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The Ballad of a Small Player
A riveting tale of risk and obsession set in the alluring world of Macau’s casinos, by the author of the critically acclaimed The Forgiven .
As night falls on Macau and the neon signs that line the rain-slick streets come alive, Doyle – “Lord Doyle” to his fellow players – descends into his casino of choice to try his luck at the baccarat tables that are the anchor of his current existence. A corrupt English lawyer who has escaped prosecution by fleeing to the East, Doyle spends his nights drinking and gambling and his days sleeping off his excesses, continually haunted by his past. Taking refuge in a series of louche and dimly lit hotels, he watches his fortune rise and fall as the cards decide his fate.
In a moment of crisis he meets Dao-Ming, an enigmatic Chinese woman who appears to be a denizen of the casinos just like himself, and seems to offer him salvation in the form of both money and love. But as Doyle attempts to make a rare and true connection, all that he accepts as reality seems to be slipping from his grasp.
Resonant of classics by Dostoevsky and Graham Greene, The Ballad of a Small Player is a timeless tale steeped in eerie suspense and rich atmosphere.
As night falls on Macau and the neon signs that line the rain-slick streets come alive, Doyle – “Lord Doyle” to his fellow players – descends into his casino of choice to try his luck at the baccarat tables that are the anchor of his current existence. A corrupt English lawyer who has escaped prosecution by fleeing to the East, Doyle spends his nights drinking and gambling and his days sleeping off his excesses, continually haunted by his past. Taking refuge in a series of louche and dimly lit hotels, he watches his fortune rise and fall as the cards decide his fate.
In a moment of crisis he meets Dao-Ming, an enigmatic Chinese woman who appears to be a denizen of the casinos just like himself, and seems to offer him salvation in the form of both money and love. But as Doyle attempts to make a rare and true connection, all that he accepts as reality seems to be slipping from his grasp.
Resonant of classics by Dostoevsky and Graham Greene, The Ballad of a Small Player is a timeless tale steeped in eerie suspense and rich atmosphere.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published April 3, 2014
101 people are currently reading
2342 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence Osborne
36 books559 followersLawrence Osborne is the author of seven critically acclaimed novels, including The Forgiven (now a major motion picture starring Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain), and Only to Sleep: A Philip Marlowe Novel, a New York Times Notable Book and nominated for an Edgar Award, as well as six books of nonfiction, including Bangkok Days. He has led a nomadic life, living in Paris, New York, Mexico, and Istanbul, and he currently resides in Bangkok.
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December 1, 2023
LA SOLITUDINE DEL GIOCATORE
Foto di Thomas Dwozak.
Per cominciare, un po’ di geografia e di storia: Macao si trova sul lato occidentale del delta del fiume delle Perle e confina con Hong Kong a est, con la provincia di Guangdong a nord e a ovest, mentre a sud è di fronte al mar Cinese Meridionale. L'economia del territorio è fortemente dipendente dal gioco d'azzardo e dal turismo, ma comprende anche attività produttive. Ex colonia portoghese, Macao rimase possedimento dell'Impero portoghese dalla metà del XVI secolo fino al 1999, ultima colonia europea in Asia. Commercianti portoghesi si stabilirono a Macao già nel 1550 e nel 1557 Macao diventò parte del Portogallo come porto commerciale verso l'Impero cinese. Tuttavia l'amministrazione portoghese della città rimase sotto l'autorità e la sovranità cinese fino al 1887, quando Macao divenne una colonia dell'Impero portoghese. Lo Stato cinese ha riassunto la sovranità su Macao nel dicembre 1999. La dichiarazione congiunta sino-portoghese e la legge fondamentale di Macao stabiliscono comunque un alto grado di autonomia per la regione almeno fino al 2049, cinquant'anni dopo il passaggio, come stabilito per Hong Kong
Foto di Thomas Dwozak.
A Macao si gioca d’azzardo a tutte le ore sette giorni alla settimana. Non solo la toponomastica risente ancora molto della dominazione portoghese, ma così pure la cucina: infatti si mangia bacalhau come altrove la pasta.
Si può essere piccoli giocatori a Macao con un sistema di casino da far invidia a Las Vegas? L’autobus li scarica la mattina all’alba: vengono dall’interno, si immergono nel fumo e nell’odore dei casino, ripartono, ritornano, giocano cifre contenute, accumulano perdite limitate, ma per loro già consistenti.
E il nostro narratore (a mia memoria è la prima volta che Osborne mi propone un io narrante), Lord Doyle, è un “piccolo giocatore” - il piccolo giocatore del titolo, rimasto fedele all’originale - lui che perde cifre che per tanti sarebbero una fortuna?
Lord Doyle è il nome che adotta una volta che emigra a Macao, lasciandosi alle spalle la terra d’origine, il paesello inglese, la figura integerrima del padre - descritta in modo particolarmente asciutto e struggente – la nascita della sua passione per l’azzardo nei viaggi di lavoro in Francia. E una truffa: il raggiro che gli permette di accaparrare quella fortuna che gli consente di fuggire (emigrare? Trasferirsi?) in Cina per dedicarsi a tempo pieno al suo hobby preferito (vizio?).
Giocare al tavolo di un casino è quintessenza di solitudine. Nella quale solitudine si sviluppa il gusto per la perdita. Che cammina di pari passo con quello della vincita. Ma perdere per un giocatore appassionato (incallito?), ci dice Osborne, è parte del piacere.
E certo Osborne non è il primo a ragionare su questo tema: per esempio si può passare da Churchill e la sua
Il successo è l’abilità di passare da un fallimento all’altro senza perdere entusiasmo
a quest’altra di Saramago:
La sconfitta ha qualcosa di positivo: non è definitiva. In cambio, la vittoria ha qualcosa di negativo: non è mai definitiva..
Ma la lista sarebbe lunga.
La sensazione - condivisa da un personaggio del romanzo – è che in quella parte del mondo immettano più ossigeno nell’aria per mandare su di giri e invogliare al gioco d’azzardo. In fondo, la fortuna è questione di fortuna.
Il ponte che collega Hong Kong a Macao.
È un gioco senza abilità o strategia, baccarat punto banco, tra i giochi di carte è l'equivalente del lancio di una moneta. L'unica speranza che il giocatore ha è nel tempo e nel ritmo delle sue scommesse. Ma a Lord Doyle importa poco di vincere o perdere. La sua vita sembra affidata alle leggi del caso, come se cercasse di giocarsi l'esistenza.
Per mia fortuna, che non mi diverto a leggere d’ossessioni – come sicuramente è quella dell’inglese per il baccarat – oltre e accanto alle situazioni di gioco, ci sono le descrizioni degli ambienti, efficaci plastiche sensoriali, e la figura di una donna, che arriva a scaldare il cuore. O forse soltanto la pelle.
Continuò a piovere come se niente fosse e nel profondo di me stesso fui certo che l’avrei rivista: malgrado la città sia una barriera corallina dove i pesci disorientati non si incontrano mai due volte se non per intervento di una dea, a volte la dea interviene davvero.
Foto di Thomas Dwozak.
Per cominciare, un po’ di geografia e di storia: Macao si trova sul lato occidentale del delta del fiume delle Perle e confina con Hong Kong a est, con la provincia di Guangdong a nord e a ovest, mentre a sud è di fronte al mar Cinese Meridionale. L'economia del territorio è fortemente dipendente dal gioco d'azzardo e dal turismo, ma comprende anche attività produttive. Ex colonia portoghese, Macao rimase possedimento dell'Impero portoghese dalla metà del XVI secolo fino al 1999, ultima colonia europea in Asia. Commercianti portoghesi si stabilirono a Macao già nel 1550 e nel 1557 Macao diventò parte del Portogallo come porto commerciale verso l'Impero cinese. Tuttavia l'amministrazione portoghese della città rimase sotto l'autorità e la sovranità cinese fino al 1887, quando Macao divenne una colonia dell'Impero portoghese. Lo Stato cinese ha riassunto la sovranità su Macao nel dicembre 1999. La dichiarazione congiunta sino-portoghese e la legge fondamentale di Macao stabiliscono comunque un alto grado di autonomia per la regione almeno fino al 2049, cinquant'anni dopo il passaggio, come stabilito per Hong Kong
Foto di Thomas Dwozak.
A Macao si gioca d’azzardo a tutte le ore sette giorni alla settimana. Non solo la toponomastica risente ancora molto della dominazione portoghese, ma così pure la cucina: infatti si mangia bacalhau come altrove la pasta.
Si può essere piccoli giocatori a Macao con un sistema di casino da far invidia a Las Vegas? L’autobus li scarica la mattina all’alba: vengono dall’interno, si immergono nel fumo e nell’odore dei casino, ripartono, ritornano, giocano cifre contenute, accumulano perdite limitate, ma per loro già consistenti.
E il nostro narratore (a mia memoria è la prima volta che Osborne mi propone un io narrante), Lord Doyle, è un “piccolo giocatore” - il piccolo giocatore del titolo, rimasto fedele all’originale - lui che perde cifre che per tanti sarebbero una fortuna?
Lord Doyle è il nome che adotta una volta che emigra a Macao, lasciandosi alle spalle la terra d’origine, il paesello inglese, la figura integerrima del padre - descritta in modo particolarmente asciutto e struggente – la nascita della sua passione per l’azzardo nei viaggi di lavoro in Francia. E una truffa: il raggiro che gli permette di accaparrare quella fortuna che gli consente di fuggire (emigrare? Trasferirsi?) in Cina per dedicarsi a tempo pieno al suo hobby preferito (vizio?).
Giocare al tavolo di un casino è quintessenza di solitudine. Nella quale solitudine si sviluppa il gusto per la perdita. Che cammina di pari passo con quello della vincita. Ma perdere per un giocatore appassionato (incallito?), ci dice Osborne, è parte del piacere.
E certo Osborne non è il primo a ragionare su questo tema: per esempio si può passare da Churchill e la sua
Il successo è l’abilità di passare da un fallimento all’altro senza perdere entusiasmo
a quest’altra di Saramago:
La sconfitta ha qualcosa di positivo: non è definitiva. In cambio, la vittoria ha qualcosa di negativo: non è mai definitiva..
Ma la lista sarebbe lunga.
La sensazione - condivisa da un personaggio del romanzo – è che in quella parte del mondo immettano più ossigeno nell’aria per mandare su di giri e invogliare al gioco d’azzardo. In fondo, la fortuna è questione di fortuna.
Il ponte che collega Hong Kong a Macao.
È un gioco senza abilità o strategia, baccarat punto banco, tra i giochi di carte è l'equivalente del lancio di una moneta. L'unica speranza che il giocatore ha è nel tempo e nel ritmo delle sue scommesse. Ma a Lord Doyle importa poco di vincere o perdere. La sua vita sembra affidata alle leggi del caso, come se cercasse di giocarsi l'esistenza.
Per mia fortuna, che non mi diverto a leggere d’ossessioni – come sicuramente è quella dell’inglese per il baccarat – oltre e accanto alle situazioni di gioco, ci sono le descrizioni degli ambienti, efficaci plastiche sensoriali, e la figura di una donna, che arriva a scaldare il cuore. O forse soltanto la pelle.
Continuò a piovere come se niente fosse e nel profondo di me stesso fui certo che l’avrei rivista: malgrado la città sia una barriera corallina dove i pesci disorientati non si incontrano mai due volte se non per intervento di una dea, a volte la dea interviene davvero.
December 29, 2017
Well. That was a disappointment.
Update: I was wrong. I had, indeed read 3 other books by Osborne in the couple of months prior to reading Ballad of a Small Player. I thought I wanted a reading experience that mirrored one of those other books. Since every Osborne novel is a world unto itself with little in common with any other, my desire was guaranteed to lead to frustration and not the fault of Ballad.
Ballad is a solid 3 star read. The main character,Doyle, a British ex-pat, reminded me of the lead in Leaving Las Vegas (Nic Cage and Elisabeth Shue). You know from moment one that no happy ending is possible, and yet Osborne's sentences are compelling. I read A Separation by Katie Kitamura earlier in 2017 and concluded it was one of the best-written, plotless novels I'd experienced. Ballad of a Small Player exceeds A Separation on that score. The main character seemingly spends the entire novel drinking, wandering, gambling, waiting for doom. He acts powerless to curb his self-destruction. He makes a single real friend, Dao-Ming, and she is utterly believable in caring for him, for the time they are together.
If you aren't familiar with hungry ghosts, from Buddhist and traditional Chinese thought, there couldn't be a better place to encounter them for the first time.
I wearied of the drinking and gambling, but in retrospect I've known more than one hungry ghost and my baggage impacted my rating. Osborne's work deserves more credit.
Update: I was wrong. I had, indeed read 3 other books by Osborne in the couple of months prior to reading Ballad of a Small Player. I thought I wanted a reading experience that mirrored one of those other books. Since every Osborne novel is a world unto itself with little in common with any other, my desire was guaranteed to lead to frustration and not the fault of Ballad.
Ballad is a solid 3 star read. The main character,Doyle, a British ex-pat, reminded me of the lead in Leaving Las Vegas (Nic Cage and Elisabeth Shue). You know from moment one that no happy ending is possible, and yet Osborne's sentences are compelling. I read A Separation by Katie Kitamura earlier in 2017 and concluded it was one of the best-written, plotless novels I'd experienced. Ballad of a Small Player exceeds A Separation on that score. The main character seemingly spends the entire novel drinking, wandering, gambling, waiting for doom. He acts powerless to curb his self-destruction. He makes a single real friend, Dao-Ming, and she is utterly believable in caring for him, for the time they are together.
If you aren't familiar with hungry ghosts, from Buddhist and traditional Chinese thought, there couldn't be a better place to encounter them for the first time.
I wearied of the drinking and gambling, but in retrospect I've known more than one hungry ghost and my baggage impacted my rating. Osborne's work deserves more credit.
January 12, 2024
I don't have much interest in high end casinos and gambling - always gets me thinking of 007 in a tux, but I thought I'd give this a go as I do love the idea of night time novels featuring dark rainy streets all lit up by neon lights. I haven't read Lawrence Osborne before, but he's been on my radar for some years. He obviously knows a thing or two about this part of the world - Macau & Hong Kong, and that's the biggest complement I can give; that the setting was great and it really did feel like being whisked away to the far east.
Pity about everything else though.
I just couldn't connect with the novel's characters enough to care about what was going on, and what was going to come next. The writing was OK, but there was nothing really here that made me think I'd want to read Osborne again. I'd rather read the memoirs of George Osborne to be honest; as dull as they probably would be. Halfway through - and I still kept thinking Bond was about to enter at any moment: pity he didn't, actually - I stopped to read the blurb on the inside cover and noticed this which quite disturbed me -
'The Ballad of a Small Player is a timeless, absorbing drama that evokes classics by Dostoevsky and Graham Greene'.
Hmm....someone had had a bang on the head, I think. But I guess that's how you sell novels.
If only Greene! If only.
February 17, 2023
1/5 Estrellas
Absolutamente pueril.
Desesperantemente carente de interés.
Una total pérdida de tiempo.
Si a alguien le interesa como un auténtico idiota despilfarra su dinero (delictivamente ganado) y su vida en los casinos de Macao y Hong Kong, adelante igual hasta le interesa. El resto que se mantenga alejado.
PD.: Cuando vea a James Bond jugando al bacarrá, ya sabré lo que está haciendo y cómo se juega.
Absolutamente pueril.
Desesperantemente carente de interés.
Una total pérdida de tiempo.
Si a alguien le interesa como un auténtico idiota despilfarra su dinero (delictivamente ganado) y su vida en los casinos de Macao y Hong Kong, adelante igual hasta le interesa. El resto que se mantenga alejado.
PD.: Cuando vea a James Bond jugando al bacarrá, ya sabré lo que está haciendo y cómo se juega.
April 22, 2014
I suppose there is a niche audience for this book, but it does not include me. Not a one of the characters sparked any interest with me. There was no plot of which to speak, nothing into which I could sink my claws. The writing itself was okay, but the line 'A sugar daddy with no sugar isn't much of a daddy.' taints even this faint praise.
This was a first-reads giveaway, thank you.
This was a first-reads giveaway, thank you.
August 30, 2015
Lord Doyle is a gambler, a big gambler.He is a former lawyer with an unsavory past who has reinvented himself in Macau as a kid glove wearing "white ghost". This story is about money and morality and it is very sly. So sly in fact that if you blink you might miss it. Lawrence Osbourne introduces some artfully memorable characters in the form of Grandma, an older gambling, wronged wife who prefers to lose and Dao-Ling, an enigmatic, spiritual country call girl. Osbourne weaves Doyle's desperation and decadence in with the mysticism of the east and you can't help but find yourself rooting for him at the tables, rooting for his very soul. This is a story that clicks at the end and you find yourself wanting to turn back to the first page. "At midnight on Mondays,..." Just don't blink.
Provided by Blogging for Books
Provided by Blogging for Books
March 28, 2022
“Misi sul tavolo le fiches, e lì ci fu una pausa negli strumenti del destino; devo ammettere che mi piacque, perché non sapevo cosa sarebbe successo dopo, e quella è la sensazione per cui vive ogni giocatore.”
L’azzardo come filosofia di vita, come scopo dell’esistenza, come modalità segreta dell’anima. La perdizione come obiettivo finale.
“Tutti sanno che non sei un vero giocatore finché non preferisci segretamente perdere.”
La vita come rischio perpetuo e come radicale abbandono alla dipendenza. Perché è lì che fiorisce il nucleo pulsante dell’emozione. Intensa e radicale. Unica ogni volta. Quando il tempo è sospeso prima della rivelazione fatale. Attimi come secoli. Rese dei conti come tuffi ciechi verso il tutto o il nulla.
“Rividi il mio passato in mille immagini simultanee. Forse tutta la vita è la preparazione a un momento come questo, quando vedi tutto in un colpo solo: le città, i paesaggi, gli amori estinti. Vedi momenti magnifici contrapposti a quelli ridicoli e ti rendi conto che non sono diversi. Vedi i tuoi reati minori esposti in fila ordinata, dove l’uno porta all’altro. Vedi strade polverose e parchi oziosi dove hai sprecato la metà dei tuoi preziosi momenti. Ormai che importanza avevano? Stavano per essere annientati, e io cancellato con loro.”
In prima persona racconta se stesso e l’inabissarsi nella vertigine del gioco “lord” Doyle, ancora una volta un espatriato inglese, piccolo truffatore, avventuriero in fuga in Oriente. In Cina, questa volta, a Macao, a sperimentare il perfetto annichilimento migrando da un casinò all’altro, luoghi vibranti di tensione, dove si aggirano come fantasmi i giocatori: ciascuno una storia diversa, ma tutti, indistintamente, malati d’azzardo e disposti a morire.
“Lungo corridoi d’acciaio lavorato scandito da colonne di vetro, i perdenti malconci si aggiravano con lo sguardo impaurito, come cercando l’uscita dalle loro miserie tutte mentali. Spiriti affamati di sicuro, spinti da intensità che non esaminavano né capivano. Il labirinto circolare del casinò li intrappolava come mosche verdi.”
E qui l’irrazionalità dell’individuo che ha misteriosamente deciso di perdere se stesso si sposa con l’humus fantasmatico delle credenze locali.
L’inferno personale del giocatore si connette allora con con quello della tradizione esoterica cinese, a ritmo serrato e in un nodo indecifrabile.
E così anche noi ci perdiamo, tra le porte scorrevoli e mutevoli di uno spaziotempo che ha smarrito i suoi contorni e annullato ogni linea di confine.
L’azzardo come filosofia di vita, come scopo dell’esistenza, come modalità segreta dell’anima. La perdizione come obiettivo finale.
“Tutti sanno che non sei un vero giocatore finché non preferisci segretamente perdere.”
La vita come rischio perpetuo e come radicale abbandono alla dipendenza. Perché è lì che fiorisce il nucleo pulsante dell’emozione. Intensa e radicale. Unica ogni volta. Quando il tempo è sospeso prima della rivelazione fatale. Attimi come secoli. Rese dei conti come tuffi ciechi verso il tutto o il nulla.
“Rividi il mio passato in mille immagini simultanee. Forse tutta la vita è la preparazione a un momento come questo, quando vedi tutto in un colpo solo: le città, i paesaggi, gli amori estinti. Vedi momenti magnifici contrapposti a quelli ridicoli e ti rendi conto che non sono diversi. Vedi i tuoi reati minori esposti in fila ordinata, dove l’uno porta all’altro. Vedi strade polverose e parchi oziosi dove hai sprecato la metà dei tuoi preziosi momenti. Ormai che importanza avevano? Stavano per essere annientati, e io cancellato con loro.”
In prima persona racconta se stesso e l’inabissarsi nella vertigine del gioco “lord” Doyle, ancora una volta un espatriato inglese, piccolo truffatore, avventuriero in fuga in Oriente. In Cina, questa volta, a Macao, a sperimentare il perfetto annichilimento migrando da un casinò all’altro, luoghi vibranti di tensione, dove si aggirano come fantasmi i giocatori: ciascuno una storia diversa, ma tutti, indistintamente, malati d’azzardo e disposti a morire.
“Lungo corridoi d’acciaio lavorato scandito da colonne di vetro, i perdenti malconci si aggiravano con lo sguardo impaurito, come cercando l’uscita dalle loro miserie tutte mentali. Spiriti affamati di sicuro, spinti da intensità che non esaminavano né capivano. Il labirinto circolare del casinò li intrappolava come mosche verdi.”
E qui l’irrazionalità dell’individuo che ha misteriosamente deciso di perdere se stesso si sposa con l’humus fantasmatico delle credenze locali.
L’inferno personale del giocatore si connette allora con con quello della tradizione esoterica cinese, a ritmo serrato e in un nodo indecifrabile.
E così anche noi ci perdiamo, tra le porte scorrevoli e mutevoli di uno spaziotempo che ha smarrito i suoi contorni e annullato ogni linea di confine.
March 15, 2023
La forma de escribir de este tío es brillante. La historia en sí puede llegar a hacerse repetitiva (un adicto al juego en Macao, “meca asiática del dinero y el vicio”), pese a que el protagonista es un experto en todo tipo de lujos exóticos que describe de miedo. La historia de un jugador hedonista, supersticioso, sin escrúpulos y suicida.
November 18, 2022
Passeggiai un’ora per la città, e nella Macao vecchia in un’ora si fa tanta strada. I marciapiedi dai mosaici bianchi e neri, da villa romana, con le figure nere: conchiglie, ippocampi, aragoste, galeoni e stelle. Le foglie morte che fluttuavano da una parte all’altra come banchi di piccolissimi pesci. Il centro era deserto per via del clima e i templi buddhisti erano desolati come le chiese; i bruciatori d’incenso erano umidi e mandavano odore di fiori e di terra. E giù per la lunga República, che è come un viale di Lisbona o di Madrid e mi è sempre parsa ricca di figure per me misteriose, il covo di un astrologo. Mi fermo sempre un momento sotto il Banco Ultramarino dal meraviglioso nome, per esempio, o sotto quei cartelli che mettono in guardia dai pericoli dei cavi dell’alta tensione con le solenni parole PERIGO DE MORTE. Queste cose per me hanno più significato del dovuto. Anche in quei giorni di caldo estivo, quando mi attardavo ai piedi della grande scalinata del Colegio de Santa Rosa de Lima e guardavo le due file di alunne in divisa bianca riversarsi giù sotto una quantità di parasole bianchi e identici – tutto mi sembrava magico in un modo o nell’altro, un presagio di qualcosa che sarebbe accaduto e che non riuscivo ancora a predire.
Nel filone dei romanzi che parlano di gioco d’azzardo, questo non sarà forse molto originale, però è ben scritto, ha un buon ritmo, ti trasporta in luoghi esotici (è ambientato, al giorno d’oggi, fra Macao e Hong Kong) e te li descrive a colori vividi, intensi, quasi cinematografici; ed è pervaso da quel romanticismo struggente e disperato delle cose e delle persone perdute, storia d’amore inclusa, che sempre si lega alle vicende di casinò e che a tanti piace. E anche a me, in questo caso, non dispiace. Il finale poi è un piccolo gioiello di grazia.
Senza pretese, vagamente déjà-vu, è una buona lettura per svagarsi, con stile e buon gusto. Nella polvere mi era parso più sostanzioso; non ho ancora capito se Osborne sia solo un bravo mestierante o qualcosa di più.
Nel filone dei romanzi che parlano di gioco d’azzardo, questo non sarà forse molto originale, però è ben scritto, ha un buon ritmo, ti trasporta in luoghi esotici (è ambientato, al giorno d’oggi, fra Macao e Hong Kong) e te li descrive a colori vividi, intensi, quasi cinematografici; ed è pervaso da quel romanticismo struggente e disperato delle cose e delle persone perdute, storia d’amore inclusa, che sempre si lega alle vicende di casinò e che a tanti piace. E anche a me, in questo caso, non dispiace. Il finale poi è un piccolo gioiello di grazia.
Senza pretese, vagamente déjà-vu, è una buona lettura per svagarsi, con stile e buon gusto. Nella polvere mi era parso più sostanzioso; non ho ancora capito se Osborne sia solo un bravo mestierante o qualcosa di più.
March 8, 2014
I'm not usually into ghost stories or supernatural ones, but the Hong Kong and Macau settings sealed the deal for me. I loved this story and even the ghost part worked for me.
Lord Doyle is a great character. He's no lord, but rather an English lawyer who studied and worked his way out of his family's modest means. When he worked on the estate of an elderly client, he started to siphon money from her account. By the time she died, he had transferred all of it to an offshore bank account --in Hong Kong.
He made his way to the casinos of Macau and didn't have a care in the world if he won or lost. It wasn't his money, after all. But he couldn't stay away from the baccarat tables and soon found himself down and out just like the other compulsive gamblers.
Then he met the alluring Dao-Ming, a high class hooker, a la Suzie Wong but without Suzie's bubbly naïveté. Dao-Ming saves Lord Doyle on a number of occasions, the most memorable a binge at the lobby restaurant of Hong Kong's Intercontinental (HK diehards will remember it as the Regent).
When Doyle has all that he wants, he reassesses what's really important to him. But is it too late?
I loved the Hong Kong and Macau setting, just as I thought I would. The story is a little like Leaving Las Vegas, which to me is so much more exciting in HK and Macau. The book also reminds me of a 1950s film noir called The Scavengers.
There were some factual inaccuracies Hong Kong side, but I can overlook those because everything else worked so well. Lawrence Osborne is a fabulous writer and tells a thrilling story, even though I still don't really get the ghost part. But that's me, not the writer.
I hope he writes more set in Hong Kong and Macau.
Lord Doyle is a great character. He's no lord, but rather an English lawyer who studied and worked his way out of his family's modest means. When he worked on the estate of an elderly client, he started to siphon money from her account. By the time she died, he had transferred all of it to an offshore bank account --in Hong Kong.
He made his way to the casinos of Macau and didn't have a care in the world if he won or lost. It wasn't his money, after all. But he couldn't stay away from the baccarat tables and soon found himself down and out just like the other compulsive gamblers.
Then he met the alluring Dao-Ming, a high class hooker, a la Suzie Wong but without Suzie's bubbly naïveté. Dao-Ming saves Lord Doyle on a number of occasions, the most memorable a binge at the lobby restaurant of Hong Kong's Intercontinental (HK diehards will remember it as the Regent).
When Doyle has all that he wants, he reassesses what's really important to him. But is it too late?
I loved the Hong Kong and Macau setting, just as I thought I would. The story is a little like Leaving Las Vegas, which to me is so much more exciting in HK and Macau. The book also reminds me of a 1950s film noir called The Scavengers.
There were some factual inaccuracies Hong Kong side, but I can overlook those because everything else worked so well. Lawrence Osborne is a fabulous writer and tells a thrilling story, even though I still don't really get the ghost part. But that's me, not the writer.
I hope he writes more set in Hong Kong and Macau.
March 8, 2014
As usual I received this book for free in exchange for a review. This time from LibraryThing. Also as usual I provide my scrupulously honest feedback below.
The story runs basically along the lines of the standard ne'er-do-well gambler who runs afoul of not only the law but also the laws of probability until one day... he doesn't. That's really all you need to know and probably exactly what you expected.
On the positive side of things, the setting for this novel is fascinating and that fact alone is what kept me reading. The multitude of cultural differences in the East and Macau specifically make for an entertaining backdrop if you're a xenophile who just likes to see how other people live and think. It seems evident that the author has spent no small amount of time in this region and has gotten to know the natives as well as they know themselves. I believe this is what the more professional reviews tend to refer to as 'atmospheric'. It was that and it's a good thing because there wasn't much else to keep me interested.
To the negative, there just isn't ... anything. To speak bluntly, things happen to this gent but at no point am I at all sure why I should care. He's neither sympathetic nor sufficiently odious to inspire any real opinion one way or another. The description refers to this book as "suspenseful" and somehow a "ghost story" but don't believe a word of it. Through the book there's a passing reference to spirits in two sentences out of the entire text. Even then it's just passed off as the superstition of the natives and quickly dropped. I just don't see how this book lives up to its description.
In summary, normally I blast through a book this size in a night but in this case it stretched on for a week because I kept finding reasons not to go back to it. This one drags on abominably and resides on the fetid fringes of not even worth finishing. If you're really into Eastern culture or love baccarat specifically, this will have some appeal. The rest of you should just move on to something else. An interesting cultural peepshow but not what the majority of the world is going to consider worthwhile.
The story runs basically along the lines of the standard ne'er-do-well gambler who runs afoul of not only the law but also the laws of probability until one day... he doesn't. That's really all you need to know and probably exactly what you expected.
On the positive side of things, the setting for this novel is fascinating and that fact alone is what kept me reading. The multitude of cultural differences in the East and Macau specifically make for an entertaining backdrop if you're a xenophile who just likes to see how other people live and think. It seems evident that the author has spent no small amount of time in this region and has gotten to know the natives as well as they know themselves. I believe this is what the more professional reviews tend to refer to as 'atmospheric'. It was that and it's a good thing because there wasn't much else to keep me interested.
To the negative, there just isn't ... anything. To speak bluntly, things happen to this gent but at no point am I at all sure why I should care. He's neither sympathetic nor sufficiently odious to inspire any real opinion one way or another. The description refers to this book as "suspenseful" and somehow a "ghost story" but don't believe a word of it. Through the book there's a passing reference to spirits in two sentences out of the entire text. Even then it's just passed off as the superstition of the natives and quickly dropped. I just don't see how this book lives up to its description.
In summary, normally I blast through a book this size in a night but in this case it stretched on for a week because I kept finding reasons not to go back to it. This one drags on abominably and resides on the fetid fringes of not even worth finishing. If you're really into Eastern culture or love baccarat specifically, this will have some appeal. The rest of you should just move on to something else. An interesting cultural peepshow but not what the majority of the world is going to consider worthwhile.
April 9, 2019
Several weeks ago, I joined a local reading club which is now reading this book. At that time, I glanced at a summary of the novel and at first sight, I wasn't sure that I would like it because I'm not a great fan of contemporary novels. But this one is set in Macau which, to me, hints of exoticism and mystery. So, I took up "The Ballad of a Small Player" and I was a few pages in when I became hooked on it.
The novel is centered on a British expatriate (and fugitive from justice) who is known as "Lord Doyle" at the baccarat tables. He is a shrewd (and at times reckless) gambler at the casinos who is set on "breaking the bank" and living life on his own terms. The author fleshes out "Lord Doyle" and some of his gambling confreres with spare and sparkling prose that, as a reader, held my attention throughout. There's so much more I'd like to say --- including shedding light on the relationship Doyle had with Dao Ming, a beautiful and enigmatic woman from Mainland China whom he met one night over a game of punto banco baccarat --- but that would giving too much of the story away. Suffice it to say, if you are a fan of Graham Greene and/or Dostoevsky, you'll savor reading "The Ballad of a Small Player." It's one of those novels that punches above its weight and is perfect for summer reading.
The novel is centered on a British expatriate (and fugitive from justice) who is known as "Lord Doyle" at the baccarat tables. He is a shrewd (and at times reckless) gambler at the casinos who is set on "breaking the bank" and living life on his own terms. The author fleshes out "Lord Doyle" and some of his gambling confreres with spare and sparkling prose that, as a reader, held my attention throughout. There's so much more I'd like to say --- including shedding light on the relationship Doyle had with Dao Ming, a beautiful and enigmatic woman from Mainland China whom he met one night over a game of punto banco baccarat --- but that would giving too much of the story away. Suffice it to say, if you are a fan of Graham Greene and/or Dostoevsky, you'll savor reading "The Ballad of a Small Player." It's one of those novels that punches above its weight and is perfect for summer reading.
April 24, 2015
There are novels about gambling, and then there are supernatural, opulent novels of gambling in Macau.
This novel is obviously one of the latter. And if I could offer some advice, don't read many reviews of this novel. I stayed away from them until the novel was complete, and that paid off in this case. 9 out of 10 reviews even here on the site give away some key plot elements that would have ruined the surprises contained later in the novel. The ones on the commercial sites are even worse.
What I will offer here is that in the moments after finishing this novel, I felt as if I had lived an adventure crawling through some of the most affluent casinos and baccarat rooms near Hong Kong, as if I had--for just a few moments--held the millions of dollars necessary for such an escapade, and suffered the indignity of crippling gambling losses.
The writing is a key element of the pleasure as Osborne creates a world that feels lived in, surreal, and with equal measures both unattainable, and with a swift turn of luck, . . . absolutely reachable.
This novel is obviously one of the latter. And if I could offer some advice, don't read many reviews of this novel. I stayed away from them until the novel was complete, and that paid off in this case. 9 out of 10 reviews even here on the site give away some key plot elements that would have ruined the surprises contained later in the novel. The ones on the commercial sites are even worse.
What I will offer here is that in the moments after finishing this novel, I felt as if I had lived an adventure crawling through some of the most affluent casinos and baccarat rooms near Hong Kong, as if I had--for just a few moments--held the millions of dollars necessary for such an escapade, and suffered the indignity of crippling gambling losses.
The writing is a key element of the pleasure as Osborne creates a world that feels lived in, surreal, and with equal measures both unattainable, and with a swift turn of luck, . . . absolutely reachable.
October 31, 2016
Note to start: I won this through First Reads. Thanks Crown Publishing. On with the review.
The Ballad of a Small Player starts by tossing readers into the world of Lord Doyle and the baccarat tables of Macau. Doyle's life during the novel pretty much revolves around gambling his money and drinking at night, sleeping late, and repeating the process. Down on his luck, he meets Dao-Ming, a lady of the night, and suddenly things go from bad to worse. At the bottom, Doyle, looking for her but not finding her, has a chance meeting and suddenly his luck has turned right around to the point of excess and him not knowing what to do.
As a main character Doyle is hard to like, though he does give it to you straight. He's honest enough about why he's in Macau and the rush of gambling and how the small rollers are as much out to lose their money as the high rollers. There's highs and lows and little else. What you're left with is a story of an unlikeable character that moves along at the speed of the game he loves. We're introduced to several key ideas regarding the culture of gambling and the differences between how Doyle, an Englishman, and the Chinese who run the casinos see the world.
In the end, I felt the story and the book are sort of odd ducks. It's rather a literary type of story, but getting to the moral heart of the story is rather difficult due to Doyle's nature. He's a crook and a gambler and is okay with that. The whole setting seems to be about excess as well as the desire and almost need to rid oneself of it. It's ambiguous and fast paced, but without really seeming to serve a point. I flew through the book, but found little joy and less to take away from the reading of Osborne's book. Good setting, though.
The Ballad of a Small Player starts by tossing readers into the world of Lord Doyle and the baccarat tables of Macau. Doyle's life during the novel pretty much revolves around gambling his money and drinking at night, sleeping late, and repeating the process. Down on his luck, he meets Dao-Ming, a lady of the night, and suddenly things go from bad to worse. At the bottom, Doyle, looking for her but not finding her, has a chance meeting and suddenly his luck has turned right around to the point of excess and him not knowing what to do.
As a main character Doyle is hard to like, though he does give it to you straight. He's honest enough about why he's in Macau and the rush of gambling and how the small rollers are as much out to lose their money as the high rollers. There's highs and lows and little else. What you're left with is a story of an unlikeable character that moves along at the speed of the game he loves. We're introduced to several key ideas regarding the culture of gambling and the differences between how Doyle, an Englishman, and the Chinese who run the casinos see the world.
In the end, I felt the story and the book are sort of odd ducks. It's rather a literary type of story, but getting to the moral heart of the story is rather difficult due to Doyle's nature. He's a crook and a gambler and is okay with that. The whole setting seems to be about excess as well as the desire and almost need to rid oneself of it. It's ambiguous and fast paced, but without really seeming to serve a point. I flew through the book, but found little joy and less to take away from the reading of Osborne's book. Good setting, though.
December 16, 2014
Timing is everything. This is the second book in as many weeks I've read that deals with the negative impact of gambling (is there any positive impact?). I picked this up because it was one of the NYT Notable Books.
For someone who is not attracted at all to this subject, I fail to understand its allure and find such books disturbing. A gambling addict does not perceive any gains as a means in an of itself -- it's the chase, not the capture, that compels. A form of self flagellation. The reader has to disassociate himself from what would be his reaction to a huge win or loss at (in this case) the Baccarat tables. Visit any casino or watch any Bond film, and views of the Baccarat arena, hushed and opulent amidst the clamor of the rest of the room, is mysterious and intriguing. Our anti-hero, going by the name Lord Doyle, actually an embezzling lawyer on the run in Macau, narrates his story with unflinching honesty and scrupulous detail. The descriptions are lush, and the decadent setting save one elegiac interlude, are what kept me reading after I longed to put the book down out of frustration for its content.
For someone who is not attracted at all to this subject, I fail to understand its allure and find such books disturbing. A gambling addict does not perceive any gains as a means in an of itself -- it's the chase, not the capture, that compels. A form of self flagellation. The reader has to disassociate himself from what would be his reaction to a huge win or loss at (in this case) the Baccarat tables. Visit any casino or watch any Bond film, and views of the Baccarat arena, hushed and opulent amidst the clamor of the rest of the room, is mysterious and intriguing. Our anti-hero, going by the name Lord Doyle, actually an embezzling lawyer on the run in Macau, narrates his story with unflinching honesty and scrupulous detail. The descriptions are lush, and the decadent setting save one elegiac interlude, are what kept me reading after I longed to put the book down out of frustration for its content.
February 26, 2014
Ah, the wonder of a Goodreads win. I was super excited to receive Lawrence Osborne's, The Ballad of a Small Player. It's a story of an older gentlemen who stole money from an old woman that trusted him and how ironically, he happened to lose every penny whilst being lonely and drunk for most of the book. Fortunately, Osborne is a very clever writer but unfortunately, he overused his cleverness. It was like reading a clever line every other sentence when in your mind you scream "Get on with it already!" I felt the book lacked a serious plot and the main character Lord Doyle was not interesting enough to carry the book. We had no real backstory to connect us to him. The entire novel consisted of places to eat, liquor to drink and the highs and lies of gambling...all of which can be accomplished by asking a drunk uncle, not reading 255+ pages to walk away with that bit of information. I can't say I walked away with any emotion after spending a week reading what normally would take a day. I can only hope for better from Osborne in the future.
April 6, 2014
Lord Doyle isn't really a Lord though he is called Lord Doyle in Macau. He is a crooked lawyer from England who has transplanted himself to Macau in order to gamble away the money that he has embezzled from an elderly English client. Macau is west of Hong Kong, in Mainland China, and this is where Doyle plays his game of choice, Baccarat. For most of the book, he plays in a casino called Lisboa but he travels to other casinos in Hong Kong from time to time. He is nonchalant about the game whether he wins or loses, and, as with most gambling addicts, his luck goes up and down.
Baccarat is a quick card game and a dangerous one. "It is hard for the house to cheat at baccarat, and there is a satisfying instant gratification to its simplicity and relative speed. It kills you quickly." One can see from this quote that there is an element of the masochistic to Doyle's gambling. It is usually a very high stakes game. "When you play it your heart is in your mouth." "That's what I like about it. There's no lingering illusion. Death by guillotine."
Osborne well knows the thinking and emotional realm of the gambling addict. "One is never far enough ahead to quit." There is an obsession, a compulsion to keep on with the playing until the last bit of money is lost. Sleep is foregone, as is often food and relationships. All that exists for the gambler is the bet. As a clinical social worker, I am well aware that the highest rate of suicide for all addictions is that of the gambler. Doyle, in this novel, comes close to suicide on more than one occasion.
Doyle meets a Chinese prostitute names Dao-Ming in Macau when he is down on his luck. She takes him to her home and helps him to recuperate from his losses, his poor health and his days of not sleeping. To repay her, he steals her money. To be fair, however, he is smitten with her. Gambling just does not give him time to look her up.
The book is very depressing. We see gamblers all begging each other for loans which one knows will never be repaid. "We all had a scheme and the pity of it was that none of us knew what the scheme was." Lady luck just can't be beaten no matter how much magical thinking is used. Doyle likes to pick a certain room to gamble in and wear yellow gloves when he plays baccarat. This is not uncommon with gamblers. They all have a shtick that they believe will bring them good luck.
The book is seriously depressing. Watching an addict go deeper into their addiction is a ride through hell and this book reminded me of the movie, Leaving Las Vegas. No matter how much money Doyle wins, it isn't enough. "The reality was that the more money I made, the more trapped I felt. Should I play on and on until doomsday, until I started losing again and balance was restored? This is how a hardened gambler would think. It doesn't matter to him, because what matters is the roller coaster, the wind in his hair, the thrill. He plays until he runs out of money."
Baccarat is a quick card game and a dangerous one. "It is hard for the house to cheat at baccarat, and there is a satisfying instant gratification to its simplicity and relative speed. It kills you quickly." One can see from this quote that there is an element of the masochistic to Doyle's gambling. It is usually a very high stakes game. "When you play it your heart is in your mouth." "That's what I like about it. There's no lingering illusion. Death by guillotine."
Osborne well knows the thinking and emotional realm of the gambling addict. "One is never far enough ahead to quit." There is an obsession, a compulsion to keep on with the playing until the last bit of money is lost. Sleep is foregone, as is often food and relationships. All that exists for the gambler is the bet. As a clinical social worker, I am well aware that the highest rate of suicide for all addictions is that of the gambler. Doyle, in this novel, comes close to suicide on more than one occasion.
Doyle meets a Chinese prostitute names Dao-Ming in Macau when he is down on his luck. She takes him to her home and helps him to recuperate from his losses, his poor health and his days of not sleeping. To repay her, he steals her money. To be fair, however, he is smitten with her. Gambling just does not give him time to look her up.
The book is very depressing. We see gamblers all begging each other for loans which one knows will never be repaid. "We all had a scheme and the pity of it was that none of us knew what the scheme was." Lady luck just can't be beaten no matter how much magical thinking is used. Doyle likes to pick a certain room to gamble in and wear yellow gloves when he plays baccarat. This is not uncommon with gamblers. They all have a shtick that they believe will bring them good luck.
The book is seriously depressing. Watching an addict go deeper into their addiction is a ride through hell and this book reminded me of the movie, Leaving Las Vegas. No matter how much money Doyle wins, it isn't enough. "The reality was that the more money I made, the more trapped I felt. Should I play on and on until doomsday, until I started losing again and balance was restored? This is how a hardened gambler would think. It doesn't matter to him, because what matters is the roller coaster, the wind in his hair, the thrill. He plays until he runs out of money."
February 28, 2015
A book about a compulsive gambler is nothing new . . . and it’s difficult to one up Dostoevsky or even Graham Greene. But the setting of this novel drew me in. Lord Doyle, as he is known in his gambling haunts, is no “Lord” at all. He is a London lawyer who has stolen an immense amount of money from an elderly female client and fled to Macao, where he is determined to gamble the money away . . . he is one of those peculiar gamblers who gets as big a rush from losing as from winning. In fact, it is the second before the outcome is known, when everything hangs in the balance, that provides the hook of his addiction. The setting is Macao, with a little Hong Kong thrown in, where the nouveau riche from China, with blue baseball caps on their heads, enthusiastically pour their life savings into the very worst of all capitalist enterprises, while a few foreign “ghosts” wander in their midst unseen. And “ghost” is the key word here. Lord Doyle feels very much like a ghost not only because he can’t quite connect in any real way with the people around him, despite his somewhat mysterious mastery of both Cantonese and Mandarin, but also because he himself is obsessed with that category of Buddhist creatures known as “hungry ghosts.” These are creatures with huge stomachs and tiny mouths, eternally condemned to “get no satisfaction.” Doyle’s compulsion to gamble is a bit like that . . . completely without any possibility of satiety. This is a fast-paced, sometimes distressing read written in a hard-edged but very clean prose. I enjoyed it and felt a little guilty about that. But I’ve spent years in the Chinese world and found a lot in Osborne’s novel that rings oh-so true.
August 3, 2025
Deftly shuffles together fate, chance, and Eastern mythology into a deck of sly and scintillating ideas that are dealt with a precise, beautiful touch, as one folds into the other. Ecstasy and doom thrum a single thread of risk, its pulse written in prose crisp and alluring enough to compel me right back to the start after the turn of the final page.
June 6, 2018
Intriguing and gritty! Left me pondering.
August 2, 2018
3.75/5 I don't really have any idea what this book meant, but it was intriguing....
May 17, 2024
maybe like a 1.5 if i’m being generous
April 24, 2025
Scratched the same itch as a lot of vices without actually having to do them myself
Fun read looking forward to the movie
Fun read looking forward to the movie
May 3, 2025
Really enjoyed and having 21 chapters for a book about gambling hasn’t gone unnoticed by me!
August 4, 2017
It's a beautifully written book, but the treatment of the main subject (gaming addiction) does not seem to be worthy enough of the prose surrounding it, or maybe it's just not relevant enough for me.
August 9, 2018
A character study in gambling excess set in the casinos of Macau.
The Ballad of a Small Player by Lawrence Osborne is an engaging study in gambling addiction set in the intoxicating world of the casinos of Macau. Forced to leave his native land due to financial misdealings, "Lord" Doyle is an Englishman drawn to the 24/7 gambler's den of Macau. Doyle is not a lord, or a noble, but is able to reinvent himself in his new world, a world based entirely on the wins and losses of baccarat. When he wins, he is indeed Lord Doyle; when he loses, he is ducking creditors and hiding out in Hong Kong. In between the time spent at the gambling tables are nights with his "Purchased Roses," prostitutes eager to separate him from his cash. His days are ruled by luck, gambling nemeses, ghosts, women, booze and eating.
Though set after colonial times, the tone and milieu of the book reminded me of such novelists as Graham Greene and Marguerite Duras. While it could have veered off into the stereotyping of Orientalism, The Ballad of a Small Player never crossed that line, and instead kept the delicate balance of cultural sensitivity with fish out of water scenarios.
The Ballad of a Small Player by Lawrence Osborne is an engaging study in gambling addiction set in the intoxicating world of the casinos of Macau. Forced to leave his native land due to financial misdealings, "Lord" Doyle is an Englishman drawn to the 24/7 gambler's den of Macau. Doyle is not a lord, or a noble, but is able to reinvent himself in his new world, a world based entirely on the wins and losses of baccarat. When he wins, he is indeed Lord Doyle; when he loses, he is ducking creditors and hiding out in Hong Kong. In between the time spent at the gambling tables are nights with his "Purchased Roses," prostitutes eager to separate him from his cash. His days are ruled by luck, gambling nemeses, ghosts, women, booze and eating.
Though set after colonial times, the tone and milieu of the book reminded me of such novelists as Graham Greene and Marguerite Duras. While it could have veered off into the stereotyping of Orientalism, The Ballad of a Small Player never crossed that line, and instead kept the delicate balance of cultural sensitivity with fish out of water scenarios.
February 18, 2016
Decadence is word bandied about all of the time, and usually in the wrong context. Decadence is a certain fin-de-siecle world-weariness. It is about the decay of life not the joy of it. The literature of the last decade of the 19th Century is the high-point of decadent writing. For reasons unknown, there is more decadent writing at the beginning of the 21st century than at the end of the 20th. High among contemporary practitioners is Lawrence Osborne. His literary essay THE POISONED EMBRACE, published in 1994, is subtitled "A Brief History of Sexual Pessimism." That same subtitle could be used for THE BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER. Doyle, called Lord Doyle for so long that it is easier to keep up the pretense, attempts to gamble away his ill-gotten fortune. He knows the real metier of the gambler is losing and not winning. You arrive at that state of grace when you have nothing else to lose. Doyle encounters Dao-Ming, an ambiguous young woman, when he has lost it all and things change. He starts to win, and he wastes away simultaneously. The Chinese call Doyle, and other Westerners, gwai lo, which means Devil or lost ghost. The Buddhists believe in ghosts; some ghosts are supernatural, others man-made. Doyle does lose his claim on humanity sometime during the course of this slim and malignantly witty novel. A whiff of opium and a touch of absinthe flavors this story.
April 9, 2014
THE BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER is an unusual ghost story that isn’t unless you believe in luck. This story follows “Lord Doyle” as he works his way through both the casinos of Macau and a small fortune that, in his past life as a British lawyer, he stole from an old woman.
Neon and glitter beckon all to the gaming tables and he is drawn with an addiction to play although he is fatalistic enough to know he will only lose it all eventually.
And when he does he is rescued by that old stand-by, the whore with the heart of gold, although Doyle is more interested in her hard currency than her heart.
Stealing that also leads him to propel himself to his final end, back in the casinos, only now he cannot lose. This causes difficulties of another kind and as Doyle slowly slips away from his life he finds his karmic destiny.
The details brought forth here are plush and lavish, quite visual in nature and bring the cities of Macau and Hong Kong to life for the reader. The lead character is a total scoundrel of course but he comes to find a place within you as he slowly destroys his life.
This was a Goodreads win.
Neon and glitter beckon all to the gaming tables and he is drawn with an addiction to play although he is fatalistic enough to know he will only lose it all eventually.
And when he does he is rescued by that old stand-by, the whore with the heart of gold, although Doyle is more interested in her hard currency than her heart.
Stealing that also leads him to propel himself to his final end, back in the casinos, only now he cannot lose. This causes difficulties of another kind and as Doyle slowly slips away from his life he finds his karmic destiny.
The details brought forth here are plush and lavish, quite visual in nature and bring the cities of Macau and Hong Kong to life for the reader. The lead character is a total scoundrel of course but he comes to find a place within you as he slowly destroys his life.
This was a Goodreads win.
March 1, 2015
I just couldn't get into this book and by the abundance of 3 to 5 star reviews, perhaps the problem is mine.
I would be reading and suddenly realize I was just reading words while my attention was somewhere else. This doesn't happen to me often. I've been reading for over five decades. I know how to read, and I've read some very dense, obtuse books, but when my attention is all over the place...
No fault to the writer, though. This book is impeccably well-written. The attention to detail in the gambling parlors, etc., is precise and one can tell the author knows his subject very well. I simply could not find something to grab hold of to keep my attention. Not a character, a dilemma, a situation, a plot or subplot.
Simply not the book for me, I guess.
I received a copy of this book through the goodreads giveaway program.
I would be reading and suddenly realize I was just reading words while my attention was somewhere else. This doesn't happen to me often. I've been reading for over five decades. I know how to read, and I've read some very dense, obtuse books, but when my attention is all over the place...
No fault to the writer, though. This book is impeccably well-written. The attention to detail in the gambling parlors, etc., is precise and one can tell the author knows his subject very well. I simply could not find something to grab hold of to keep my attention. Not a character, a dilemma, a situation, a plot or subplot.
Simply not the book for me, I guess.
I received a copy of this book through the goodreads giveaway program.
May 5, 2014
Electrifying insight into the mindset of addiction, but the wheel of fortune went around one too many times: while it was mostly entertaining, this would have been a stronger book with less plot-point reversals of fortune, and more exploration of the narrator’s desire to drive himself to extinction.
Doyle himself was an explosive, well-written character, and his thoughts, strung out at many times in metaphor fit to a tee. It is hard, however, to carry a novel solely on one character when his prior interactions with others are meant to dictate his present behavior – because the background of his life was a cliché, it was difficult at certain points not to read Doyle too as the ultimate cliché. While from a certain view, this might be “the point,” it also seems that there could have been much more to making this “the point” of the rest of the creation had not been so flat.
Doyle himself was an explosive, well-written character, and his thoughts, strung out at many times in metaphor fit to a tee. It is hard, however, to carry a novel solely on one character when his prior interactions with others are meant to dictate his present behavior – because the background of his life was a cliché, it was difficult at certain points not to read Doyle too as the ultimate cliché. While from a certain view, this might be “the point,” it also seems that there could have been much more to making this “the point” of the rest of the creation had not been so flat.
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