Book Review: Master of the Game
Author: Sidney Sheldon
“Business is a game, played for
fantastic stakes, and you're in competition with experts. If you want to win,
you have to learn to be a master of the game.”
Sidney Sheldon is one of such
authors whose books has had reached every corner of this world. Millions of
readers since decades have been praising the beloved author’s stories that
features almost everything blending into an experience worthy of a one’s
lifetime. Master of the Game was first published more than four decades ago and
was in general loved by the readers. Four decades later, well this might not be
true.
“The future was clay, to be
moulded day by day, but the past was bedrock, immutable.”
The plot of the book spans widely
from the 19th century to the almost entire 20th century
covering four generation of a family, their fall, rise and the hurdles that
life brought along the way. Jamie McGregor leaves Scotland for Klipdrift, a
place in South Africa, to find his fortune in the growing diamond trade of the
1860s. His life takes unforeseen events and he ends up being one of the wealthiest
man in the country. Katherine ‘Kate’, the daughter of Jamie, takes up the helm
of the company her father built and gave it the shape of a multinational
business empire Kruger-Brent Int. Her love and dedication for her company takes
her mind, heart and soul into an undeniable stage that it seemed to her that
nothing mattered to her more than the survival of the company, and not just
survival but gigantic enormous thriving to rule the entire world. Her love for
her company in turn hits her personal life and she finds herself dealing with
heartbreaking situation at every point of her life. The books begins with Kate,
the head of multinational business empire Kruger-Brent Int., celebrating her
90th birthday. She sees the ghosts of her past but refuses to join them until a
member of the family is ready to take over.
“Old money’s motto was, If you
have it, hide it. New money’s motto was, If you have it, flaunt it.”
Sheldon’s books often portrays the
central character’s struggle to rise from a compromising situation and the ride
along with the central character is bundled with emotions that readers feel
engaged in a very compelling way. In ‘Master of the Game’ this very connection
seemed to be missing. The book seemed like to have bit off more than it could
chew. The character development is so uneven that at time when you feel like to
stay with the narrative, the book jumps off from one time period to another.
The beginning was extraordinary but somewhere down the middle the author seemed
to be rushing to complete the book. As a reader, one feels compel at a certain
point for the book to get over.
And not just in this decade but also
the time when the book was published, few reviewers felt the same. The Los Angeles
Times concludes the book review with "This book is really a number of
silly little stories strung loosely together like 'schlenters' (fools diamonds)
about to fall off a string of dental floss.".
“I'm a woman. I have a right to
change my mind.”
Master of the Game could have
been a great book if it were written in parts without hurrying the narrative of
the characters in the latter half of the book. Sidney Sheldon is by far one of
the best writers in dramatic genre and he has also successfully infused thrill
in his books in the past but in this book they all seemed not to be coordinating.
With such a beginning plot, the book could have been his best work.
A two star for Master of the Game
★★
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