Gladiator

This starts with a brief essay on Philp Wylie. Although known for the classic, "When Worlds Collide," his real heritage seems to be the other writers he inspired. Specifically, this book inspired Jerry Siegel, creator of Superman, and most of the modern super-hero genre by extension. Danner, the protagonist, bears an uncanny semblance to the early incarnation of the Man of Steel.This quite terrestrial character was granted huge strength, incredible speed, and shark-resistant toughness by his scientist father, whose prenatal interventions prove that the 1920s (when this was written) had no ethics review boards for human experimentation. After a childhood of hiding his remarkable differences, a tragedy in college sport sends him off on a quest to find himself. The story starts him as a tramp ship laborer. In a tropical layover, he finds himself uncommonly well suited to pearl diving - assuring an income far beyond his modest needs. The next stop finds him at the edge of something like WWI. There, he resists bullets and bayonets to become a new horror of trench warfare, walking down the row tearing enemies apart with his hands. After a few more tries in life, he enters the halls of governmental power, as one of the shadowy powers behind the visible face of government. When that disillusions him, as usual, he gets up and walks off to the next chapter of his life: Science. Then ...Well, nothing. The story reaches no dramatic denouement, it simply ends, almost in mid-sentence. The incomplete dramatic arc is about as satisfying as a rainbow that stops half-way across the sky.Although Wylie planted the seeds of so much of modern storytelling, perhaps it's best that others cultivated those seeds to fruition.--wiredweird

I thought it was a really good book. I was tempted to give it 5 stars. It was a little more risque than I had thought it would be, certainly compared to Superman.Obviously, the Superman comparison is the big draw, and there are many more aspects to the Man of Steel than are derived from this book. For one thing, S-M is an alien and has many more powers.

Perfect for a super fan.

It's too bad that Phillip Wylie is largely forgotten. He was a great writer and this was a great story. The irony of Danner's predicament hits hard like a punch to the head.

O livro só sobrevivel ao tempo devido à inspiração que deu para a criação do superman, mas vale a pena para entusiastas dos quadrinhos e literatura pulp

Interesting book that was one of the inspirations for Superman, of its time but worth a read. The book arrived in time and in perfect condition.