Review by ed_moore - The Queen's Gambit

ed_moore 's review for:

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

4.5

challenging reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

“To hell with her, it wouldn’t be a man’s world when she finished with it”

‘The Queen’s Gambit follows 8 year old chess prodigy Beth Harmon as she learns to play in the orphanage basement and grows, competing in tournaments and earning a reputation for herself as one of the greatest. Alongside this journey she battles addiction struggles to build relationships, Tevis telling a bildungsroman of a brilliant but broken girl.

The scenes of chess were obviously the primary focus, and some were brushed over and other more crucial games in Beth’s development intricately described, and this wasn’t dull at all. I was really into how each game played out and the problem solving occurred, I assume this was immensely helped by having a decent knowledge of the game and could see how ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ could be a book quite difficult to engage with without much former knowledge. Whereas in Beth’s success and character arc a consequence of she being a child prodigy her successes were very predictable and it was inevitable she would win the various tournaments competed in throughout the book. Hence chess is not the crucial theme explored.

Tevis handles addiction, grief, womanhood and sexuality among the key moments of chess games, and in the beginning of the book I didn’t really like the way this was dealt with, especially the role of Jolene who is idolised by Beth and never really condemned as a character however a character who was very flawed and I really didn’t like. As Beth aged however the handling of various themes became a much more key factor and better integrated, and the story as a whole became very encapsulating and enjoyable.

Content Warnings