jcschlotfelt2313's review against another edition
4.0
The latest novel from Lawrence Osborne, The Ballad of a Small Player, is a subtle, unassumingly tense read. The story of an English lawyer hiding from the law in Macau--a former Portuguese colony on the south east coast of China, has all the ingredients of a pot-boiling piece of noir, but Osborne's characters play everything so close to the vest that everything stays at an ominous simmer.
Macau's status as one of two "Special Administrative Regions" in China (the other being Hong Kong) makes the main character, Doyle, a stranger in one of the strangest lands. Macau's economy is almost solely based on gambling and tourism; the city is teaming with gamblers from all over China speaking different dialects, sometimes interchangeably. On top of that, Portuguese pops up with alarming frequency and English words and phrases fall in between Cantonese or Mandarin. This melange of languages seems right out futuristic tales where races and languages are no longer distinct. Also like a futuristic distopia, or Las Vegas, no one seems to live in Macau, just visit and work. Characters are whisking from hotel to hotel, casino to casino and always aware of when the last ferry leaves for the night.
In this almost otherworldly locale, Osborne shows his chops as a former travel writer. Despite the clashing aesthetics and culture, Osborne is able to communicate a lot of very concrete, vivid images in spare yet eloquent prose without losing the reader on the haze of booze, girls, casino lights, and old ghosts of Macau's gambling houses.
Ballad of a Small Player starts off slow. Not a drudge, but paced, Osborne takes his time doling out details and revealing specifics like the dealer turning cards. And the novel rarely gets more hurried than that. A steady hand is always at the helm even when Lord Doyle is out of his mind with a Dostoyevsky-esque flu or when he may or may not be accompanied by a spirit who/that aides in an unimaginable string of good luck at the baccarat tables.
For all the talk of Graham Greene, noir, ghosts, and the mystical east, Ballad of Small Player is a book of quiet intrigue. This is not a white knuckle ride, it's contemplative and cool, much the way Doyle tries to play it at the tables.
Macau's status as one of two "Special Administrative Regions" in China (the other being Hong Kong) makes the main character, Doyle, a stranger in one of the strangest lands. Macau's economy is almost solely based on gambling and tourism; the city is teaming with gamblers from all over China speaking different dialects, sometimes interchangeably. On top of that, Portuguese pops up with alarming frequency and English words and phrases fall in between Cantonese or Mandarin. This melange of languages seems right out futuristic tales where races and languages are no longer distinct. Also like a futuristic distopia, or Las Vegas, no one seems to live in Macau, just visit and work. Characters are whisking from hotel to hotel, casino to casino and always aware of when the last ferry leaves for the night.
In this almost otherworldly locale, Osborne shows his chops as a former travel writer. Despite the clashing aesthetics and culture, Osborne is able to communicate a lot of very concrete, vivid images in spare yet eloquent prose without losing the reader on the haze of booze, girls, casino lights, and old ghosts of Macau's gambling houses.
Ballad of a Small Player starts off slow. Not a drudge, but paced, Osborne takes his time doling out details and revealing specifics like the dealer turning cards. And the novel rarely gets more hurried than that. A steady hand is always at the helm even when Lord Doyle is out of his mind with a Dostoyevsky-esque flu or when he may or may not be accompanied by a spirit who/that aides in an unimaginable string of good luck at the baccarat tables.
For all the talk of Graham Greene, noir, ghosts, and the mystical east, Ballad of Small Player is a book of quiet intrigue. This is not a white knuckle ride, it's contemplative and cool, much the way Doyle tries to play it at the tables.
blevins's review against another edition
3.0
Want to read about a degenerate gambler who is hell bent on throwing away everything he owns by playing card games in assorted casinos in Macau? Here you go, Lawrence Osborne has written the book for you. There is a never ending, always looming feeling of doom in the pages of this one and even though it isn't long, I was exhausted by its end. Card games, wagers, the high of winning vast sums, the compulsion to risk everything for more winnings and the eventual epic flame out losses--the lesson that degenerate gamblers can never, ever comprehend is that the house always wins. Always.
kalkie's review against another edition
2.0
This story follows the fortunes (and mis-fortunes) of "Lord" Doyle, small-time embezzler from the UK currently in hiding in Macau. He spends his life winning and losing at the baccarat punto blanco tables of the various casinos around peninsula, meeting up with similar ne'er do well friends, and borrowing and lending money to sustain their respective habits.
He crosses paths with a mysterious girl, Dao-Ming, who comes to his rescue when he's at his lowest ebb; and after "recovering" enters a period with the best luck he has ever experienced.
The story continues at a leisurely pace, and the characters are so middle-of-the-road, it's hard to feel strongly about them one way or the other. I certainly didn't find it engaging or unputdownable. It was an OK read, but unfortunately I felt it didn't live up to its hype.
He crosses paths with a mysterious girl, Dao-Ming, who comes to his rescue when he's at his lowest ebb; and after "recovering" enters a period with the best luck he has ever experienced.
The story continues at a leisurely pace, and the characters are so middle-of-the-road, it's hard to feel strongly about them one way or the other. I certainly didn't find it engaging or unputdownable. It was an OK read, but unfortunately I felt it didn't live up to its hype.
avmash's review against another edition
4.0
I'm hovering between two and three stars on this one. The writing was fairly good, and I enjoyed reading the book - got through it in a day, it isn't a difficult read - but the orientalism and the tired Chinese stereotypes just dragged it down. The book felt as if it had been written in the '50s. I can forgive a book that's 70 years old for believing that only white men are real people, but it feels a bit unnecessary in 2014. Add that to the fact that it didn't really seem to offer anything new, and I think I'm going to keep it to two stars - three for the writing, and minus one for the cliched unconscious racism.
komet2020's review against another edition
5.0
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.
mandym's review against another edition
3.0
I received this book via the goodreads first reads program - thank you.
A tale of a gambler who encounters a downward spiral of bad luck, losing the monies he embezzled from one of his clients. His luck changes after encountering a local prostitute who nurses him back to relative health, at which point the gambler is just itching to get back to the casino's and he promptly steals her money to do it with.
He returns to the casino's and finds he has the midas touch - or has he?
It is a story, dark and depressing about addiction to gambling, although the main character is hard to like, I did like the book.
A tale of a gambler who encounters a downward spiral of bad luck, losing the monies he embezzled from one of his clients. His luck changes after encountering a local prostitute who nurses him back to relative health, at which point the gambler is just itching to get back to the casino's and he promptly steals her money to do it with.
He returns to the casino's and finds he has the midas touch - or has he?
It is a story, dark and depressing about addiction to gambling, although the main character is hard to like, I did like the book.
danperlman's review
5.0
Fake English gentleman gambles his life away, drinks too much, does drugs, hallucinates a lot, cheats and steals, and somehow, the whole thing is brilliant.
alexclare's review
3.0
When the main character cares so little about himself it is hard to care when reading about him.
More...