Master of the Game (2003.2.24)
- I have encountered this magnificent work many times in my life. -
Do you know who Sidney Sheldon is? I think you have heard of his name. He is one of the most famous novelist in the world.
When I was a boy, I often saw the BIG advertisements of his novels in newspapers.
As you may know, the impact of those ads was POWERFUL. The ads said, “Once
you start to read, you can never stop!”. Seeing those ads, I thought, ---What an ad! And what a book! Many people would REALLY WANT to read this book! --- And fifteen-year-old me was one of them.
The title of the novel was “Master of the
Game”- one of his best-known work. I didn’t doubt that I could read through the
whole story, so I bought two books (Japanese version / vol.1 and vol.2) at the
same time. Indeed, it was a very exciting story. Although my reading speed was
very slow in those days, I enjoyed reading the book every day.
At high school, a friend of mine asked me, “Is it REALLY so exciting? It is JUST a novel, right?”
“Believe
me! It is amazing! It is MORE THAN a novel!” I replied to him.
But somehow, I got tired of reading on. In the middle of the story, I
lost the enthusiasm for reading it. It was probably because the story was
TOO LONG for me at that time. It contained TOO MUCHY EPISODES to go on.
The two books were put into my bookshelf, half of them unread, and they
were forgotten.
About TEN YEARS had passed. I had already
graduated from university and worked for a company. In my spare time, I enjoyed
learning English in an English conversation school. There I met a NICE GUY who
was a little older than I. He and I were in the same class, and we often talked
about our jobs, hobbies and private matters. I liked talking with him. One day
he showed me an English paperback and told me that he was hooked on reading it.
It was the original English version of “Master of the Game”.
“Oh! I know this novel!” That was my SECOND-TIME ENCOUNTER of this work.
He said that he would finish reading it soon. The book was SO THICK! (The
English version wasn’t divided into two books. All the stories were put
together into one volume.) It looked IMPOSSIBLE for me to read through.
However, I wanted to catch up with his English level, and I knew that the
story was very exciting, so I decided to buy one. This time I won’t give up reading through, I promised to myself.
In English, I was able to read faster than
before. The story was entertaining and was full of witty description. Besides,
while reading the book, I could learn a variety of English expressions. I was
absorbed in reading it. In the beginning, I used my dictionary, but soon I
began to feel that it was frustrating. The story was so exciting that I didn’t
want to be disturbed by using dictionary. After I put aside the dictionary, I
couldn’t grasp all the details. But I almost understand the story because the
words were not too difficult, and his sentence structure was easy to read. At
home, in a subway and even in a washroom, I read and read.
A few weeks later, I finally finished reading
it. I was satisfied with my accomplishment.
Let me introduce this work briefly. It begins as an adventure story. A young English guy starts a journey to Africa to find diamonds. Then it turns into a story of his daughter's STORMY life. The novel describes hope, passion, betrayal, hatred, revenge, greed, love, plot, madness, and jealousy… all kinds of human nature. It tells us a long string of human drama over as many as four generations. I bet that you will always wonder what happens next and that you can hardly put down the book. Sometimes, you will be amazed by unexpected development of the story. The writer is very good at tricking us. Oh! He tricked me again! --- you must say to yourself. And that is very enjoyable feeling. I like Japanese writer Shinichi Hoshi, and "Master of the Game" has the same characteristics as his novel – playing readers like a violin.
Several months after I finished the book, I found the videos of this work
in a video shop. "Master of the Game" had been made into a video work! I was excited. That was the THIRD encounter. The video was divided into
three volumes. I rent all of them and EAGERLY watched them at home. Frankly
speaking, the magnificent story had been changed into smaller-scale one.
I was a little disappointed. It was not faithful to the original. Maybe
it was because the production cost had its limit. I understand that it
cost endless time and money if they try to make this story faithfully into
a film. Anyway, I enjoyed these videos. Those were NOT BAD, at least.
Thanks to my classmate in English school, I was able to read through this
magnificent work in English. And the fact that I read through the thick
paperback gave me the confidence in reading English. I am grateful to him
for it. He and I left the school almost at the same time. Four years have
passed since then, and the English school doesn’t exist now. I miss the
school. I miss the days. Now I can’t get in touch with him because I don’t know his contact information.
He said he would get married shortly. I hope he and his wife lived happily
ever after.
So many years, Sydney Sheldon has been attracting me who is in a distant
country. HE IS the Master of the Game.
Postscript
In 2010, I found the audio book of this work on Amazon. This was my FOURTH
encounter. I bought it without hesitation, and from time to time, I enjoy
listening to it in my room. Until now, I have learned a lot from this work.
Not only English but life lessons as well. For example, the quoted part
below. It is a description which shows main character Kate’s mind for working.
‘How could one work too hard? Kate wondered. There was no greater joy in life. It was when she felt most alive. Each day brought a new set of problems, and each problem was a challenge, a puzzle to be solved, a new game to be won.’
I had troubles and difficulties in my work several times, but I was supported
by this Kate's positive mind and I was able to move forward.
-Sydney
Sheldon passed away in 2007. I express my gratitude to him and his work here. -
