Shaw was born Irwin Gilbert Shamforoff in the South Bronx, New York City, to Russian Jewish immigrants. Shaw was a prolific American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story author whose written works have sold more than 14 million copies. He is best known for his novels, The Young Lions (1948) and Rich Man Poor Man (1970).
His parents were Rose and Will. His younger brother, David Shaw (died 2007), became a noted Hollywood producer. Shortly after Irwin's birth, the Shamforoffs moved to Brooklyn. Irwin changed his surname upon entering college. He spent most of his youth in Brooklyn, where he graduated from Brooklyn College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1934.
Shaw began screenwriting in 1935 at the age of 21, and scripted for several radio shows, including Dick Tracy, The Gumps and Studio One.
Shaw's first play, Bury the Dead (1936) was an expressionist drama about a group of soldiers killed in a battle who refuse to be buried. During the 1940s, Shaw wrote for a number of films, including Talk of the Town (a comedy about civil liberties), The Commandos Strike at Dawn (based on a C.S. Forester story about commandos in occupied Norway) and Easy Living (about a football player unable to enter the game due to a medical condition). Shaw married Marian Edwards. They had one son, Adam Shaw, born in 1950, himself a writer of magazine articles and non-fiction.
Shaw enlisted in the U.S. Army and was a warrant officer during World War II.He served with an Army documentary film unit. The Young Lions, Shaw's first novel, was published in 1949. Based on his experiences in Europe during the war, the novel was very successful and was adapted into a 1958 film.
Shaw's second novel, The Troubled Air, chronicling the rise of McCarthyism, was published in 1951. He was among those who signed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the John Howard Lawson and Dalton Trumbo convictions for contempt of Congress, resulting from hearings by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Falsely accused of being a communist by the Red Channels publication, Shaw was placed on the Hollywood blacklist by the movie studio bosses. In 1951 he left the United States and went to Europe, where he lived for 25 years, mostly in Paris and Switzerland. He later claimed that the blacklist "only glancingly bruised" his career. During the 1950s he wrote several more screenplays, including Desire Under the Elms (based on Eugene O'Neill's play) and Fire Down Below (about a tramp boat in the Caribbean).
While living in Europe, Shaw wrote more bestselling books, notably Lucy Crown (1956), Two Weeks in Another Town (1960), Rich Man, Poor Man (1970) (for which he would later write a less successful sequel entitled Beggarman, Thief) and Evening in Byzantium (made into a 1978 TV movie). Rich Man, Poor Man was adapted into a highly successful ABC television miniseries in 1976.
His novel Top of the Hill, about the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid in 1980, was made into a TV movie, starring Wayne Rogers, Adrienne Barbeau, and Sonny Bono.
His last two novels were Bread Upon the Waters (1981) and Acceptable Losses (1982).
Shaw died in Davos, Switzerland on May 16, 1984, aged 71, after undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.
It is the last of the novels of Shaw's middle period before he began to concentrate, in his last works such as Evening In Byzantium, Nightwork, Bread Upon The Waters, and Acceptable Losses, on the inevitability of impending death.
The title is taken from the nursery rhyme "Tinker, Tailor". The novel was adapted into a 1976 miniseries.
My five-star rating for this tempestuous book - an ethical firestorm far, far away from the goofy simplistic reductionism of the TV Movie - reflects my true reaction to it, back in 1981.
In 1981 my Mom was dying. Her life with me had centered on rescuing me from my demons, Tibetan Hungry Ghosts all, and delivering me into safety with my angels, my tutelary spirits.
What is a hungry ghost? In Christian terms it is a moiling, restless spirit - a personification of the infernal realms - that seeks to enslave and drag us down with him or her to the pit.
My friends at the time were such hungry ghosts - ringwraiths. Even my erstwhile fiance in 1974 was one of 'em! Oy vay ist mir.
My Mom saw all that too clearly.
She knew I was a Rudolph Jordache - dumber than him, but a good guy at heart who had fallen among thieves. ***
But as Rudolph redeems himself - by once again walking the narrow middle path of life, so did I, eventually. It got results. Following the straight path does that.
By a quirk of utter serendipity, I met my soulmate during Christmas, 1977. She changed my life.
And when in 1981 I proposed to her, that Thanksgiving - she said YES. And my Mom was at the wedding, weeks before she died. ***
Rudolph is saved, you see, though others remain in grave danger. For they have fallen into the rut of Perpetual Victimhood... the Slough.
Devoured by the Hungry Ghosts of Hell!
You know, your job itself can become a hungry ghost. As can any other misplaced obsession - money, power, comfort, health, guilt, resentment, envy - the list is endless.
But this Mothers' Day of 2023 I'm praying for my Angel - My Mom.
Cause she showed me the Four Noble Truths:
Life is pain.
Pain is caused by thirsting desire.
Thirsting desire can be ended.
It can be ended by the Practice of Virtue and the Avoiding of Immorality:
The essence, too, of Rudolph Jordache's middle way, and now MINE.
Can I remember the plot? Not much, but I remembered being impressed with the main character. Rudy Jordache wanted to be a financial and social success, but it seemed that to do so, he would have to compromise his principles.
The story also followed his more aggressive younger brother, Tom, and his VERY rocky road.
The last book in the series, if I remember correctly, dealt with the next generation of Jordaches. (I had to correct this review because I realized I was confusing it with the ending of Taylor Caldwell's The Captains and the Kings! Oooops! Now that was another excellent read/mini-series of my youth!)
Maybe I got my life-long ambivalent attitude to money and so-called "success" from Irwin Shaw? He was one of my favourite authors back then. Not surprised it was turned into a mini-series.
I won't reread this one, or watch the mini-series. They don't usually translate well by today's standards. I do remember being very impressed by Shaw's novels at that time.
This is Irwin Shaw' s most successful book,a six million copy bestseller.It is the story of the Jordache family,the troubled marriage of the parents and their three children.
The story begins after the end of World War II and continues till the beginning of Vietnam.Rudolph is the golden child,Thomas is the black sheep and Gretchen, their sister,runs away from home after an affair with an older man.
Rudoloph acquires a good education and becomes successful enough to become very rich,with aspirations of a political career.But he struggles to find happiness in his personal life.
Thomas,ever the trouble maker,gets into trouble with the law,becomes a boxer and struggles to settle down in life,until Rudolph comes to the rescue.There is a final twist in store for Thomas,at the very end.
In their own way,the three siblings make their share of moral compromises in their pursuit of success.
This is compelling storytelling,an epic,sweeping saga. It is a book I'd like to read again.
Shaw wrote a sequel,Beggarman Thief,about the next generation of the Jordaches.But that was not half as good.
At the time that I read this, way back in high school days, I鈥檓 sure I would鈥檝e given it the full five stars. I hadn鈥檛 thought much about it since. Then, a few weeks ago, as I was reminiscing about it with my culturally astute wife, her comment was something like, 鈥淥h yea, wasn鈥檛 that a night-time soap?鈥� Thinking back, I suppose it was. They made a mini-series out of it that featured a young Nick Nolte as the black sheep brother 鈥� the edgier one, quick with his fists.
I recall getting caught up in the epic sweep of it all. It pitted good vs. evil with varying shades of gray. And wasn鈥檛 there a conflict with the love interest to give the story legs? So yes, Susie Smartypants, it was a night-time soap, but my sensors weren鈥檛 very refined back at that time when the only other books on my shelf were sports biographies and compilations from Mad Magazine.
This is the fourth, and best, book I've read by Irwin Shaw, and having completed it, I feel that it will be a good idea for me to read everything else he ever wrote. There are many ideas and themes related throughout the course of its 600 or so pages that made me stop and think before continuing reading, and that made me think later on in the day, or the next day.
The story follows two brothers and a sister, all very different, and how their lives affect each other throughout the course of a quarter-century. It begins in New York, during the end of World War II, and gives the reader ideas about each of the three main characters (who are in their teens when the story starts), how they regard (or disregard) each other and others outside the family.
A lot of the narrative centers around the violent kid (and later, adult) Tom Jordache and his disgust for and hatred of his brother, Rudolph. Tom makes his way up (to a point) in the world of boxing, while his brother makes a name for himself as a businessman and later, politician. Their sister, Gretchen, has ill feelings towards both of them, but strangely, they all end up helping each other while they hurt each other, throughout the course of their lives.
There really was no point during the story that I had a clear idea of what would happen in the coming years or how the entire thing would turn out. Shaw makes the transition from the forties to the fifties to the sixties extremely easy, and nothing about the characters growth seems forced or stretched. I loved this book very much.
The story of three siblings who started life in a dysfunctional family, each with their own personality, striving for a better life.
The eldest, Gretchen, who accepted help from a wealthy man and willingly paid his price, ends up becoming an independent woman but only after many years have passed.
Rudolph, the golden child not just to his mother but also to other people as he climbs the ladder of success with hardwork and honesty which can't save him from great disappointment polically and personally.
Tom, fighter and filled with hatred for his brother and sister who seem to have everything he doesn't but ends up happy finally and at peace with his family.
Like so many Americans in the 70s, I fell into Shaw's grasp after seeing the mini-series version of Rich Man, Poor Man. As I understand it, this was the first mini series. It was soon followed by Roots, Winds of War, about a dozen Sidney Sheldon stories, and more.
After seeing the mini series I read the book and found fell in love with it. This is the story of two brothers, one is a good student, a natural leader, and destined for the good life. The other is a trouble maker and a gifted fighter.
Hyperbole? Hell yes. The tough brother becomes a contender for a world boxing title while the other is among the most successful businessmen in America.
But something interesting happens along the way. The tough guy softens and the smart guy hardens and the brother who finds happiness is not the one you expected.
Here's another book that turned up on my newsfeed and I was reminded of how much I enjoyed this novel when I read it decades ago. Even if the writing didn't blow me away, I couldn't help being swept up by the story and the characters. It's just plain great storytelling.
One of the most interesting family stories on my reading journey. The author鈥檚 fascinating language, the incredible depth of immersion from the first lines did not let go. I read slowly, as usual it happens to me with addictive and emotionally responsive books. And yes, there will be no sweet story here, on the contrary, the characters are so ambiguous that they periodically start to shake from the actions of some. Clear favourites did not appear throughout the story, until the final, when the nervous system could not withstand such a turn of events and left in a state of shock. That鈥檚 when I felt that I got attached, you can even say, I was related to the characters.
The story of the family of Axel Jordach, who came from Germany, who in the United States married an orphan from the Mary Monastery. Children: Gretchen, Rudolph and Thomas. Mother and father have a favourite Rudolph. The rest of the children are not interested in them. All they do is for the sake of Rudolf, the hope for a bright future for the family. The incredibly abusive relationship between father and household members and an unbearably detached indifferent early ageing mother caused an association with Archibald Cronin 芦Brody鈥檚 Castle禄
Most of the story shows the development, dreams and desires of children. They are so different that the story of each is like a novel in a novel. Someone will inherit an increased sexual appetite and a desire for a luxurious life, someone bets on education and career, and someone just goes with the flow.
In addition to family values and the desire for the American dream, there is an emphasis on greed, greed, greed, deception and fraud. Life in the United States revolves around money. Law firms, trade and oil business, and of course politics perfectly reflect the era of that time.
But sooner or later the heroes begin to reach the fact that power, money and success are temporary. After all, fluctuations in stock quotes can lead to poverty at one moment, and to lose power and glory, it is enough just to make the wrong decision. And therefore, the separated sister and brothers will take careful steps towards family reunification, establish relationships and help solve the issues of fathers and children.
This work is so multifaceted that you can鈥檛 tell about it in a nutshell. But if you like voluminous family sagas with ambiguous heroes and actions, be sure to read.
So sad I didn't read it when it was a huge success back in the 90's because now, even when I really enjoyed, it seemed to me a little old fashioned. It's catchy and you get involved in it, but the style and the story itself seems so... 90's! The typical american story of success, with the "dark" side of poverty and failure, portrayed in the "poor man". This last one, Thomas, ended up being, in my opinion, the most wonderful character. Not only because of his final sacrifice, but because he seemed to me a more interesting, emotional, deep character than Rudolph or Gretchen. Rudy, the all american boy, successful, rich and handsome, is sometimes really annoying because of his rigidness, stubborness and cruelty, and Gretchen, the third essential sibling -unfairly and completely forgotten in the title-, is portrayed as a weak woman when I think she could have been one of the richest characters of this book. Nice reading. Nothing spectacular.
I read the book in Russian, and span through its 500+ pages in a couple of days: it is such an easy, vivid read, and the characters really drew me in. I kept on expecting more drama, though, more of conclusion... I guess, the genius of the book is in the characters, who, with their strengths and weaknesses are just people. They are not "archetypes" but simple people, traumatized by the childhood in different degrees and coping with it through their lives as they can and see possible. I liked Rudy the best: he really had a goal in life, and me, being more of a "going with the flow" person, really enjoyed reading about submitting all to the main issue in life: at the same time, he was doing the best he could for the relatives. I doubt though he will ever let his heart open... but it will save him lots of pain, even if by the price of the fullness of life experience...