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Gentlemen and Players

Joanne Harris (Goodreads Author)

3.90 · Rating details · 13,127 ratings · 1,542 reviews

Audere, agere, auferre. To dare, to strive, to conquer. 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. But this year the wind of unwelcome change is blowing. Suits, paperwork, and information t ...more

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Hardcover, 422 pages

Published January 3rd 2006 by William Morrow (first published 2005)

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3.90 ·

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· 13,127 ratings · 1,542 reviews

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Oct 08, 2008 Will Byrnes rated it really liked it

St. Oswalds Grammar School for Boys is an exclusive British institution, a bastion of tradition and privilege. Roy Straitley is an aging Classics teacher about to reach his 100th term at the school. The sameness and relative serenity of St Oswalds is about to be shattered. A new teacher is up to no good, determined to wreak havoc, perhaps even destroy the school and all those in it. Ultimately, this will become a battle between the honorable Straitley and the wretch bent on revenge and destructi ...more

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Apr 27, 2013 B the BookAddict rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Most Highly Recommended

Shelves: fiction

Joanne Harris is best known for her award winning novel Chocolat that lead to the highly successful film of the same name and two more novels featuring the main characters. Her other novels include Blackberry Wine, Five Quarters of the Orange, The Lollipop Shoes and Peaches for Father Francis. Born in her grandparent’s sweet shop, her family has a tradition of storytelling, folklore, cookery and strong women. It is no surprise then that many of her books feature food, sweets and strong women fol

Joanne Harris is best known for her award winning novel Chocolat that lead to the highly successful film of the same name and two more novels featuring the main characters. Her other novels include Blackberry Wine, Five Quarters of the Orange, The Lollipop Shoes and Peaches for Father Francis. Born in her grandparent’s sweet shop, her family has a tradition of storytelling, folklore, cookery and strong women. It is no surprise then that many of her books feature food, sweets and strong women following their own path. But in Gentlemen and Players, Harris changes tack completely. She has taught modern languages at a boys independent grammar school for fifteen years and from this experience, she has gleaned inspiration.

Art does often imitate life so it should come as no surprise then that Harris has set her 2005 novel Gentlemen and Players in the rarefied air of a private grammar school for boys, St Oswalds. The novel is a psychological thriller, which sharply features deceits, flawed childhood, hidden identity, class distinction and revenge; the story ends with a deliciously unexpected twist at the end. There are two narrators; Roy Straitley, the Classics Master, on the eve of his century (100th) term who is affectionately referred to, by his students, as Quasi or Quasimodo as he is a trifle hunched and whose rooms are in the Bell Tower. Straitley is a Luddite; ignoring all requests to attend to his email, he swears in Latin and smokes (banned by the school) secret Gauloises in his office. The other narrator is the unnamed perpetrator who is bent on revenge for a myriad of both real and imagined slights against St Oswalds; a sociopath who is filled with hatred and bitterness. This perpetrator knows no rules he will not break; somehow he has infiltrated the teachers ranks, become on of them; a serpent set loose in the garden. One by one, insurrection among the boys, then scandals involving the staff begin to erupt, bringing chaos to the Michaelmas term.

A white King marks the first narrator, Straitley, at the beginning of alternate chapters. The second narrator is marked by a Black Pawn, and is the voice of the unknown enemy within St Oswald's.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past fifteen years, it’s this: murder is really no big deal.”

Such a tantalising first sentence in a novel! Harris did not disappoint in the rest of the story. It is gripping, clever and well paced; the plot is tightly controlled with impressive ingenuity. A tale for every reader: Most Highly Recommended. 4.5★
...more

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Oct 08, 2013 Phrynne rated it it was amazing

This book is an absolute delight from start to finish. Joanne Harris has always been a favourite of mine and she certainly did not let me down with this one! Mr Straitly is such a well drawn character I found myself cheering for him the whole time and I was desperate for him to succeed in the end. The last paragraphs of the book brought tears to my eyes. There is a very big mystery angle to this story and although I was able to guess the identity of the murderer fairly early on it was only becau ...more

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Feb 14, 2017 Tooter rated it it was amazing

Another wonderful read by Joanne Harris. I wish I had read this one before the sequel (A Different Class published 11 years later) but nothing was spoiled by reading in reverse order. I'm looking forward to a third (or fourth...) in the series but, hopefully, sooner than 11 years! Highly recommended.

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Feb 18, 2016 Vonia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-death, sexuality, revenge, psychology, abnormal-psychology, psychological-thriller, death-grieving, parenting, lgbt, multiple-points-of-view

This is definitely the best book I have read so far this year. Why? Let me count the ways. Where to begin? (The only real complaint I have is that the synopsis and teasers given tell a story nothing like what readers have. At least, it reveals only a sliver, and not even a very significant one- comparatively minor enough that it changes the overall perception.)

1. As always, Joanne Harris is an expert at characterization. This is my 4th book by her I read and even if I did not like the book too This is definitely the best book I have read so far this year. Why? Let me count the ways. Where to begin? (The only real complaint I have is that the synopsis and teasers given tell a story nothing like what readers have. At least, it reveals only a sliver, and not even a very significant one- comparatively minor enough that it changes the overall perception.)

1. As always, Joanne Harris is an expert at characterization. This is my 4th book by her I read and even if I did not like the book too much overall, her characters have consistently been relatable to the point that I was able to see them in front of me, the two-dimensional dimensional characters becoming three-dimensional. In this book, it is John Snyde, a psychopathic man, and Roy Straightly, a dedicated and loyal Classics teacher for thirty plus years. Entering the minds of these vastly different men is nothing short of fascinating.

2. The book is set up in a chess game format. Book parts, rather than numerical, are labeled: Pawn, King, Knight, En Passant, Check, Bishop, Queen, and Mate. Readers should be told that the two points of view are differentiated by the color of the cheers piece. As for myself, without this information, I failed to notice this and was slightly confused throughout until the very last chapter, although it became pretty clear after several sentences.

3. A psychological thriller. The thrill of the chase. A mystery. A suspenseful battle. A masterfully written all night page turner.

4. Themes I appreciate: the shame of the LGBT community, the difficulties inherent in teaching, friendships, parenting, abnormal psychology, loyalty, and institutions and traditions ineradicable and with a character of its own.

5. Sentimental and touching at the same time as appalling and frustrating. The ending is similar to that in Robin William's "Dead Poet's Society" (May he Rest In Peace) and quite heart warming.

Well, unlike many mysteries and psychological thriller I have read, the eventual reveal was actually unexpected and not, like most, anticlimactic.

**** Spoilers ****

John Snyde is a man (and woman, as the reader find out as the story continues. He dresses up, first as a teenager posing as his "mother" Julia Snyde, then more than a decade later as a professor by the name of Diane Dare) that is driven to madness, by both his feelings of inferiority, his need for revenge, and the death of the only guy he ever really loved. As a child, because of his place on the lower end of the socioeconomic tier of life, he is excluded from the exclusive, sometimes pretentious St. Oswald's Grammar School for Boys. Because of his obsession with what he feels ruined his life, his new obsession is seeking revenge. His definition of this revenge is master planned, with a series of events and planned schemes, from spreading rumors that cause the staff to hate each other, claims of sexual abuse that tears then apart, encouragement to specifically targeted boys to rebel, missing items resulting in planted evidence, etcetera.

His most intelligent rival can be found in Roy Straightly, whom is the one to eventually figure out his true identity and in clued in enough to unveil the truth, his true motive: he was the one (with an intense jealously of his girlfriend), many years ago, to push his (unrequited) love from the roof to his death.

A satisfying conclusion, although far from perfect. And this is something I also really appreciate. Almost always, on happy endings are exactly that and very frustrating. On the other hand, happy endings are also frustrating in that this is nothing like real life. Here, the bad guy is not caught, having recalled to another country. But in his own way, his pain has caused him to pay for many years. Although many characters are murdered, St. Oswald's endures, as do most of the more likeable characters.

Joanne Harris, I liked you before, but now I love you. ...more

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Feb 04, 2017 Jeanette rated it really liked it

Oh is this a splendid read! I almost gave it 5 stars until just 50 or 70 so pages from the end, when I think Harris jumped the shark a bit. But then I read "Different Class" first, so having given that one the 5 star, I felt this first one just shied behind it. It is 4.5 star if I could give it that rating.

If you have ever taught for a private institution anywhere, this book will cut to your gut with its sharp spears of recognition. Not just in England is there an embodiment like St. O's. Be it Oh is this a splendid read! I almost gave it 5 stars until just 50 or 70 so pages from the end, when I think Harris jumped the shark a bit. But then I read "Different Class" first, so having given that one the 5 star, I felt this first one just shied behind it. It is 4.5 star if I could give it that rating.

If you have ever taught for a private institution anywhere, this book will cut to your gut with its sharp spears of recognition. Not just in England is there an embodiment like St. O's. Be it for hundreds of years or 120 or a mere 75, tradition matters. As do the "eyes" of the gargoyle in the bell tower room #59.

It's a maze of characters and most of them have at least one nickname. The cabals and the choirs of allied voices ever altering and taking juxtaposition. You need to be on your toes. This is no easy or sloppy read possibility. In fact, you may need to backtrack if you happen to catch a hint of what you wanted to "grasp" before that section.

The voices are duo narrators. And of course one is always our centurion semester champion. So you also have to focus on who is speaking for that chapter or location. And it helped too, for me, that this was a reread for at least 1/2 of the book. I had this once before, way back in the days when it was a newbie and needed to get it back. Laughingly I thought I could speed through it. NO, this is NOT the book for that possibility. Every nuance counts. And the minutia also makes the mood, the wit, the whole piece living and breathing entire realm of susceptibility cemented within the place and times of St. Oswald's Grammar School for Boys.

There are too many passages that are worth quoting to post here. About liars, charm, duplicity, and stolid honesty? And yet their opposites too. Do we ever stay 14 in our cutting likes and dislikes? And the psycho-babble asides and pop references add no little salt and pepper to the campus stew.
Or to the town or to the Sunnybakers.

Joanne Harris writes well. Now and again there glows a hint of bias- but well forgiven. Because even that is exposed shortly for being there. Like R. Straitley, take his example, miss no glimpse or detail! Highly recommend this book. And after you are finished go on to "Different Class". Don't do it in reverse, as I did. A few characters are in both and I knew who was NOT going to be gone which took away from the planned confusion. Sourgrapes and the League of Nations non-withstanding.

Why is it that most educational situations of esteem worth continue to change their room numbers or hall names or building designations? At anywhere from 5 to 10 years, it's always another go around for continued and proper confusions. It isn't only from donor favor, of that I am sure. IMHO, it's new heads using their own "Audere, agere, auferre" powers. Because they can.

"To dare, to strive, to conquer." I wonder if the gifter of the fob watch will be returning for a class year #3. If possible or if occurring, I can not wait. ...more

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Oct 21, 2016 WarpDrive rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

Delightful, engaging and well written thriller, with an interesting plot and credible characters.

It beautifully recreates the special atmosphere of an old, privileged, traditional educational institution, and the particular set of idiosyncrasies, values, ineradicable and peculiar attitudes that characterize teachers (as well as students) in such a unique environment. The main character, old-school teacher Straitley, is just lovely and his passion for teaching and culture are contagious. You can ...more

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Dec 12, 2011 Sonia Gomes rated it really liked it

Shelves: thrillers, good-but-not-fantastic, kids

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. How do you feel when you know you are nothing but the porter’s son and will never ever be accepted by any of the boys at St. Oswald’s?
Oh the agony of being overlooked, ignored, despised when you know that you are as good maybe even better than those snoots.
That’s when you transform yourself from Julian Snyde into Julian Pinchbeck, as Julian Pinchbeck you have the run of St. Oswald's, as the porter’s son you have the bunch of keys that allows you to inspect every nook and cranny of St. Oswald, How do you feel when you know you are nothing but the porter’s son and will never ever be accepted by any of the boys at St. Oswald’s?
Oh the agony of being overlooked, ignored, despised when you know that you are as good maybe even better than those snoots.
That’s when you transform yourself from Julian Snyde into Julian Pinchbeck, as Julian Pinchbeck you have the run of St. Oswald's, as the porter’s son you have the bunch of keys that allows you to inspect every nook and cranny of St. Oswald, you know its secrets, its joys and aspirations. As Julian Pinchbeck you can eavesdrop into classes, although never an integral part of St. Oswald, you absorb knowledge like a sponge, you even have a mentor who you respect but also dislike.
Although you feel a part of St. Oswald you know that you will never belong and that turns into a violent hatred for St. Oswald.
And then along comes Leon the rebel…….You love him with a passion, you will do anything, just about anything to be his friend even when he treats you, your father the porter, and all other people in your social class as something revolting.
And then Leon finds out your true identity…….you cannot imagine your life after that, you just cannot imagine…….and then you push him off the roof.
You start a new life far away in France but you are never as vulnerable as you were as the porter’s child. You are now educated and know how to look after yourself pretty well, but all along you nurture that awful hatred for St. Oswald’s, you plot and plan your revenge for a decade and then you return to St. Oswald to wreak your terrible revenge from the very inside of St. Oswald, from its very soul you plan to finish St. Oswald. But what new avatar are you planning on?...........

If you look at Julian Snyde/ Julian Pinchbeck's life, it could be ours too. How many times have we suffered slights, people ignoring you, people treating you like a bucket of garbage just because you do not belong to a particular social class, because we are not rich enough, the list is endless....And the harder you try the more you fail.

Isn't it better then to be your own poor self? Not to compete? Not to try to be someone or something you just cannot be? So much more comfortable, so much more at ease? Doing what you love and trying not to strive to be someone else. For in such cases the race is endless and the goal never in sight.
...more

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Jan 09, 2018 Julie rated it really liked it

Shelves: 21st-century, british

Nothing but pure delight -- entertainment at its best, with a few life lessons thrown in, for good measure.

Joanne Harris novels never fail to put me in a good mood, just through the sheer delight of her writing. Sometimes you just need to smile, and be entertained. Sometimes you just need a good game of (psychological) chess to chase away the cobwebs of winter. This delivers on both counts.

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Nov 22, 2009 The Book Whisperer (aka Boof) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: uk, my-most-amazing-books, crime-mystery-thrillers, read-in-2009, british-authors

What a great book; especially the end where I did NOT see any of those twists coming. It's the sort of book that makes you want to turn to the beginning again to see where you might have picked up clues or see what you missed.

I am a HUGE Joanne Harris fan, my favourites of hers being the "foodie" books and I must admit to being a tad sceptical when I picked this up thinking that maybe she wouldn't do thriller novels quite as well. I was wrong - this lady is no one-trick-pony. From the first page ...more

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Oct 30, 2008 Autumn rated it really liked it

Alright, I'll say right up front that I would have given this book five stars, except that it has more profanity and school-boy crudities than I'm comfortable with in a book. But, (and this might be a bad thing), I'm willing to put up with a little more of that in a really great book. This book is definitely more PG13 than PG.
That being said, it's a great story. It's set in a boys' prep school in England and the story centers around Roy Straitley, a latin professor who has taught there for 33 ye ...more

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Jan 22, 2009 Wendy rated it really liked it

The thing I really like about Joanne Harris (Chocolat, Five Quarters of an Orange, etc.) is that she is not a formula writer. Each of her books is unique and can stand on its own merits. Gentlemen and Players is a bit of a cat and mouse thriller that effectively uses a chess analogy throughout the novel. Lots of twists and turns in this mystery. Many of the characters' names are cleverly used to offer some insights and hints. But don't read too, much about the story beforehand if you want to enj ...more

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Oct 09, 2008 Christine rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-english, women-writers

I honesty think this is Harris' best book. I truly do.

To talk to much about the plot is to give away a bit too many spoilers, and part of the joy of the book is the mystery so, let's not do that. What I love, besides the mystery, is the look at class, gender, and blind love that we can't fully rationalize. There are so many parallels between the central characters and this is a winning aspect of the novel.

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Mar 09, 2015 Kiwi Begs2Differ ✎ rated it really liked it

Shelves: z_2015-monthly-genre, favorites, mystery

A brilliant psychological thriller where the criminal is playing a game of chess with the staff at St Oswald's, a posh all boys’ school, with the aim of bringing down the school by tarnishing its reputation. The main target is an old-fashioned teacher named Quaz (AKA Quasimodo since he resides in the school tower), I loved this character!
The novel alternates chapters from the perpetrator and the old teacher perspective. Harris does a wonderful job in creating a credible psychopath with a grudge ...more

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Apr 29, 2007 Lauren rated it really liked it · review of another edition

May 1st, 2007 (Two weeks before Ava was born)

Not recommended!

I went to Kepler's a week ago and almost came home with four new books. But I instituted an emergency policy on the spot -- only one book purchase allowed -- and I picked this one. It sounded so promising... I love page turners and this was touted as "wickedly funny", literary, and all that good stuff. But my high hopes were dashed! And I gave up after about 120 pages.

In short, two narrators -- one who is supposed to be acerbically wi May 1st, 2007 (Two weeks before Ava was born)

Not recommended!

I went to Kepler's a week ago and almost came home with four new books. But I instituted an emergency policy on the spot -- only one book purchase allowed -- and I picked this one. It sounded so promising... I love page turners and this was touted as "wickedly funny", literary, and all that good stuff. But my high hopes were dashed! And I gave up after about 120 pages.

In short, two narrators -- one who is supposed to be acerbically witty and the other who is ominously sinister. But I found neither to be particularly well done. I'm ruined by Arthur Phillips' "The Egyptologist" and Nabokov's "Pale Fire". The unreliable narrators in those novels are finely wrought, hilarious, and clever to boot. This book just felt common.

Moving on...

--

After a comment on my review by a "stranger" on Goodreads, I thought I'd give this book another try.

--

October 6th, 2010 (Two weeks after David was born)

Okay, I'm circling back to review this book more fully, after picking it up again after three years and actually finishing it. First of all, my review from three years ago was totally off-base and mildly embarrassing in retrospect. I don't know what business I had comparing one of the narrators of this novel to the "unreliable narrators" of "Pale Fire" and "The Egyptologist." My guess is that I was actually misusing the phrase "unreliable narrator," because "Gentlemen and Players" has no unreliable narrator. So, shame on you, Lauren of three years ago!

I enjoyed this book after picking it up again. The rough plot is that someone is wreaking havoc at a crusty old-boy prep school in England. That somebody is one of a handful of new teachers, someone who has a history with the school -- harkening back to childhood when they were an outsider, the progeny of the school "porter." It's a sort of whodunit where the reader spends the novel guessing at this individual's identity. I actually knew from the beginning who the "bad guy" was, probably because three years ago when I first attempted to read the book and decided not to finish, I must have skimmed ahead (double shame on me!). But I enjoyed the book nonetheless. It isn't exactly deep, and for more insightful treatments of class at prep schools, I prefer "Prep" by Curtis Sittenfeld and "Old School" by Tobias Wolff. But this was a thriller and a decently-written one. I wouldn't classify it as "literary," because although the writing was steady, the themes weren't particularly insightful or deep. ...more

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Aug 04, 2018 Anna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2018, mystery-crime, 4-and-a-half-stars, 4-stars

Rating: 4.5 stars

I really enjoyed this, it's different and quirky despite having dark undertones; the first line reads: 'If there's one thing I've learned in the last fifteen years is that murder is really no big deal.'

Roy Straitley has been the Latin Master at St Oswald's Grammar School for Boys for 33 years. Resistant to change, he's seen as a dinosaur to be humoured but ultimately removed, even though he still commands the respect of the boys and is dedicated to the school.

A new term brings n ...more

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Apr 01, 2010 Victoria rated it it was amazing

Shelves: lit-fic, mystery-thriller

Joanne Harris’ novels have consistently impressed me since first discovering her. She’s a great writer, and I just love the cadence of her prose and the wonderfully realistic characters that she presents in a vivid and rich setting. This more literary mystery of hers is no exception - it’s an enjoyable and entertaining read. The “evil” narrator’s real identity is not impossible to figure out before the end, but it doesn’t detract from the fun in reading it, and adds that wonderful joy of being r ...more

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Aug 29, 2011 Laura rated it really liked it

Shelves: xx-2011-xx

4-4.25 stars. A solid, good read! Fantastic, believable characters, excellent writing. It loses a bit because I hated the villain TOO much. The audio performance is amazing. Better than the book. If you're looking for a cat-and-mouse suspense read, this is it. The older Latin teacher - I will never forget him. What a three-dimensional, awesome man I would love to meet. Any teacher I think would especially appreciate this book.

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Feb 02, 2018 Abby rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: cutthroat-book-club, ammp-fairytale-2018

I was all over the place with this book. Thinking one thing, then another, then another... Listening to the audio format wasn't exactly the best thing either, because I initially thought that the other parts were Straitley as a child simply because it was the same narrator throughout. But I figured it out eventually. But then we were intentionally misled and taken on a massive roller coaster ride. Whew, I'm exhausted! A very interesting and unique mystery that's hidden away from the mainstream. ...more

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Aug 20, 2010 Monique rated it it was amazing

Shelves: what-it-is-whats-up-mystery-novel, five-stars-best-i-ever-had

Wow..what can I say about this book but I was blown away..Its an effort and exercise in vocabulary and patience but well worth it..The surprise twist that comes around page 324 is enough to make this book unforgettable and rare..This is the story of a prestigious all boys day school St. Oswalds and all the characters and secrets it holds are revealed to us by two narrators you love and hate... on one hand you have the loveable old Mr Straitley: a tweed jacket wearing relic of the old academic er ...more

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Dec 16, 2016 Charlotte May rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-mystery-thriller, favourites, contemporary-recent

An incredibly clever book!
We take the premise of an all boys grammar school, add a person with a serious grudge and things start to get interesting!
It unfolds slowly, we know very little about the main character or what caused their hatred of the infamous 'St Oswalds School' - we follow them as they infiltrate the school and plan its ultimate downfall.
I can't give away too much all I will say is the twist at the end has to be one of the greatest twists in contemporary literature. It royally scre ...more

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Nov 26, 2018 Charly rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Anyone.

Joanne Harris can write a story that will grip you whether it is the magic of the Chocolat series or works which are more suspenseful. This piece is one that just keeps turning and twisting. You see the events through a number of pairs of eyes as an old school for boys has its traditions rocked by the events of it all. Harris will have you turning pages to get to the end. Well worth the read and the character work is wonderful. There are a number stars in this performance. The villain is amazing ...more

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Oct 03, 2018 Renita D'Silva rated it really liked it

Loved this witty and wonderful story. Straitley is absolutely wonderful.

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Oct 19, 2016 Kyle rated it liked it · review of another edition

From what started out as a neat premise quickly devolved into a tedious, meandering puddle of words. I will say this much, I was hooked from the beginning; The plot for revenge by an outcast antihero. Going back and forth in narration between the PAWN, our schemer (with trips back into the past, and present) and the KING, the "Classics" Master, old centurion Mr. Roy Straitley, we find ourselves as readers woven into the murky history of St. Oswald's school for boys, and the lengths some will go ...more

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Sep 15, 2008 Lindsay rated it really liked it · review of another edition

"Gentlemen and Players" may not be the best known of Joanne Harris's works, "Chocolat" undoubtedly holds that title, but this novel is a riveting story worthy of praise for its intelligence and ingenuity. Centered around the public (private for those of us in the US) St. Oswald's grammar school for boys where things begin to go terribly wrong - and we are not talking paper airplanes and spit balls disorder, more like school for scandal.

As the school, and surrounding town, attempt to come to gri ...more

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Jul 08, 2013 Nicole Field rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Where do I start with this review?

I've read a number of Joanne Harris' books. Almost all of them.

This one blew all of those books out of the water.

In my experience with her books, I've come to learn that there is a place in the middle where the plot lags, or the characters irritate me, or something just slows down enough for me to put the book down and pick something else up before going back to it.

That point didn't happen in this book. It was fast paced and neat and every character was develope ...more

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May 22, 2018 Allan rated it it was ok

Shelves: in-person-bookclub, audiobook

This was a book club read that was at the same time both entertaining and completely unbelievable narrative wise. Found myself laughing out loud with incredulity on a couple of occasions, as the clichés flowed- and as for the twist...

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Dec 05, 2009 Amanda Patterson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-remember

Excellent. Harris's best. Changing genres, yet keeping her mysterious twists and turns, G & P will hold your interest. The characters are extraordinary,the plot paced just so, the story is superb. It is a clever tour de force. Nothing is as it seems.One of my top 5 books for 2006

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Dec 12, 2010 Splash Of Our Worlds *Yiota* rated it liked it

I don't know exactly why I bought this book. It looked nice to have a book on my shelves that was normal, with simple people, no magicians, no genius children and so. Well, I have to admit that most of the books I thought they are simple, they are not. And this is an example.

The book is telling the story of a young student. It's experiece. The way the school is working. And it's relationships with the people among it. It's family, its friends, its teachers.
The book is also telling the story of a I don't know exactly why I bought this book. It looked nice to have a book on my shelves that was normal, with simple people, no magicians, no genius children and so. Well, I have to admit that most of the books I thought they are simple, they are not. And this is an example.

The book is telling the story of a young student. It's experiece. The way the school is working. And it's relationships with the people among it. It's family, its friends, its teachers.
The book is also telling the story of a Latin teacher, who's been working for the school for several years. He tells us stories of his past and events that are happening to his life in the present.
Meanwhile, there is somebody in the school, a teacher, an assistant, a student, no-one knows, who makes jokes, that put in danger many lives and many work spaces.

As I said, this book is not normal. There are many travels back and forward to the past and the present as both of the main characters-the student and the teacher-are talking. When you read it, you have to be careful not to miss a spot. Mostly, when you follow the evidence correctly you understand the end before the book reveilles it. But this book was more complex than the others I've read on the past. You figure out the truth when the writer tells you so.

This was the second book of Joanne Harris that I've read(the first was for young people). I wasn't sure at the beggining because Joanne Harris is also the writer of Chocolat (the book is been a movie with Johnny Depp). But it totally surpriced me. The book is not one of those that keep you in agony, because so many things are happening in, that after a point you understand that you have to sit back, relax and let the story reveille in front of you.

And the end comes. And you're adsolutely sure who's who. You've guessed, you've followed the evidence, it doesn't matter. Cause the end is going to surprise you, no matter what.

That's why I'm suggesting it to you. Believe me when I say that after reading it I was speechless for several days and I was refusing to read something else, since I wanted to calm after it. ...more

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Jul 15, 2012 Nimue Brown rated it really liked it

A tightly plotted and difficult to put down sort of novel, I read it in a 24 hour period. I think Gentleman and Players has more in common with Blue Eyed Boy than it does with Harris’s earlier work and I wonder if we’re seeing a change of direction. Blackberry Wine, Chocolate, Coastliners and others from earlier in her career were very much tales about (and I think, for) women. Touched with magical realism and otherness, they had a warmth and hopefulness I haven’t registered so much in more rece ...more

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What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Mystery Boarding school, girl posing as boy. [s]	4	550	Jan 06, 2019 07:10PM
What's the Name o...: SOLVED! Student attends British boy's boarding school, causes trouble, befriends charity student [s]	13	156	Dec 11, 2014 06:46PM
Read by Theme: Gentlemen & Players by Joanne Harris	3	69	Aug 02, 2012 01:34AM

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About Joanne Harris

Joanne Harris

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Joanne Harris is an Anglo-French author, whose books include fourteen novels, two cookbooks and many short stories. Her work is extremely diverse, covering aspects of magic realism, suspense, historical fiction, mythology and fantasy. She has also written a DR WHO novella for the BBC, has scripted guest episodes for the game ZOMBIES, RUN!, and is currently engaged in a number of musical theatre pr ...more

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“I like autumn. The drama of it; the golden lion roaring through the back door of the year, shaking its mane of leaves. A dangerous time; of violent rages and deceptive calm, of fireworks in the pockets and conkers in the fist.” — 53 likes

“Most adults assume that the feelings of adolescence don't count, somehow, and that those searing passions of rage and hate and embarrassment and horror and hopeless, abject love are something your grow out of, something hormonal, a practice run for the Real Thing. It wasn't. At 13 *everything* counts; there are sharp edges on everything, and all of them cut.” — 6 likes

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