| ||||||||||
Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig Visit ColumbiaMagazine's Directory of Churches Addresses, times, phone numbers and more for churches in Adair County Find Great Stuff in ColumbiaMagazine's Classified Ads Antiques, Help Wanted, Autos, Real Estate, Legal Notices, More... |
Tom Chaney. R762 review: The Queen's Gambit, by Walter Tevis Of Writers and Their Books No. R762: First appeared 13 May 2007 in the Hart County Herald. A review of the book: The Queen's Gambit by Kentucky author Walter Tevis. The complete poem, "Like a long-legged fly," by William Butler Yeats follows this Tom Chaney Review. The next earlier Tom Chaney column : Tom Chaney. R761 review: The Gospel of Judas By Tom Chaney Like a long-legged fly.... I was fixin' to get in a long and serious day of work this past Sunday. Filing from 1993 needs to be caught up. Taxes from about 1923 cry out for payment. I had thought of a Sunday morning nap. Walter May, known to many folks in these parts as an actor and playwright masquerading as a notorious Lexington attorney, has written a play which was presented a couple of weeks back at the annual Kentucky Voices readings of new plays. I had been of some assistance to him in that matter -- chiefly providing endless cups of coffee during the spring workshops and pushing readers about on stage Saturday afternoon. As a thank-you gift he sent me a book which gobsmacked me completely. Sunday morning at eight I picked it up. I read straight through until about two in the afternoon when I noticed the local fire department attempting to demolish Clarence Owens' brickwork across the tracks at the hotel with a fire hose. It has been years since I have been so snubbed up to the reading post by any book. Usually I can at least stop to eat. Not this time. The book by Kentucky author Walter Tevis is The Queen's Gambit [Random House, 1983] recently reissued in a Vintage paperback edition. Three of Tevis's books have been made into fine movies -- The Hustler and The Color of Money both starred Paul Newman. The third was The Man Who Fell to Earth. But the book which drew me in, deals with a subject of which I know just enough to be dangerous. The title refers to a classic opening in a chess match. Eight-year-old Beth Harmon is a Lexington orphan sent to The Methuen Home in Mount Sterling upon the death of her parents in a car crash. All of the girls in the orphanage are given tranquilizers twice a day "to even their dispositions." Her only friend and confidant is a black girl, Jolene. Beth is a quiet, brilliant student. As a reward for excellence she gets to clean the erasers after arithmetic class. For that task she goes to the furnace room where the custodian, Mr. Shaibel, plays chess. She overcomes his reluctance and persuades him to teach her the game. Soon she is able to visualize complicated games in her head. Before long she is far beyond Shaibel. The custodian introduces her to Mr. Ganz, sponsor of the chess club at the high school. Astounded by her play, he asks her to attend a meeting of the club where she simultaneously plays and defeats the twelve young men who are members. By the age of sixteen she has been adopted and competes for the U. S. Open Championship. Like Fast Eddie Felson of The Hustler, she hates to lose. During her rise she relies heavily on the tranquilizers and alcohol as her isolation becomes more frightening. By eighteen she is the U.S. Champion. Then she goes to Russia to face the Russians. Tevis's description of the game of chess is as complex and engaging as is his description of pool in The Hustler. But The Queen's Gambit, like the earlier novel, is not just about a complicated game. If that were so, I would not have been so enthralled. Beth's story is a supurb novel of psychological suspense. My knowledge of the game is limited to being aware of how each piece may move across the board. I cannot see one move ahead to say nothing of an entire game. But Tevis transcends the novice reader's ignorance to create an enthralling world. "This book might not have worked if it weren't for the sensitive, moving, and emotionally honest way Tevis treats Beth Harmon," according to one critic. Indeed, the book works. Like a long-legged fly upon the streamTevis gave us only six novels before his death in 1984. THE BOOKSTORE Box 73/111 Water Street Horse Cave, Kentucky 42749 270-786-3084 Email: Tom Chaney http://www.alibris.com/stores/horscave Robert Stone, who edited this column, thought readers might be interested in the complete William Butler Yeats poem:Long-Legged Fly by William Butler Yeats That civilisation may not sink, This story was posted on 2012-05-13 04:11:25
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic Tom Chaney: Of Writers and Their Books:
Tom Chaney. R761 review: The Gospel of Judas Tom Chaney. R760 review: Plain Truth Tom Chaney. R759 review: Earth Day column redux Tom Chaney. R758A review: The Legend of Pope Joan Tom Chaney. No. R757: The Price of Murder, a review Tom Chaney. No. R756: No frigate like a book Tom Chaney: R755: Your history is not my history Tom Chaney: R754: Avenging Mountain Murder Cases Tom Chaney: R753: Review of book - Exiled Tom Chaney, R752: Bloody trails in a dark land View even more articles in topic Tom Chaney: Of Writers and Their Books |
|
||||||||
| ||||||||||
Quick Links to Popular Features
Looking for a story or picture? Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com. | ||||||||||
Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728. Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.
|