The Games Were Coming

by Michael Anthony

Leon is in training for the great bicycle race in the Southern Games in Trinidad. He is so obsessed by the race that he has dismissed everybody in his life, even his girlfriend Sylvia. But she makes sure it doesn't stop there.

Genres: Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1963

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads' database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Considered one of Trinidad’s foremost historians,
Anthony travelled to England in 1955, where he
worked in factories and as a telegraphist. His
literary career began with contributions to the
magazine Bim. His first novel, The Games Were
Coming, was published in 1963; his most famous,
The Year in San Fernando, in 1965. Other writings
include short collections Cricket in the Road (1973),
Sandra Street and Other Stories (1973) and The Chieftain’s
Carnival and Other Stories (1993), where each story is
based on significant events in Trinidad’s history.
Much of his work after 1975 consists of historical
research into his native island.

Reviews

[Jtomassetti · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE GAMES WERE COMING was written by Michael Anthony in 1962. It tells the story of a cyclist, Leon, preparing for the track racing during the early 1950s in Trinidad. In the mixture is the Carnival and Leon’s girl friend who is wondering if he loves cycling more than her. At just over a hundred pages, it is a short novel but it is told in such vivid details that the reader can easily imagine the steel drums ringing through the city. If you can find this book, I recommend reading it.

[Asher Israel · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a waste of 5 hours. The problem with this book was that it didn't know if it wanted to be a sports novel about Leon and his rise to sports heights or a melodrama about Sylvia being pregnant by her boss and what she would do with it. Had the author picked a lane and stuck with it, it might have worked, but it came across as if even he wasn't sure what he wanted to do here. Leon, as a character, was bland, just make it Sylvia's story, or even focus more on Dolphus and his adventures. Because the one chapter which came down to the actual race, the entire thing was just anticlimactic because at no point did I expect Leon to lose. The amount of focus he put on the games throughout the novel, so the payoff was now he won, no one cares, now go and mine Mr Mohansingh's child as your reward. Sylvia had a better story overall.

[Papillon Polyglotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Games Were Coming" was the first book I read by Michael Anthony. Set in Trinidad, in 1963, it offered a snapshot of three important sectors of Trinidad and Tobago's culture in a burgeoning society.

There was oil. The protagonist lived in Marabella, a stone's throw away from the oil refinery and there were several references to the ever-present flame that lit up the sky. Flash forward to present-day, how ironic I should be reading the book this year because the flame went out earlier this year.

There was Carnival. The song of sweet pan, the frenzy of the atmosphere in the lead up to Carnival Monday and Tuesday, people's difficult history with the revelry. You don't want to dance to the lewd calypsos but it's in your blood. "Carnival is for any West Indian with blood!"

There was sports. Cycling has been a big thing for a while in Trinidad. Who knew? Cyclists in Trinidad are sometimes the victims of terrible road accidents. Even then, there was talk of what little respect motorists had for cyclists on the roads. Who knew that Guaracara Park had one of the premier cycling tracks in the Caribbean? I've always heard that people from South Trinidad took sports more seriously. I don't know if it's true but Anthony captured it well in this book.

[BookOfCinz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anthony missed the mark here.