Excellent addition to the British Grammar School drama.

books:


	• Gentlemen and Players: A Novel (P.S.) Joanne Harris Harper Perennial, 2007 - 448 pages average customer review:based on 16 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Amazon: Why don't you have her other books?

Where can I get the rest of her books????

See her website!!!

Let the sinister games begin!

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.

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SOME PLAYERS ARE NOT GENTLEMEN

For this reader Gentlemen & Players by Joanne Harris is a blockbuster of a novel with more twists and turns than an amusement park thrill ride. Set at a British boys' school, this riveting tale plays out like a game of chess with each move and counter-move by the participants advancing the story toward its unexpected climax.

The narrative itself covers a fifteen year period in the history of St. Oswald's School for Boys and moves back and forth in time between past AND present. Through the eyes of its two narrators, one a Professor of Classics and the other the offspring of the schools groundskeeper, we are given an "up close and personal" look at subjects as diverse as the youthful despair of "not belonging", to the inner workings of an obsessive mind, to the ambitious in-fighting and competitiveness of the teaching profession.

I will go no further with my critique since too much information would ultimately ruin the surprises neatly concealed in this tale of malice and revenge run amok. Suffice to say that Joanne Harris has given us a protagonist equal to Patricia Highsmith's sociopathic Tom Ripley character.[ASIN:0099282879 The Talented Mr.Ripley]

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Excellent addition to the British Grammar School drama.

I enjoyed almost everything about this novel. I was fascinated by, and, for the most part, believed in psychological development of the characters...a plus for any mystery. Set in a semi-tony British Boy's school, always a treat, this fun psychological thriller kept me guessing until the end. As my only previous experience with this writer was the somewhat tiresome movie Chocolat, I was very pleasantly surprised. I look forward to reading her next effort!

Fantastic Read!

I was a little hesitant at first about reading this book. However, it did not take me long at all to realize that I had chosen a winner. The plot is amazing! If only every book was written this well. Yes, you think you have it all figured out and WHAM! It's NOT to be missed!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

For generations, privileged young men have attended St. Oswald's Grammar School for Boys, groomed for success by the likes of Roy Straitley, the eccentric Classics teacher who has been a fixture there for more than thirty years. This year, however, the wind of unwelcome change is blowing, and Straitley is finally, reluctantly, contemplating retirement. As the new term gets under way, a number of incidents befall students and faculty alike, beginning as small annoyances but soon escalating in both number and consequence. St. Oswald's is unraveling, and only Straitley stands in the way of its ruin. But he faces a formidable opponent with a bitter grudge and a master strategy that has been meticulously planned to the final, deadly move.

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