The Cardturner by Louis Sachar. When I reflected on the number of "literary quality" ramifications that I personally set for books in my blog, this seemed to be the standout choice. I mentioned that I liked a book that eludes standards cleverly and works both with and against the general framework of most novels. The cardturner was mostly linear, but it dropped back into certain memories and kept certain knowledge hidden from us throughout the book. It was a wonderful display of understanding what to tell the reader and when to tell them. I also mentioned liking an "unlikely" plot that is made interesting through creativity, style, and character. What a fine example of that process. Sachar has taken bridge, a notoriously boring card game that upon picking up the book few people of my generation would have found interesting or worthy of our time and he has made it both. The subject is bridge... BRIDGE. And yet Sachar gives us just enough information about the game and strings it out so that we stay interested. We eventually WANT to know the next card played and wish we were there, guessing Trapp's next move. I went on to mention that literary quality involved a clear voice. I think Sachar sticks very well to our image of who Alton Richards really is. The information that is given to us only further emphasizes the fact that we are hearing from our narrator. It reminded me, quite honestly, of The Great Gatsby. A narrator that seems to be surrounded by something mighty and is trying to figure out his own way in the midst of those who have already tread loftier paths than himself. I also identified the unreliability of Alton, we have a biased view of this story and we are very specifically seeing one angle and one perspective. Sachar does well to stick to this perspective. The setting acts exactly as it is supposed to; as a backdrop. I cannot remember much detail about the various house, roads, or towns. I do have an image of the bridge tournaments, of the people, etc. This is what he wanted for his setting. The real world that sticks with us is that of bridge. The last thing I'd say is that most good stories are character driven. The plot should fall into place and everything should make sense, but the characters should be the nucleus. I think that happens in this story. Sachar quickly fleshes out characters for us to love, dislike, and be unsure of. The only criticism being that some of his characters seem too set in their despicable nature. His parents, for instance, seem overly unlikeable at points. No one can be like that all the time can they? I would have liked to see at least one or two redeeming qualities (same thing with cliff)
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