Customer Reviews

Gentlemen and Players: A Novel (P.S.)

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First of all, for the cricket-ignorant, up until WW II in
English first-class cricket, the people who played the game
were classified as "gentlemen"--those who played the game
without pay--and "players"--the paid professionals. In the
box-score, a gentleman would appear as Mr Smith, and a
professional would appear as Jones. Separate dessing-rooms
were provided for the two groups. There was an annual match
Gentlemen vs Players. It was very rare that a team captain
would be a player: there was a significant gulf between the
leisure class and the working class.

The novel is about the child of the working-class man who did
the janitorial chores at St Oswald's School, an expensive
day school for sons of privilege. The child, now grown up,
forges documents to join the school as a new faculty member,
with the intention of destroying the institution from within.
So small unpleasant things begin to happen--and things get
worse with thefts and scandals. It's a game--but only the
player knows it--the gentlemen (which includes female faculty)
are puzzled and disconcerted. The other central figure is Roy
Straitley, classics master, now in his 34th year at St Oswald's.
Straitley is Old School, computer-ignorant, but shrewd enough
to finally realize that there is a game going on. The gentlemen
are accustomed to interacting with gentlemen (faculty and
students) at the school--they are at a great disadvantage
against a working-class person who doesn't play by the rules.

The sense of dichotomy is wonderfully drawn here--those of
privilege, and those who are not. There are fine lines of
snobbery. Gentlemen & Players has similar layers--depths and
nuances. An excellent read!

This clever novel has just been nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe award by the Mystery Writers of America, and it's easy to see why. St. Oswald's, an exclusive British boy's school, is the scene of a deadly contest between a dedicated old "Mr. Chips"-type teacher and a mysterious newcomer to the faculty. Each opponent tells the story in alternating chapters, and it soon becomes clear that the evil interloper has a beef with the place dating back to childhood. This new teacher is secretly waging an insidious campaign of terror against St. Oswald's, the clear intent being to bring the famous school down and close its doors forever. And only our hero--a fussy, eccentric, out-of-shape old-timer--can stop the tragedy, if he can find his anonymous adversary in time....

Harris (CHOCOLAT, FIVE QUARTERS OF THE ORANGE) hits the ground running with her first suspense novel, and it's as funny as it is bizarre, a truly black comedy. A former teacher in a Brit boys' school, Harris knows the institutions and their people very well. She has a marvelous way of describing everything, and her names for the characters are particularly Dickensian. The heroic teacher is named Straitley, the villain is named Snyde, and other teachers and students are appropriately named Meek, Strange, Knight, Bishop, Devine, Fallow, Brasenose, Shakeshafte, etc. She makes you feel that you're actually there, in the school, witnessing the "game." Highly recommended.

I'm reviewing the P.S. version of 'Gentlemen and Players' because it contains an insightful five-page 'On My Mind' piece by the Joanne Harris. Harris discusses her history as a teacher - 12 years teaching at a Boys' Grammar School in the UK. As the intro to that piece states, her teaching experience was "put to good use in the deeply atmospheric 'Gentlemen and Players.'"

Indeed.

I also have to make mention of the compelling cover of the P.S. release, design courtesy of Robin Bilardello. It makes this work fairly leap off the shelves and into your hands. It's what encouraged me to flip through the book in the store.

The book itself holds up well. The style taken on here by Ms. Harris - two competing narrators and a very well-concealed twist - is not one taken easily by an unskilled writer. She pulls it off very well. Harris is best known as the author of 'Chocolat' (basis of the movie of the same name). Reviews elsewhere call that her best work, while others put votes in for 'Five Quarters of the Orange.' 'Gentlemen and Players' was my introduction to her work. I came out very impressed and definitely a new fan of her work.

"If there's one thing I've learned in the past fifteen years, it's this: that murder is really no big deal." So speaks the "pawn" in the opening sentence of Gentlemen & Players, a brilliant and suspenseful literary novel that reminds one of Donna Tartt's The Secret History, Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose.

On page 333 of the novel, the pawn speaks again: "Just the place for a quiet murder, don't you think? The dark; the crowds; the confusion. So easy here to apply Poe's law--stating that the object that is hidden in plain sight remains unseen longest--and to simply walk away, leaving the body for some poor baffled soul to discover, or even to discover it myself, with a cry of alarm, relying upon the inevitable crowd to shield me from sight. . . . One more murder. I owe it to myself. Or maybe two."

St. Oswald's Grammar School for Boys in northern England is a posh institution that caters to the scions of the wealthy. With a long tradition of academic excellence, elitism, and snobbery, its stately campus looms as a forbidden zone for the underprivileged and poor: "No Trespassers. No Unauthorized Entry Beyond This Point." Trespassers will be prosecuted.

Laws are made to be broken. Every rule, order, and command gives birth to rebels who challenge the authoritative edicts of the status quo, to misfits who gleefully throw monkey wrenches into the machine. The "pawn" is one such outsider, who, fuming at the arbitrary line drawn between the haves and the have-not's, is determined to bring down this pretentious institution.

"These people are so easily blinded," muses the pawn. "Even greater than their stupidity, there's the arrogance, the certainty that no one would cross the line."

Don't be misled by the illustration on the book's cover, that of a king and a pawn. This novel is not about chess per se, but Joanne Harris sustains the chess analogy throughout the book's chapters: Pawn, King, Knight, En Passant, Check, Bishop, Queen, and Mate.

The "king" in Roy Hubert Straitley, 65, an eccentric professor of classical languages (Latin and Greek) who has given St. Oswald's 33 years of loyal service--three forms per year, and who, unless he is forced into retirement (or killed), seeks to become a "Centurion," one who has taught a hundred forms,

Straitley teaches "my boys" (as he calls them) the subtleties of Horace, the perils of the ablative absolute, and the meaning of phrases such as "Audere, agere, auferre" (To dare, to strive, to conquer), which is the school's motto, and which becomes the battle cry of both the king and the pawn, who soon become locked in mortal combat.

The pawn, self-proclaimed "Lord of Misrule," also embraces another Latin motto: "Illegitimi non carborundum" (Don't let the bastards grind you down).

The pawn, an intelligent but hitherto invisible sociopath, looks in the mirror and sees the reflection of a talented artist, someone who wants to be seen, noted, and appreciated: "A talent like mine begs to be acknowledged." And like all artists, the pawn likes to provoke.

True, the pawn begins the game as a weak player, but ambitiously seeks promotion to a more powerful piece. It's David vs. Goliath, and a well-placed stone can bring down a giant.

Harris divides her novel into (more or less) alternating chapters, in which we see the pawn, a cunning enemy who sows tares among the wheat, intuitively concocting Machiavellian gambits, nice little pieces of antisocial engineering, to destroy St. Oswald's. Then, in turn we see the king, who laments, "O tempora! O mores! Horatio at the bridge, single handedly holding back the barbarian hordes. . . . There's a Jonah on board. If only I knew who it was."

Although the pawn despises St. Oswald's, Roy Straitley earns a grudging respect: "A slow mover, the king; but a powerful enemy. Even so, a well-placed pawn may bring him down."

Joanne Harris is the author of six other books: Chocolat; Blackberry Wine; Five Quarters of the Orange; Coastliners; Holy Fools; and Jigs & Reels. Half French half British, she lives in England.

Unless you are better skilled than I at solving whodunits, the revelation of the pawn's identity will come as a stunning surprise; it will knock your socks off. From the opening, to the middle game, to the endgame of Gentlemen & Players, one is impressed by the intelligenct and ingenious plot of Joanne Harris' totally engrossing story.

I mostly read library books. This one, however, once I return to the library, I'm heading out to buy. Both for my husband to read and to keep on hand for myself. Will be reading it again in a few years. It's that good.

Well written and enjoyable, you'll be reading merrily along and you'll reach a point where a good read becomes the BEST read ever. You've been duped and tricked, but will love every moment of it. Delightfully twisty ending. Now I'll be going back the first 300 pages to see how the author pulled it off without any red flags being sent up (plenty of red herrings, however). Granted, there was times when I realized a couple things didn't add up, but I chalked it up to lack of attention on my part (fast reader). Now I know that the way it was written would bring that result, no real fault of my own. Harris purposely tries to shift your attention elsewhere, all the time performing an illusion right before your eyes. Perhaps I said too much? Hmmm...maybe not. Go on, get it. I promise you'll love it.

St. Oswald's Grammar School for Boys is one of the most prestigious privates schools in England. Having a pristine image is vital, and whatever potential scandal comes up is immediately covered up. Roy Straitley, a sixty-something Classics professor, is going for his Centurion, but will he be able to achieve it when his fellow staff members are taking over his office and classroom? There are also several new teachers this year, one of which is an aspiring author. There will be changes this year, but Straitley had never envisage just how different things would be. Small things occur at first. Pens go missing, pranks are made, porters get into trouble. But then things escalate, and one scandal follows another. Pedophilia, extramarital affairs, a missing child and Internet porn are among those scandals. And, worse still, there is murder. Who could be causing this? Someone who has been invisible to everyone at the school. Someone who has managed to trespass St. Oswald's as a child, becomes obsessed with one of the students, and has come back for revenge after everything was covered up to protect the school's image. St. Oswald's goes out of its way to avoid scandals, and this person will be changing that...

Gentlemen and Players is one of the cleverest written novels out there. Its dark, sinister and disturbing language drew me from the very start. The mysterious narrator -- the one seeking revenge -- made my skin crawl, and the big twist in the last fifty or so pages truly shocked me. The fact that it hadn't even occurred to me is a good indication of how well written this book is. Many things made sense when the person's identity is revealed. But I don't want to spoil it for the reader, and so I won't give further details. One thing is certain though: Joanne Harris is an excellent author. I haven't read Chocolat or her other novels, but Gentlemen and Players is a literary thriller that I will remember for quite a while. I cannot recommend this gem enough. If you've read this book and are looking for something as riveting as this, then I recommend The Keep by Jennifer Egan.

If I could have I would have given it a 3.5 stars-- but I've erred on the liberal side for several reasons:

The writing is clever, entertaining and does keep you turning the pages. However, I found the "great twists" others mentioned - predictable this time.(If you are surprised at the end --- then you'll be more inclined to rate it more highly).

At the same time, because the characters and even their unique way of reaching a predictable twist were so fascinating - I didn't mind as much that I was pretty sure I knew where I was being led.

I do think it's a good read - and it's worth noting a few things I wished I'd discovered sooner to help enjoy it even more:
1) The school is in Britain and written in good old English (not American-English).If you don't spend time hanging with Brits, you may indeed find yourself "a bit" caught up with unfamiliar words and terms for everyday items like school courses, teachers, periods and classes.(In fact, I didn't know that the title Gentlemen and Players referred to British cricket - until after I'd read the book).

2) In this edition, there is a nice handy guide at the back that translates Latin and historical references(which is not translated in the actual text of the book.) You know a great reference has been been made- just not to what exactly. I strongly recommend checking the back of the book for the translation as you go along unless your a Latin and Greek History buff - or you'll miss much of the humor and references.

3) The book is written from a couple of different characters perspective- but they're all written in first person "I" language. It's confusing; but well done. After the first few chapters I realized that the little chess symbol at the start of each chapter indicated which character was speaking (e.g. a White King for Straitley, a black pawn for a mischief maker, etc.).

It's a different type of thriller - and if you're tired of the old same type thriller, or enjoy entertainment with a different sort of twist (like Shutter Island: A Novel) you'll enjoy this one.

St. Oswald's Grammar School for boys has trained children of the elite for generations. It is a school with a high success rate and much tradition. But things are changing and not everything is for the better.

Roy Straitley has been a teacher at St. Oswald's for over thirty years. As Straitley sees tradition disappear and fancy technology begin to take over, he begins to seriously consider turning in his chalk and retiring. Email is his bane, but he could come to live with it. Not much else though. All the changes are almost overwhelming.

Five new members join the teaching staff of St. Oswald's. One of them (known often in the book as Snyde) is not there to teach promising young minds. Snyde is there for much darker reasons.

***** Now this novel is told in a far different way than I am used to! Author Joanne Harris lets Roy Straitley narrate, but also allows Snyde his turn on the soap box. This is a bold move that few authors dare. Yet Joanne Harris succeeds in making it work! Highly recommended! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Joanne Harris, whose books have always been enjoyable, has taken her writing to a new level with this book. The story, which takes place at an elite boys' school, centers on the main character's desire for revenge. A sociopathic personality (if you ask me), the character, whose father is the school porter, masquerades as one of the students for years and pulls it off, using a fake name. This same person later returns as a teacher with the objective of destroying the school, for reasons not fully revealed until the end. The book shows in a most frightening way how easy it is to steal identities,falsely accuse people of crimes and destroy reputations in the computer age. You wont be able to put this book down and I'm not saying any more so as not to reveal specifics of the plot.

This book was recommended to me in my discussion forum about books with twist or surprise endings. I thought that the end was great, I didn't see it coming at all. However, the book reminded me of Seinfeld, it just wasn't about anything. It's very narrative and descriptive where I would have preferred more action less talk. However, if you like books like that this one would be perfect.