The Temple of Gold

Rating:
Summary: What a pleasure...
Review: ...to find that others feel as I do about this gem of a book. It was among hundreds of dusty, disintegrating old books my parents purchased at an auction when I was young, and even then it was well out of print, but its impact was huge: I read it countless times and will read it again. It contains some of the finest writing about youth and friendship I've ever read. Goldman went on to write a great many award-winning movies, but I think this was his greatest accomplishment -- and it was his first novel.

Rating:
Summary: the disenfenchised have always walked among us
Review: Being 29, I do not carry the bias of nostalgia that other reviewers may hold. This book was published 13 years before I was born, but the subject matter is timeless. There have always been(and will forever be) teens who become disillusioned with life. Goldman has created, in Raymond Euripides Trevitt, a character with whom most of us can connect. He doesn't relate, or effectively comminicate, with his parents. He finds it easier to burn bridges than to appear emotionally vulnerable. We follow him through a tremendous friendship with a kid named Zock, several girlfriends(relationships ranging from purely physical, hollow offerings to that exaggerated brand of heartache & tragedy that seems to've been patented by teenagers), high school, rivers of booze, a stint in the Army, college & marriage. We have to endure his search for the fabled Temple Of Gold, helpless to save him the trouble. There is more tragedy than triumph, more sadness than laughter, more anger than understanding...in short, Raymond experiences Life. Reading this book, I felt the sense of powerlessness my own parents must have felt. You can only witness in silence as painful, life-altering decisions are made. Wisdom can only be found on the other side of mistakes and bad decesions...it cannot be taught. Raymond has to bludgeon his soul before he can mend it. Temple Of Gold is wonderully written. It is realistic and moving. If it lacks something in the eloquence department, it is because Raymond is telling the story...not Zock. I'm afraid I've lost the thread somewhere in this review...just read the book. You'll be very glad that you did. Teen-angst isn't usually this edible in literature.

Rating:
Summary: Twillies
Review: I have never loved a book the way I love this one. As someone who previously reviewed it said, it is the reason I became a writer. I have never written a word or reflected on my own life without being influenced by it. My mother, who was good enough to give me her copy (which, of course, I've subsequently given away) always called it The Better Catcher in the Rye and I tend to agree. I give this book to anyone I really love.

Rating:
Summary: Imprinted on the soul for a lifetime
Review: I have read a lot a books as a teenager but none have had the impact of this story. I have searched for high & low for a copy to be able to read it again. Vivid memories of Raymond's life changing episode always comes back to mind when I think about books I've read. Hopefully I will get another copy and once I read it, I will first have my husband read it, he never has had the opportunity. I will then LEND it to my grown sons and get their thoughts on it, then I will put it away for my grandson to read when he's older. I cannot wait to see if it leaves me with the same haunting memories, I have always wondered if I would feel the same way reading it today as I did all those years ago.

Rating:
Summary: a meaningful experience
Review: I read this book as a teenager and it "spoke" to me. I read it again as an adult and found it even more meaningful. It's funny and terribly sad; it will make you roar with laughter and cry with anguish. I have read practically all of Goldman's novels and, although I've enjoyed each of them, I've found most to be like cotton-candy; they taste great but don't have a whole lot of nutritious value. The Temple of Gold is a feast for the soul; the stuff of life.

Rating:
Summary: An all time favorite
Review: I've read this book a couple of times - first when I was a senior in high school, again a couple of years into college, and then most recently as a first year grad student - and every time I've loved it. There are a lot of reasons(it's wry, sincere, frighented, hopefull, and terribly honest... not to mention beautifully written), but I think one of them is that as Goldman works his way through the complex weave of friendship, hope, love, fear, confusion, etc with which he fills this novel, amist it all he somehow manages to capture that rhythm by which life just goes on and on and up and down and you learn some lessons and other things leave you scarred but either way things just keep moving. It's a really difficult thing to accomplish in such a personal and straigtforward novel such as this, but when it is accomplished, it's wonderful.

That's just one stab at explaining one of many reasons that I loved this book, though. I recomend it wholeheartedly.

Rating:
Summary: a great, great story
Review: This book is brazenly a Catcher in the Rye Knock-off, with a few endearing quirks of its own. Even so, 30 pages into it I stopped reading and went and got Catcher in the Rye off the shelf and spent the rest of my Saturday afternoon reading all of it. Not to say this is a bad book, just a tad superfluous. I mean, I'm sure someone could redo Huckleberry Finn and it would be OK, but what's the point? If you want a first person narrative of the angst of a young man, read Catcher. Of course, this book is not a complete..., and it has its moments, but the whole is not as good as the sum of its parts, as is often the case for a first time novelist (Goldman was 26 at the time). There is plenty of room for original variations on the Catcher theme, which was revolutionary at the time, but this book does not fill the bill. I read it, I may read it again sometime, but it is not particularly fantastic, in my opinion. I know others are enamored with it, and I see some strong points, but don't expect too much. Other stuff by Goldman is better, most notably The Princess Bride.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing characterization similar to Catcher in the Rye.
Review: This book is one of William Golding's best! Being a fan of his writing (beginning with the Princess Bride) I fell upon this book. I honestly feel it is a novel that has gone unnoticed. Every time I reread this compelling novel about friendship and love I find a new aspect that I missed previously. This about a struggle of a man who lacked the emotional support from his family and found it only in a friend whom he lost and a girl he can't express it to. Golding does a wonderful job of making the reader feel and think like the main character. Despite the main character's flaws and seemingly emotional stupidity you want to be him or at least be his friend. Rarely does a reader find humor and saddness in parents such as is and the description of friendship so rare. Worth reading at the very least for the small insights to life and the humor

Rating:
Summary: a great, great story
Review: This book was required reading at my friend's all boys high school many years ago. He recommended it to me and it became one of four or five books from my teenage years that have stayed with me. Many people have compared it to Catcher in the Rye. I can see the resemblance, but this book is so much better. It may not be, technically, better than Catcher but it has great heart and if you ask me, it's just a much better story. I have heard William Goldman say terrible things about this book; maybe because it was his first book he sees all kinds of errors or things he would write differently now, but boy, I just love love love it.
I reread it this week for the first time in 10 years or so, and it was just as funny and fresh as it was the first time. I have teenage boys who are not readers and am going to start reading this to them at the dinner table. I think they might pick it up on their own after a few pages.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic novel!
Review: William Goldman's "The Princess Bride" is one of my all time favorite books so when a friend suggested I read "The Temple of Gold" I eagerly took her up on her suggestion. This is Mr. Goldman's first novel and one that reads very much like a memoir. It is the story of Raymond Euripides Trevitt, age twenty-one, as told in his own words.

The novel is at times sad but for the most part very funny. Ray tells his story with a great deal of wit, beginning sort of at the beginning, briefly skimming over his childhood while introducing us to his father and mother and also his Grandmother Rae. Each remaining chapter of the book is devoted to a specific aspect of his life: the boys (including his close friend Zock), the girls, the college, the army, the town, the wife, etc. Ray is constantly seeking "the handle" on life, the temple of gold. After a tragedy occurs that irrevocably changes his life, he finally comes to the realization that there is no such handle on life, that everyone will at some point inevitably fail someone else. But then you have to move on.

Mr. Goldman has included in this edition an interesting and humorous introduction about his efforts to have his writing published, especially this first novel. If you enjoy reading about writers and their experiences and what led them to pursue their craft then you will be delighted with this short piece. I definitely was and it added a great deal to my enjoyment of this wonderful novel!