exciting life in the Ivy League. All the makings of tragedy.
They part, following graduation, with characteristic humor.
"Well, Zocker," I said belting him one on the arm. "Don't take any wooden nickels."Zock returns home after his first year at Harvard, excited to see Ray again. After one year, Ray wants only to drink. Ray insists on driving while drunk. The inevitable accident. Zock is killed. "Murdered" in the eyes of Zock's parents, of the townspeople, and of Ray himself.
"My mother has already warned me."
"And stay loose."
"I shall," he said. I shall endeavor to try."
"Do endeavor so," I said, imitating him.
We shook hands. "Good-by," I said. "Good-by, Euripides."
But neither of us moved.
"I hear you're an absolute angel," I said finally.
"I hear you're not," he said.
Then we both ran.
Ray joins the Army four days later, unwittingly contributes to the death of a fellow recruit, and is discharged. He marries the whore who he's been seeing in town. As a newly married man, he determines to pull himself together. In effect -- although it's not made explicit -- he tries to live the life that Zock would have lived. Had he lived. Had Ray not killed him He enrolls in the local college. He studies hard and becomes an A student. He works his butt off to become editor of the school literary magazine. He fails to become editor only because the adviser can't forget the boy's past, and refuses to appoint him..
Meanwhile, his wife tires of his dedication to his studies and to the magazine. She's sick of being a "good girl." She has an affair with the 16-year-old boy next door, and then leaves. Unlucky at school; unlucky at love; unlocky at friendship.
Ray sinks lower and lower. Not for the first time, he ends up at Zock's grave in the cemetery.
"Zock, I'm cracking. Help me. Help me for Christ's sake. I can't find the handle, Zock. Tell me what to do. Tell me now because I'm cracking."He finally finds himself lying in bed, spending a spell in the hospital's mental health ward.
The Temple of Gold was published at roughly the same time as Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. It is written in the same breezy, informal style, and is told by the same sort of confused adolescent, one whose decisions appear to the reader as disastrous and self-defeating. Goldman's work is darker, perhaps because it does not stop where Catcher in the Rye stops, at a stage where we still see some realistic hope for the future (as Goldman's original manuscript did, before his publisher insisted that the novel be doubled in length).
The story attempts something of a hopeful final few pages, but I had the feeling that Ray had played all of his cards, and had pretty much lost all of his chips. He's like guys we've all known, kids who might have made a good life for themselves, but who made poor decisions they lacked the resources to overcome later.
Ray's glory days were in high school, and his friendship with Zoch was the golden thread that ran through his life. He attempted to relate to his girlfriends with the same breezy, jokey, mildly-insulting approach that had been so successful with Zoch. It might have worked with some girls even then; it might well have worked in 2018. It didn't work in the 1950s, in small town Illinois.
All of the tragic aspects of the novel having been noted, the dialogue is often quite funny, especially in the early chapters between Ray and Zock, and between them and their high school friends.
Goldman's subsequent career was prolific. Among his novels, he wrote The Princess Bride. He has written numerous screenplays, including .All the President's Men and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
October 23, 2024
New favourite.
April 6, 2011
Goldman, W. (2001). The temple of gold. New York City, New York: Ballantine Books.
The Temple of Gold is an incredible coming of age story about a young man named Ray Trevitt. This novel captures the angst and dilemmas people often face when growing up and is quite similar to the classic novel, The Cather and the Rye. Ray is a young man growing up in the 1950's and goes through many tragic, but life changing experiences. Ray gets drunk and kills his best friend by accident as he drives home drunk. The experience scars Ray and causes him to enlist in the army so he doesn't have to deal with his family and his best friend’s family. Ray ends up being dismissed from the army after injuring his leg in a grenade explosion. He then decides to go to school and get married. Ray does not succeed in these endeavors, but he is determined to keep going. The novel ends with Ray having hope that he can face his future head on and because he is finally ready to accept responsibility for what he has done in the past. This book is about the journey of discovery we all go through, and will continue to go through as we live and learn in our lives.
This book should definitely be used in the classroom because it addresses many important subjects like jealousy, identity, hope, and responsibility. The Temple of Gold is a great way for students to understand their own stages of growth as they journey closer to adulthood. The book will captivate
students' and help them to feel understood and connected by realizing that Ray represents the progression to adulthood that all teenagers and young adults go through. Students will likely feel very connected to the narrator because they will go through or have gone through experiences that are very similar in nature to Ray's as they grow up to become adults. The Temple of Gold is an excellent addition to any classroom library.
(Sean and Stephanie)
The Temple of Gold is an incredible coming of age story about a young man named Ray Trevitt. This novel captures the angst and dilemmas people often face when growing up and is quite similar to the classic novel, The Cather and the Rye. Ray is a young man growing up in the 1950's and goes through many tragic, but life changing experiences. Ray gets drunk and kills his best friend by accident as he drives home drunk. The experience scars Ray and causes him to enlist in the army so he doesn't have to deal with his family and his best friend’s family. Ray ends up being dismissed from the army after injuring his leg in a grenade explosion. He then decides to go to school and get married. Ray does not succeed in these endeavors, but he is determined to keep going. The novel ends with Ray having hope that he can face his future head on and because he is finally ready to accept responsibility for what he has done in the past. This book is about the journey of discovery we all go through, and will continue to go through as we live and learn in our lives.
This book should definitely be used in the classroom because it addresses many important subjects like jealousy, identity, hope, and responsibility. The Temple of Gold is a great way for students to understand their own stages of growth as they journey closer to adulthood. The book will captivate
students' and help them to feel understood and connected by realizing that Ray represents the progression to adulthood that all teenagers and young adults go through. Students will likely feel very connected to the narrator because they will go through or have gone through experiences that are very similar in nature to Ray's as they grow up to become adults. The Temple of Gold is an excellent addition to any classroom library.
(Sean and Stephanie)
May 24, 2021
Някой беше препоръчал тази стара книга, за която преди не съм чувал и не ми е попадала. Да не се бърка със книгата със същото заглавие /поне на български/ на Юкио Мишима, която също ми хареса. Това е младежка история, започва и с детството, когато все пак има някакви размисли при припомнянето. По-нататък става хаотична върволица от събития, предимно кратка пряка реч, трябва да спрем да четем, за да осмислим какво се случва и защо, но не можем :). Тъгата и страданието е примесена с /само/ирония и сатира. Авторът е съумял да вложи смисъл и да включи разнообразни теми в приключенията на младежа - родителите, обществото, привличането, /без/отговорността, расата, армията и други.
Оценката ми не е много висока точно заради това, което за някои може и да е предимство - телеграфния стил и известна надоразвитост, недоразказаност. 3,3*
Оценката ми не е много висока точно заради това, което за някои може и да е предимство - телеграфния стил и известна надоразвитост, недоразказаност. 3,3*
January 20, 2015
I wonder what it is about these angsty coming of age novels that the characters have to make such inexplicable choices as they stumble through their angst. I suppose that's the point, exaggeration of senseless, mindless choices to demonstrate how angsty life is. Doesn't resonate that strongly with me.
I was really enjoying the novel and the characters during the young middle school and high school years, but it sort of careened over the cliff for me once Rip went to college.
The amorality of it all rubs me the wrong way as well.
But all that said, the story is memorable. Tries to deal with Big Issues. Interesting characters. But ultimately, despite his best efforts, I'm not sure the novel really spoke to me with any really solid insight.
I was really enjoying the novel and the characters during the young middle school and high school years, but it sort of careened over the cliff for me once Rip went to college.
The amorality of it all rubs me the wrong way as well.
But all that said, the story is memorable. Tries to deal with Big Issues. Interesting characters. But ultimately, despite his best efforts, I'm not sure the novel really spoke to me with any really solid insight.
July 13, 2016
I really liked this coming-of-age novel, set in Athens, Illinois, mostly in the 1940's and 50's. Before reading this one, I had started and abandoned two Kindle daily deals because the writing was not up to my snooty standards, but William Goldman knows how to write and tell a good story. I did run into a few copy-edit misses, maybe because of the translation to Kindle, but it's very readable.
I found it hard to avoid thinking of the book as autobiographical. Life deals the main character several severe blows, and I found the cause/effect/responsibility themes to be well represented. Although the characters are a bit younger than my father, I think the timing and setting might be similar to his experience. Dad's favorite book for that is The Fires of Spring by James Michener.
I found it hard to avoid thinking of the book as autobiographical. Life deals the main character several severe blows, and I found the cause/effect/responsibility themes to be well represented. Although the characters are a bit younger than my father, I think the timing and setting might be similar to his experience. Dad's favorite book for that is The Fires of Spring by James Michener.
November 25, 2021
Dobie Gillis Through a Glass Darkly
A compelling story, much better than the overrated The Catcher in the Rye to which it is often unfavorably compared. This novel, which I read years ago and pulled off the shelf and reread this week, really upended my romanticized notions of the 1950s. Growing up watching reruns of Father Knows Best, The Life of Riley, and Leave It to Beaver left me believing that the '50s were squeaky clean and so much more appeaing than the sordid '70s. Intellectually I knew that was wrong, but in my heart I harbored this halcyon days fantasy. Until this book, that is.
On the subject of sitcoms, as I read memories were stirred up of my favorite sitcom of the era, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. The illustration on my battered old Bantam paperback, featuring a flat-topped blond youth wearing a short-sleeve button down shirt, reminded me of Dwayne Hickman in that beloved old series. The literary and introspective Raymond Euripides Trevitt was the dark side Dobie. The more I read, the more I began seeing other parallels: the ugly poet Zock as Maynard G. Krebs, Harriet as Zelda Gilroy, and Annabelle and Terry as twin sirens and star-crossed objects of desire like femme fatale Thalia Meninger. Add in the long-suffering father and doting mother, and one could almost suspect Max Shulman of creating a franchise out of sanitized versions of Goldman's characters. Even the sitcom like Goldman's book dedicated the better part of a season to the protagonist's adventures in the Army, arguably drawing upon Trevitt's ill-fated stint in chapter 5 (of course Dobie's hitch was more Buck Privates than Full Metal Jacket!).
The book, like many novels, is better the second time through. Reading is rereading, right? Knowing where Trevitt would end up made sense of the many missteps he took to get there. I read wincingly, knowing this would end badly, as it invariably did. But I kept reading. It was like watching a car crash--oops, spoiler alert!--in slow motion and not being able to alter the inexorable events or to turn away from them, even when you desperately wanted to.
The book is episodic, with one chapter transitioning smoothly even if not seamlessly into the next. William Goldman revealed in interviews that his original draft was accepted by Knopf on the condition he double its length, which he dutifully did. As I read through it this second time I tried to discern what was added to pad and puff the book to the requested length. Where were the "false noses" on the narrative? My guesses were the Army chapter, the ill-conceived marriage to Terry (coupled with Raymond's mother's meandering romance and marriage to Adrian), and Trevitt's hasty return to college that amounted to nothing. These plotlines from the latter third of the book didn't seem as thought-through or tightly woven into the overarching story.
Same goes for Trevitt's playing Pygmalion with Terry when she asks him to educate her. There are some throwaway lines about her reading through the literary canon, but nothing ever really comes of it. My personal theory is that Goldman, an admitted theater-buff, drew inspiration from (i.e. swiped) the plot of the 1956 play Bells Are Ringing when writing about Trevitt and Terry. (Corroborating evidence--or more charitably, Goldman's winking to the cognoscenti--is that Terry's job was answering phones for the Red Cross.)
And speaking of influences, Dickensian coincidences abound. From Trevitt visiting Harvard and just happening to see his father's obituary in the New York Times to his later chancing upon his old friend Felix Brown, who high hats his old school chum and thus taps a rich and roiling vein of race-hatred in Trevitt. Neither of these scenes rang true, however, since a Eurpides scholar at a small-town Illinois college would be unlikely to rate an obituary in the Times (with a photograph yet!), and earlier in the novel Trevitt demonstrated admirable brotherhood-of-man colorblindness towards Fee. Okay, the obituary was a crutch to get Trevitt away from Harvard and heading back home, but I couldn't understand why Goldman included the ugly scene with Fee unless simply to show Trevitt was unwittingly burning every bridge at home to ensure that only scorched earth remained so boomeranging "home" as he had done several times would never again be an option.
I admire Goldman for featuring a thoroughly unlikeable protagonist and somehow making him sympathetic--at times. I felt like a yoyo as I went from cheering on Trevitt to wishing he got all he deserved and more. I was very invested in this young man. It's an admirable feat for a first-time novelist, and illustrates why Goldman went on to become a many-times novelist (and a screenwriter, to boot). I plan on taking up and reading a few more of his early works: Your Turn to Curtsy, My Turn to Bow, his highly acclaimed "long novel," Boys and Girls Together, and The Thing of It Is. But The Temple of Gold is the fountainhead from which flowed all that followed. Great book. Indeed.
A compelling story, much better than the overrated The Catcher in the Rye to which it is often unfavorably compared. This novel, which I read years ago and pulled off the shelf and reread this week, really upended my romanticized notions of the 1950s. Growing up watching reruns of Father Knows Best, The Life of Riley, and Leave It to Beaver left me believing that the '50s were squeaky clean and so much more appeaing than the sordid '70s. Intellectually I knew that was wrong, but in my heart I harbored this halcyon days fantasy. Until this book, that is.
On the subject of sitcoms, as I read memories were stirred up of my favorite sitcom of the era, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. The illustration on my battered old Bantam paperback, featuring a flat-topped blond youth wearing a short-sleeve button down shirt, reminded me of Dwayne Hickman in that beloved old series. The literary and introspective Raymond Euripides Trevitt was the dark side Dobie. The more I read, the more I began seeing other parallels: the ugly poet Zock as Maynard G. Krebs, Harriet as Zelda Gilroy, and Annabelle and Terry as twin sirens and star-crossed objects of desire like femme fatale Thalia Meninger. Add in the long-suffering father and doting mother, and one could almost suspect Max Shulman of creating a franchise out of sanitized versions of Goldman's characters. Even the sitcom like Goldman's book dedicated the better part of a season to the protagonist's adventures in the Army, arguably drawing upon Trevitt's ill-fated stint in chapter 5 (of course Dobie's hitch was more Buck Privates than Full Metal Jacket!).
The book, like many novels, is better the second time through. Reading is rereading, right? Knowing where Trevitt would end up made sense of the many missteps he took to get there. I read wincingly, knowing this would end badly, as it invariably did. But I kept reading. It was like watching a car crash--oops, spoiler alert!--in slow motion and not being able to alter the inexorable events or to turn away from them, even when you desperately wanted to.
The book is episodic, with one chapter transitioning smoothly even if not seamlessly into the next. William Goldman revealed in interviews that his original draft was accepted by Knopf on the condition he double its length, which he dutifully did. As I read through it this second time I tried to discern what was added to pad and puff the book to the requested length. Where were the "false noses" on the narrative? My guesses were the Army chapter, the ill-conceived marriage to Terry (coupled with Raymond's mother's meandering romance and marriage to Adrian), and Trevitt's hasty return to college that amounted to nothing. These plotlines from the latter third of the book didn't seem as thought-through or tightly woven into the overarching story.
Same goes for Trevitt's playing Pygmalion with Terry when she asks him to educate her. There are some throwaway lines about her reading through the literary canon, but nothing ever really comes of it. My personal theory is that Goldman, an admitted theater-buff, drew inspiration from (i.e. swiped) the plot of the 1956 play Bells Are Ringing when writing about Trevitt and Terry. (Corroborating evidence--or more charitably, Goldman's winking to the cognoscenti--is that Terry's job was answering phones for the Red Cross.)
And speaking of influences, Dickensian coincidences abound. From Trevitt visiting Harvard and just happening to see his father's obituary in the New York Times to his later chancing upon his old friend Felix Brown, who high hats his old school chum and thus taps a rich and roiling vein of race-hatred in Trevitt. Neither of these scenes rang true, however, since a Eurpides scholar at a small-town Illinois college would be unlikely to rate an obituary in the Times (with a photograph yet!), and earlier in the novel Trevitt demonstrated admirable brotherhood-of-man colorblindness towards Fee. Okay, the obituary was a crutch to get Trevitt away from Harvard and heading back home, but I couldn't understand why Goldman included the ugly scene with Fee unless simply to show Trevitt was unwittingly burning every bridge at home to ensure that only scorched earth remained so boomeranging "home" as he had done several times would never again be an option.
I admire Goldman for featuring a thoroughly unlikeable protagonist and somehow making him sympathetic--at times. I felt like a yoyo as I went from cheering on Trevitt to wishing he got all he deserved and more. I was very invested in this young man. It's an admirable feat for a first-time novelist, and illustrates why Goldman went on to become a many-times novelist (and a screenwriter, to boot). I plan on taking up and reading a few more of his early works: Your Turn to Curtsy, My Turn to Bow, his highly acclaimed "long novel," Boys and Girls Together, and The Thing of It Is. But The Temple of Gold is the fountainhead from which flowed all that followed. Great book. Indeed.
March 24, 2014
I wanted to love this. I'm such a big fan of Butch & Sundance and the Princess Bride, so I had high expectations for this, despite it being Goldman's first published work.
I enjoyed his personal story about the publication of the book, and I thought the first quarter of the book was pretty good. It felt like it should have been a short story that ended there, though. It didn't really do much for me after that.
I enjoyed his personal story about the publication of the book, and I thought the first quarter of the book was pretty good. It felt like it should have been a short story that ended there, though. It didn't really do much for me after that.
October 9, 2015
More like 3.5 stars. Engaging, punchy writing. Really captures reckless teenage spirit and wayward early 20s. Great coming-of-age novel that rivals Catcher in the Rye. Similarly, an unpleasant narrator, but Euripides is preferable to Holden. If I read this one earlier in life, I'd probably give it 5 stars.
September 1, 2007
If you liked Cathcher in the Rye, or even if you didn't, give this one a read. William Goldman is one of my favorite authors.
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