Recommended, with reservations...

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	• Gentlemen and Players : A Novel Joanne Harris, 2006 - 432 pages average customer review:based on 56 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Highly readable and engrossing

This is the first book I've read by Joanne Harris but it appears to be a departure from her other works. I only know "Chocolat" from the movie, but looking at it and her previous novels did not prepare me for the subject of this book: A fairly dark revenge-driven plot set in an all-boys school in England. The plot has been compared to "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and there are similarities. I enjoyed the two narrators and the surprises that make perfect sense but aren't telegraphed that far in advance. I recommend this book to readers who like a mystery and are looking for a gripping read.

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Recommended, with reservations...

I'll start off by saying that Joanne Harris is one of my favorite authors. Her novels are usually a lot of fun.

Saying that, this is not her best work. If I didn't know better, I would think it was an early effort on her part - something that was rediscovered and published because she is so well-known.

Summary, no spoilers:

This mystery novel takes place at Oswald's School, which is an expensive private school for boys. Someone is out to destroy Oswald's, and that person has obtained a job from within. We don't find out the identity of this person until the end of the book.

The story is told in alternating chapters, switching from the viewpoint of the mysterious saboteur, to Roy Straitley, one of the oldest and most respected teachers at that institution.

This book is a page-turner. There is a palpable sense of menace, which is realized by mid-book.

The problem, without giving away any spoilers, is that some people may have a problem with the convoluted resolution. I saw the "twist" fairly early on, but was disappointed to see the book go in this direction. It felt forced.

Still, this is a book that grabbed me from page one, and I had a lot of fun reading this novel. Recommended, with the above reservations.

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A new twist from Joanne Harris

Gentlemen and Players, Joanne Harris's latest work, builds on her solid reputation for beguilingly peeling back the layers of intrigue, exposing the core of the mystery just pages from the back cover. But that is where all similarities to her prior books cease. This one has echoes of John Knowles' A Separate Peace, and a bit of the boarding school experience of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series: There are various "houses" and secret hiding places; there are harmless pranks, silly school-boy antics and incidents of malicious, wicked bullying. Similarly, ambitious teachers torment colleagues by exploiting their personal or academic quirks. Students and teachers alike try to protect their own secrets while whispering what others seek to keep hidden. Told with wry humor in poking fun at the quintessential rivalry and snobbery of boys in private school and ridiculing the stereotypical wardrobe and behaviors of teachers (Suits, Tweeds, Old Boys, Strange Birds, Young Guns...) this is ultimately a story of long harbored grudges leading to chillingly planned revenge. After all, Harris has consistently demonstrated her mastery of suspense by creating careful, rationalizing characters with unnerving primal urges which fester just beneath a cultured, smiling face. And the finale will leave you paging back through the book to figure out how Harris could have deceived you so thoroughly!

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Mate Goes to Harris

Imagine Minette Walters and Barbara Vine having a lovechild for a book and that lovechild being set in a contemporary "Tom Brown's School Days" plus clever mystery. No? Then how about this: Of the 59 books I've read thus far in 2006, none has given me as much sheer pleasure as this wickedly fun, by turns moving, chess game of a novel. Not one, but two slightly unreliable narrators spin a tale of private-school obsession and belated revenge. Half the fun of reading the book is that you sense, with every page, the giddy delight the author felt in crafting it. Be warned: Every time you think you know what's going on, well, you're probably wrong.

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cover to cover

This was on the list for my book club - so I initially avoided it. But for once the gals selected something that wasn't saccharine, derivative or more middle-aged housewife angst.

Most novels these days are all too predictable. It's as though they all received the same outline in a creative writing class; only the scenary and wardrobe are different. This is an exception. There are a few iffy spots in the story, but overall, there is little filler in this book. It's tight and very well thought out. Every word is there for a reason. Almost every line helps the progression of the story.

It's been a long time since I've read a book which had a plot and characters I could recall months later. It's been even longer since I've read a book where I didn't skip pages or entire chapters, wondering whether the editor had bothered to read the book.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, page 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

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