Former boxer Terry Malloy and his brother Charley, the crooked lawyer known to all as 'the Gent', are members of the tough, mobster-connected New York Longshoremen Union, run by Johnny Friendly. Johnny and his goons rule the waterfront with an iron fist, meaning that if you want to stay alive, you do things Johnny's way: plead 'D & D' - deaf and dumb. On The Waterfront is one of the most gripping tales of political corruption and individual heroism of our time. The 1954 film, starring Marlon Brando, achieved massive critical acclaim and went on to win eight Oscars, including Best Actor for Brando as well as Best Film and Best Screenplay for Schulberg. On The Waterfront is rightly considered a modern classic and is as powerful a read today as it was fifty years ago.

バッド・シュルバーグが描くのは、沈黙が掟とされる港湾地帯の過酷なリアリズムです。主人公テリーの良心の覚醒は、単なる正義感の発露ではなく、腐敗に屈してきた己の魂を奪還するための壮絶な闘いなのです。組織の歯車から一人の人間へと立ち返るその峻烈な姿に、読者は人間の真の気高さを目撃し、激しく魂を揺さぶられるでしょう。 映画版の放つ圧倒的な熱量に対し、原作テキストは社会構造の歪みや個人の内面をより冷徹に、かつ深淵にえぐり出しています。映像が捉えた一瞬の輝きを、小説ならではの緻密な心理描写が補完するシナジーこそが、本作を不朽の古典たらしめる醍醐味です。活字でしか味わえない剥き出しの人間ドラマを、ぜひその手で確かめてください。