Gentlemen and Players: A Novel (P.S.)
by Joanne Harris
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Book Summary Information
Author: Joanne HarrisEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-12-26
ISBN: 0060559152
Number of pages: 422
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780060559151
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Gentlemen and Players: A Novel (P.S.)
Book Review: "Vale, magister"
Summary: 5 Stars
Joanne Harris's "Gentlemen and Players," cleverly combines satire with a mystery thriller. It's set in an English elite grammar school for boys called St. Oswald's. Told in first-person alternating chapters by the revenge-bound sociopathic imposter posing as a teacher and Roy Straitley, the elderly Latin teacher who wants just one more term (which would make it an even hundred) before he retires, it's all about the sociopath's attempt to bring the school to its knees.
We learn quickly that the sociopath is the son of a porter (i.e., the caretaker), John Snyde, who was done a bad turn by the school. And now the son, who went to a "comprehensive" (i.e., public school) has returned to St. Oswald's (which he used to infiltrate as a child) under an assumed name. He creates a chain of mayhem, beginning with stolen pens and escalating to far more serious crimes, and brags on them in his chapters. Straitley tries to uphold the honor of the school although his colleagues (all with Dickensian or chess-derived names) believe he's well past it and try to get him to retire. Indeed, had it not been for the chaos the imposter has created, that is exactly what would have happened. But as it is, the old Latin teacher stays on the job, and adds amateur detective to his CV.
T'would be a crime to reveal anything further about the plot, but surely there is no harm in praising the author for the way she evokes the time (autumn) and the place (the school and its grounds). You'll probably smell the chalk dust, and hear the chatter of the boys and the drone of the lessons, and get dizzy at a scene on a rooftop. To say nothing of the stalking menace of the sociopath, lurking in the shadows, planning the next move. Until . . .
Notes and asides: The novel, originally published in the UK, has apparently been edited for an American audience. Some busybody has attempted, and badly, to change Britspeak for American. "Trainers," for example have sometimes been allowed to remain in Brit, while at others they have been changed to the U.S. "sneakers." However nobody thought to change the more obscure "Casualty" to "Emergency Room," although I'm sure U.S. readers will quickly figure that out. Since this silliness can hardly be blamed on the author, no stars are deducted here. The author has written a mini-essay in the back about her teaching years, and translations of the Latin are supplied there, too.
Summary of Gentlemen and Players: A Novel (P.S.)
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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