From the Bookshelf of readers advisory for all…

The Cardturner: A Novel about a King, a Queen, and a Joker

Louis Sachar

Why we're reading this: Alton is forced to help his aging uncle play bridge. But, like all apparently casual choices in any of Lo…more
[close] Alton is forced to help his aging uncle play bridge. But, like all apparently casual choices in any of Louis Sachar's wonderful books, this choice soon turns out to be a lot more complex than Alton could ever have imagined.

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Oct 03, 2011 Jo rated it it was ok

“I was beginning to get concerned by falling pianos.”

Initial Final Page Thoughts.
Well.... that was a book about Bridge.

High Points.
So, I feel like I need to explain my low point already and you’ve not even read it because it does eventually lead into a high point. Even though the Bridge thing completely went over my head, I absolutely love that Mr Sachar wrote this book knowing full well that a lot of his readers will be like… um, WHAT?
I had no idea what was happening for the majority of th ...more

32 likes · Like · see review

Apr 25, 2011 Lauren rated it did not like it

I'm going to tell anyone who's reading this right now: I'm not a Louis Sachar fan. I find his books flat and boring but a friend of mine said I should give him another chance and try this one. I hate to bag on my friend's reading choices but this is the worst that I've read by far. The book reads like scrabbled eggs: the chapters are almost always two or three pages long and are so scattered it made my head spin. Sachar made it worse by having his narrator apologize for not telling us his name s I'm going to tell anyone who's reading this right now: I'm not a Louis Sachar fan. I find his books flat and boring but a friend of mine said I should give him another chance and try this one. I hate to bag on my friend's reading choices but this is the worst that I've read by far. The book reads like scrabbled eggs: the chapters are almost always two or three pages long and are so scattered it made my head spin. Sachar made it worse by having his narrator apologize for not telling us his name sooner. Did his editor make him put that in or did he really think his readers would care? The plot wasn't much better: it's all about bridge, Sachar just threw in a plot here and there so his publishers wouldn't get mad.

Sachar also made it sound like a how-to book on playing bridge, something he specifically says in the book that he is not trying to do. The characters that he uses to make his how-to guide slightly more interesting aren't much better. They're all flat and no one goes through character development even thought Sachar claims the narrator does. In the final dozen chapters or so(there's about 60 of them, by the way, and for a 300 page book, that's way too many) he adds on a twist: his narrator and his bridge partner are bonkers. The narrator can hear his great-uncle's voice in his head, his partner hears her grandmother's voice. Though, instead of muttering on about things that don't make any sense, like I would assume normal schizophrenics would hear, the voices tell the duo how to play bridge better. Pretty convenient right? The author tries to make it all make sense, but he failed hilariously and just alienated the audience more. I honestly don't understand how this piece of garbage got published but I have a feeling I already do. Since Sachar is an award-winning author, his publishers turned a blind eye and the editors didn't bother to tell him how bad it was. I found this sad, and expected Sachar to do better. None of his other books were this awful, so I'd expected that as he wrote more, maybe his stories would get better too. I was dead wrong there, so I encourage no one to encourage him to write more awful novels by reading this. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 08, 2010 Alice rated it liked it

Shelves: ya

I like Louis Sachar a lot; he has a deadpan, satirical humor that's still gentle that I respond to very well. I enjoyed reading this book, but I would say about 25% of it is bridge rules. If you're not interested in cards AT ALL, this is not the book for you. I liked it and thought it was cute, but it probably won't stay with me too long. ...more

Like · see review

Oct 12, 2010 Claire rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: a-7th-and-8th-grade-middle-school-t, first-person-narrator-all-ages, guys-read

Apparently Louis Sacher is a Bridge aficionado. Who knew?
Alton is in high school schlumping his way along when he gets a call from his blind (complications of diabetes) Rich Uncle Lester, "Help me play bridge, turn the cards for me."
Alton's parents are beside their greedy selves, they have been trying to get close to Uncle Lester (our Favorite uncle) forever. Their personalities explain Uncle Lester's reticence. Anyway, Alton and Trapp (as uncle Lester likes to be called) get along fine and Alt ...more

Like · see review

Aug 13, 2013 Arlene rated it it was amazing

Sachar writes wonderful stories about the most important things in life: growing up, growing old, being self-deprecating, and being passionate. Fantastic book.
p.s. does anyone want a newbie bridge partner?

Like · see review

Dec 02, 2010 Christiana rated it really liked it

Shelves: adult-fic, teen-fic

Although I really liked this book, I am curious about how it would work for the actual target audience. I'm open to learning about bridge inside a story, but teens? I don't know. Truthfully, I started out really wanting to learn to play bridge but 3/4 through, I had pretty much had enough bridge. I think I'll stick to Euchre, which I feel like might be the conversational version of bridge. Still a great story done by a great storyteller! ...more

Like · see review