Skip to main content

Walter Tevis: The Queen's Gambit

 I saw the limited series on Netflix. I was intimidated at first, because I don't know anything about chess except the very basic rules. But the show was extremely well done, and even though I didn't know the moves or anything about the matches, the show did an excellent job of explaining what was going on. My brother then gave me the novel the show is based off of for Christmas. I was excited to read it!

Netflix's decision to make it into a miniseries was wise, in my opinion. It allowed them to adequately adapt the book to film, and it was fun to compare the two. The creators of the series definitely took some license with the novel, but in the end, I was really impressed with both works.

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis follows the orphan Elizabeth Harmon. Elizabeth starts out at an orphanage upon the death of her mother. While there, she is taught to play chess by the janitor while she's supposed to be in class. Around the time Beth turns thirteen, she is adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Wheatley. Mr. Wheatley soon leaves the family, and Beth decides to start playing chess competitively. She wins the Kentucky State Championship as an unrated player in her first ever tournament. Beth then goes on to continue competing in tournaments around the U.S. Does she have what it takes to become a world class champion? Or will her alcohol addiction and abuse of prescription tranquillizers ruin her talent?

 In all, I LOVED the novel. I loved the descriptions of the matches. I loved Beth's inner narration. I loved all of the characters. You do not need to understand chess fully to be sucked into this riveting novel. It's a quick read, barely over 200 pages. I loved that the book is not only about chess, but it also deals with some pretty heavy topics like divorce, alcoholism, and the loss of parents. I liked that Tevis is not afraid to let his main character struggle and FAIL. Beth does not win every single match, and I think that's significant. Many authors give their main characters some convenient out so that they don't always hit rock bottom. Beth hits rock bottom and she hits it hard.

I think my only real complaint was some of the characters are mentioned, they make a big impact on Beth, and then we never see them again. I would have liked the story to resolve things with Townes (he competed in the Kentucky state championship as well, and Beth beat him too, but she runs into him a couple of other times) in particular, whom Beth always had a huge crush on. This is something the series did that I thought was better than the novel - they came back to Townes, and even Beltick (the former Kentucky state champion Beth beat at her first tournament) came back as well. I was a little bothered by Tevis being "done" with a character and they almost get forgotten.

In all, this was one of my favorite novels that I've read in a long time.

I rate this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I would rate this as PG-13 - there is quite a bit of sexual content and drug use.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Prince Harry: Spare

 My coworkers were all reading this, and I have to say that I'm fascinated by the royal family, so I gave into temptation and listened to this on Audible. Listening to the audio book was totally the way to go, since Prince Harry reads it himself. Spare  by Prince Harry is a heartbreaking memoir outlining Harry's treatment by the British tabloids. He outlines his experiences with the tabloids from the time his mother died until his departure from the royal family. This fascinating memoir gives an inside look into the workings of the royal family, and their relationships with the press. The memoir certainly makes it look as if all is not well in the house of Windsor, and attempts to set the record straight (from Harry's perspective) of what happened among the family members. Overall, I did enjoy this book. I loved the way Harry writes (and because I listened to it, the way he reads). I found his descriptions of events and places beautiful, and wish I could use it in AP! His p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Brandon Sanderson: The Lost Metal - Wax & Wayne (Mistborn Era 2) Book 4

 I finally finished Mistborn era 2! I loved this series so much (though I think I love era 1 the most still). This story was an incredible addition to Scadrial's story. In this final installment, we pick up in Elendel at a time of great uncertainty. The outer cities are threatening war, their tentative alliance with the Malwish is falling apart over the Bands of Mourning, and Wax is still in the middle of all of it. Now serving on the senate, Wax is desperately trying to help the Elendel nobles maintain peace while hunting the Set. Unsuccessful thus far at locating his sister, the leader of the Set, Wax is still trying to uncover her plans. Can Wax, Marasi, and Wayne uncover the Set's plans before the invasion of Trell crushes Scadrial? This was a fitting conclusion for Mistborn's second era. I loved the character development we saw in each of the characters: Marasi, Wax, Wayne, and Steris. I love the involvement of some era 1 characters (one who I am not going to spoil), a...
Post a Comment
Read more

2022 Reading in Review

 I thought it might be fun to look at my reading challenge from last year and look at what I enjoyed the most. I picked my top 5 favorite books from 2022 to highlight one more time. Choosing only five was actually more difficult than I imagined, since I had a lot of favorites. It was also hard to rank them if I'm completely honest, but here is my list! #5 - The Girl Who Drank the Moon  by Kelly Barnhill I loved this book. I loved the whimsical storytelling style and the plot. I loved the characters and how they were developed. I loved how the author carefully crafted the foreshadowing and how she carefully guided you through the mystery of Xan's memories. Overall, this book was so well written. Even though it was a middle grade book, I found myself unable to put it down. #4 - I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys If you've followed my blog, then you probably know that I don't usually care much for Ruta Septys's writing. It's not that I dislike the stories she tells,...
Post a Comment
Read more