The Queen's Gambit

272 pages

English language

Published Nov. 12, 2016 by Orion Publishing Group, Limited.

ISBN:
978-1-4746-0084-2
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4 stars (8 reviews)

The Queen's Gambit is a 1983 American novel by Walter Tevis, exploring the life of fictional female chess prodigy Beth Harmon. A bildungsroman, or coming-of-age story, it covers themes of adoption, feminism, chess, drug addiction and alcoholism. The book was adapted for the 2020 Netflix miniseries of the same name.

13 editions

Wonderful story, terrible narrator (spoiler in final paragraph)

4 stars

I should say up front that I've never played chess. And yet, this is still a ripping good story even with all the chess talk. The author does a masterful job of making sure that you will enjoy the story even if you know nothing about chess at all. That in itself is an amazing feat.

In fact, even though this narrator is highly annoying, I still loved the book. I had to crank up the speed to get past her deadpan delivery. Oh, I yearn to hear this book read by a skilled narrator, one who can bring emotional nuance to a complex character such as Elizabeth. Instead, we have a narrator who sounds like she takes as many downers as Elizabeth does. 

Back to the writing. The story maintains tension with a degree of substance use that is quite frightening in places. We end the book with Elizabeth …

Review of "The Queen's Gambit" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

A n interesting read, although I think, tbh, that the TV series was more dramatic. There was, if memory serves, a less dramatic ending. But the character was very interesting and the setting very evocative, and, as with the series. It did an amazing job of bringing the cerebral gymnastics of chess to life.

Review of "The Queen's Gambit" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Wow. Like so many, The Queen's Gambit was added to my tbr pile mountain thanks to the incredibly successful Netflix adaptation (which I still need to actually watch) as I wanted to know more. Why was this being raved about? Why had it caused a huge demand in chessboard sales etcetera.

The answer to all of the questions I had is simple. Walter Tevis wrote an incredible tale that draws you in from your first encounter with the young orphan, Beth Harmon whose entire life is turned on its head with the death of her parents.

The character development and world-building are immersive and Tevis's writing skills ensure that you see events unfold before you and awaken and trick your senses so you're living in 1950s/60s America with the Cold War making America wary whilst it still recovered to a degree from the aftermath of World War II as well …

Review of "The Queen's gambit" on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Enjoyable book that follows the Netflix series pretty well. If you're going to give it a shot - and if you're a fan of the show or of chess, you might want to - go with the eyeball version. The narrator left a lot to be desired. I think I would have enjoyed a text-to-speech reader more.

I listened through the Audible Premium Plus catalog so at least I'm not out a credit...

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3 stars
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5 stars
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5 stars
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rated it

4 stars

Subjects

  • Fiction, general