Roger Leslie Paige
Autore di Bookbound and Other Stories
Sull'Autore
Opere di Roger Leslie Paige
Bookbound and Other Stories 7 copie
Dreamageddon & Other Stories 3 copie
Dreamageddon & Other Stories 2 copie
More Chess Games: Past & Present 1 copia
Etichette
Informazioni generali
Utenti
Recensioni
Statistiche
- Opere
- 16
- Utenti
- 33
- Popolarità
- #421,955
- Voto
- 2.8
- Recensioni
- 7
- ISBN
- 10
Short stories, quite like the genre. Extra benefit, should one not like one specific story, soon there is another chance. In this particular case 18 stories.
The first one immediately impressed me. Great build up, interesting characters, plenty of opportunities. Then suddenly it’s over. Something happened, and that was that. It had all the potential for a longer story, possibly even a novel, yet the author decided this was enough.
The second one was a bit predictable, yet so nice (the word is very appropriate) it didn’t matter. It was followed by two stories that go completely beyond me, yet a Tom Waits-mention in story five gives the author a bit extra credit. The book needs it.
Spreoty is a great story, that could have been written by Frank Heinen or Erik Brouwer (two Dutch authors of short stories I rate high; hence a compliment) about a female jockey posing as male.
Then follow quite a few games with chess as main topic or the most important context. And funnily enough, that’s what saves the book. Even though I am not even an amateur at chess, I barely know the rules, I do like to read about it. The game (sport) has a lot of potential for literature. It immediately starts with a great story about a small boy beating ‘the doctor’ and them meeting again decades later.
Another highlight is the story ‘The thirteenth player’ in which a almost forgotten legend not just shows up, but makes a huge impression. Together with ‘Z is for Zugzwang’ (a little chess and a little magic realism) the two chess stories alone make this book worth reading.
I enjoyed reading this collection, yet I feel that there is hardly any common ground apart from the author. Way too many enumerations. The complete (fictional) chess games are only added value for some chess fanatics. Many quotes in French and German might bother several readers who do not read more than English. If I were Roger Leslie, I’d ask someone to help me edit this book, before actually publishing it.
Quote: “For some time the committee thought the letter was a hoax. Who wouldn’t? Since having won the title in 1972 when he beat Boris Spassky in Iceland, Fischer had been a virtual peripatetic recluse.” (p.236)… (altro)