Netflix’s most watched limited series to date! The thrilling novel of one young woman’s journey through the worlds of chess and drug addiction. When eight-year-old Beth Harmon’s parents are killed in an automobile accident, she’s placed in an orphanage in Mount Sterling, Kentucky. Plain and shy, Beth learns to play chess from the janitor in the basement and discovers she is a prodigy. Though … prodigy. Though penniless, she is desperate to learn more—and steals a chess magazine and enough money to enter a tournament. Beth also steals some of her foster mother’s tranquilizers to which she is becoming addicted.
At thirteen, Beth wins the chess tournament. By the age of sixteen she is competing in the US Open Championship and, like Fast Eddie in The Hustler, she hates to lose. By eighteen she is the US champion—and Russia awaits . . .
Fast-paced and elegantly written, The Queen’s Gambit is a thriller masquerading as a chess novel—one that’s sure to keep you on the edge of your seat.
“The Queen’s Gambit is sheer entertainment. It is a book I reread every few years—for the pure pleasure and skill of it.” —Michael Ondaatje, Man Booker Prize–winning author of The English Patient
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I enjoyed the strong female characters in this book. I know nothing about chess but still found the book to entertaining and lively. When I was forced to put the book down, I always wanted to go back to it and read.
After watching the superb NETFLIX adaptation of this book, I was curious about the book. The adaptation adheres very closely to the novel, with the exception of building more backstory than Tevis gives us; the scenes between Beth and her mother, in particular, are developed more fully than in the book. For those who have not seen the NETFLIX version, it’s a great read, with spare, direct prose, and a quick pace. I had already seen the end of the series, and I knew how it ended, and I STILL found myself racing through the last quarter of the book, in a good way. That’s a measure of the suspense Tevis builds into the story.
That said, when I went back and reread sections (when I wasn’t reading for plot), I realized (to my great enjoyment) how subtly Tevis had woven in some suggestive, nuanced themes. For example, here are the opening lines: “Beth learned of her mother’s death from a woman with a clipboard. The next day her picture appeared in the Herald-Leader. … A legend under her picture read: ‘Orphaned by yesterday’s pile-up on New Circle Road, Elizaeth harmon surveys a troubled future.'” So from the first lines, he suggests that Beth apprehends her life not as her own lived experience but mediated through the eyes of others, through words and photographs about her, and in the company of someone with a [clip]board. The plot propels the story along, but it was with pleasure that I went back to the beginning and thought about chess as the central metaphor, with all its multiple meanings. I’ll be adding his other books to my TBR.
This book deals with the effects of isolation, addiction and sexism on a girl born with an amazing ability. Orphaned at an early age, Beth is given tranquilizers (along with all the other orphanage inmates) to keep her calm and manageable. This begins an addictive pattern that continues into alcohol abuse. Chess is the one shining thing that helps Beth rise above her circumstances. But even in the chess world she is regarded as an anomaly–a female chess player in the midst of male “masters.” Her journey and hopefully ultimate triumph are an inspiration as are the author’s descriptions of her ability to visualize the games. Oddly, since I don’t know chess, these descriptions were my favorite parts of the book, a testament to the power of this unique human mind. Also inspirational is Beth’s ability to create a supportive community despite her veery real sense of isolation and loneliness.
Understated writing makes for a remarkably compelling read … or in my case listen.
It is a chess-heavy story but don’t let that deter you. I have no interest in chess but I was enthralled. Who would have thought a story about chess could create such tension?
Amy Landon did an excellent job with her narration.
Excellent all round.
My god, what a wonderful book. The story follows the life of Beth Harmon, a young girl, orphaned as a child after the death of her mother and sent to a state orphanage. There, Beth will be introduced to three things that will define her life. The first is the institution’s practice of sedating the children in its charge to keep them “manageable,” beginning Beth’s dependency on sedatives. The second is her friendship with an older girl, Jolene, forming a bond that would help Beth survive the orphanage and later in life, recover from decisions she regrets. But the third and most important is her introduction, by the school’s janitor, to the game of chess. It quickly becomes apparent that young Beth is a prodigy. What follows is a fascinating story of a young girl journey to become an adult, and her battles both over the chess board as she rises to the top of the chess world, and with herself, as she fights the fears and the temptations to medicate them away. Tevis’s mastery of storytelling and character development never falters, and the reader is quickly rooting for Beth, with all her humanity and fears and strengths and weaknesses, hoping she will find a way to win both her battles. I *think* this book will appeal to even non-chess players, but if you’re a chess player like me and ever played the game seriously, you will appreciate the chess as much as the story. The positions and moves are accurate and true to the game. Highly recommended.