**The Prize**. Review on Prize, The - Irwing Wallace

‘The Prize’(1962) by Irving Wallace is all about the happenings in the lives of six fictitious people whose fortunes change forever, when they become the proud recipients of the Nobel Prize in varied fields. The Nobel Prize is one of the most acclaimed awards whose achievement is a prime indicator that the recipient has excelled in their chosen field. The author puts together a startling account of the six winners and their run up to the finale. In 1963, this bestseller book was made into a movie starring Paul Newman and Elke Sommers.

The book cover tells us that the author spent 15 years and two visits to Stockholm to research for the material. In a tremendous build up, the author introduces us to the six ‘fictitious’ Nobel Prize winners and their backgrounds. The story starts off in a dramatic manner with the six telegrams being dispatched from the office in Stockholm. Each of the winners receives the news and is elated beyond belief. Although the public profile of the awardees looks untainted, little does the common man know of the many problems, illicit deals, trials and tribulations that each of them have undergone in the pursuit of personal excellence.

Thereafter one by one, we are given a thorough background about the winners and their life histories. German-born Max Stratman, the chemist duo-Mr and Mrs Marceau, writer Andrew Craig, Doctor John Garrett and Carlo Farelliare the central characters and the Nobel Prize award winners. As they convene at Stockholm from different corners of the globe, each of them has to put on the most important act of their lives to get to the grand prize money. At the preface it looks like the characters are fairly sophisticated people but as you read their stories, a different sordid version of the truth dawns on you.

• Max Stratman is a frail sixty two year old physicist who has a different purpose altogether in going to Stockholm. His niece, Emily Stratman has a direct bearing to his secret and their painful family history.

• The Marceaus outwardly have to pretend for the shutterbugs that their marriage is a solid one. Unknown to the public is their rapidly disintegrating marriage because of the infidelity of her husband. These circumstances force the erstwhile traditional Mrs Marceau to take revenge on her husband in a similar shocking manner.

• Doctor John Garrett, a media shy heart surgeon and the rightful pioneer of a path breaking human heart discovery is forced to share his prize with celebrity seeking Carlo Farelli. He burns in jealousy as his co-winner Farelli wows over the media and public with his extroverted style. As the D-Day approaches, their battle for attention reaches its dramatic climax though a complicated heart surgery that will need both their combined expertise and skills.

• Andrew Craig, an extremely talented writer had sunk into the depths of drinking and oblivion after the death of his wife. The prize gives him a fresh chance at life, love and exposes him to experiences he could have never imagined. He is more or less the central character of the novel as well as the man who is mostly in the thick of the action. T

The chapters that are particularly interesting are the Garrett-Farelli duels and the bitter emotional feuds between the Marceaus. The story development sees dramatic incidents like kidnappings, deceit, lots of political drama and intrigue. The plot starts off well as the characters are introduced at length, looses steam somewhat in the chapters that have Craig’s encounters with the Swedish women and then races to a pulsating finish as more and more secrets tumble out of the closet.

The Prize is a must read book for anyone who is curious about the background happenings before and after the choice of high profile award winners. The novel obviously delves in detail about the painstaking but extremely interesting process in which the winners are decided. The author literally takes you to each and every event that leads to the final ceremony when the King presents the award. All in all a book that packs in an extremely well researched Nobel Prize process with six well crafted characters.