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3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
The Ballad of a Small Player by Lawrence Osborne is free Goodreads FirstReads advance readers copy of a paperback book I truly began reading on March 30 as a respite between studying for one of my midterms. I had elected to enter its giveaway, because of its lyrical title and its subject matter being something I'd only dabbled in mildly before (i.e. never more than $20 at a time).
If you look at your bookshelf (sometimes a real one, other times a virtual one), it can sometimes feel like looking at a crazed set of passport stamps. Victorian England, the American Industrial Revolution (maybe the Chicago meat packing district), Italian Renaissance, or The Spanish Inquisition (or, if you're like me, a few books containing a mix of the two latter locations). And now, with Ballad of a Small Player, it's High Roller Macau.
The lead character and first-person narrator, Lord Doyle, is an amalgam of the lonely superstitious weakness of Oscar & Lucinda and the glazed mania of Bee Season. Simply said, when he loses, he glooms; when we wins, he dines, drinks and lodges like an emperor and makes terrible plans for the sad sods who'd been doubting him all along. Throughout the book, he explains his personal history, how he'd funded his trip and cash flow in Macau, and being saved by a mysterious escort who is down in the dumps when he's ahead, then pays for his sterling breakfast buffet when the tables have turned.
If you look at your bookshelf (sometimes a real one, other times a virtual one), it can sometimes feel like looking at a crazed set of passport stamps. Victorian England, the American Industrial Revolution (maybe the Chicago meat packing district), Italian Renaissance, or The Spanish Inquisition (or, if you're like me, a few books containing a mix of the two latter locations). And now, with Ballad of a Small Player, it's High Roller Macau.
The lead character and first-person narrator, Lord Doyle, is an amalgam of the lonely superstitious weakness of Oscar & Lucinda and the glazed mania of Bee Season. Simply said, when he loses, he glooms; when we wins, he dines, drinks and lodges like an emperor and makes terrible plans for the sad sods who'd been doubting him all along. Throughout the book, he explains his personal history, how he'd funded his trip and cash flow in Macau, and being saved by a mysterious escort who is down in the dumps when he's ahead, then pays for his sterling breakfast buffet when the tables have turned.
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
[b:The Ballad of a Small Player|18166987|The Ballad of a Small Player|Lawrence Osborne|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1382352631l/18166987._SX50_.jpg|25533191]. Story of dropping into the depths of a gambling addict, depression, alcoholism. A ghost story is included.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I hated every minute of this wrf
A well-written tale of a washed-up gambler in Macau who may or may not have had a brush with a woman, a goddess, Luck, or a ghost.