Written in the manner of a fast-paced novel, the book is quite a page turner. While the final showdown is long anticipated, what makes the novel appealing and interesting is that it holds your attention without any thrilling plots but by small well crafted incidents that add up to the whole in all its 768 pages.
The Man is generously endowed with excellent characterisation, especially that of Douglas Dillman, Nathan Abrahams and Arthur Eaton. All three are powerful, thoughtful, restrained men. Yet each is different from the other in their own special way. And the author brilliantly sketches each for the difference to be conspicuous.More than anything else, the novel makes a statement on goodness and honesty through the character of its protagonist – Douglas Dillman. He is sharp, intelligent, shy at asking any favours, very sensitive and over-cautious lest he be labelled as showing preferential treatment to his coloured people. There are parts in the novel where you are angry with this man for being so decent and lacking courage that he compromises his position with battle lines drawn. Like when he gives back to Sally Watson the index cards she uses to copy official secrets from his confidential files. Or when he refuses to accept her confession letter of her crime later on in the book.
The subdued acceptance displayed by Doug is where the story hinges and his eventual rise to confidence brings cheer to the reader. Especially when his lawyer and personal friend Nathan starts to give back the opposition a taste of its own medicine.
The writer keeps you angry long enough to make the retribution sweet. The sheer audacity of lies, the shameless hatred veiled in goodness, and the vocal mudslinging is just perfect to get the reader angry. And build up the anger level so much so that while reading the book, there may be instances when one has to put it aside and allow the anger to cool at the injustice meted out to Doug. It is fun to be angry, happy, frustrated all at once when reading a book because that means it has succeeded in making you feel and visualise well.The book also gets to you in an insidious way. But too much of it can make you miss the subtle presence of other sub-plots. Like, if you are too angry, you miss the attraction of the weasel-like tactics used by the good man’s opponents to trap him. To truly enjoy any read, it is imperative that you enjoy them all – the good guys and the bad guys. The Man provides ample opportunity for both.
The Man is a recommended read to anyone interested to take a peek inside colour racism in America, past and present. But above all, this novel is a must read for people seeking a finely written book on the goodness as well as the colour prejudices of humanity. There is never an excuse for being weak, but then not all signs of weakness are propelled by weakness. Sometimes it is just goodness speaking in its highest form – as in the persona of Douglas Dillman, an unelected black President of the US. The book has aged with dignity. But it's still as fresh and as pertinent today as when it was first published in 1964.
I received my first copy of The Man as a book prize from my secondary school - Ledang English Secondary School, in Tangkak, Johor, in 1977. Rereading it recently, it fills me with nostalgia and also reminds me of the other equally interesting works by Irving Wallace such as The Prize, The Second Lady, The Seventh Secret, The Word, The Miracle, The R Document, among others. A prolific author, Wallace first gained prominence as a writer with his book, The Chapman Report, published in 1960.