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 Gambit (1962) 
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New post Gambit (1962)
You're invited to use this topic to discuss the quotations from Gambit (1962) – a Nero Wolfe novel by Rex Stout.

You may also use this thread for general discussions about this literary work; you do not necessarily need to discuss specific quotations.

Or, if you'd like to talk about anything else related to Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin, or Rex Stout, feel free to create a new discussion topic.


Sat, 6 Oct 2007, 13:31
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No quotations are available so far for this Nero Wolfe novel – not a very successful novel, I'm afraid – but I have just posted my 5-minute review of Gambit on the associated webpage.

I have rated this novel a D+, and the review explains why such a relatively low rating seems justified for this Nero Wolfe volume. You're encouraged to disagree, either right here in this discussion forum topic, or by posting your own review of Gambit on the review webpage :!:

(For the sake of compeleteness, let's mention Gambit has already been discussed in some detail in this discussion forum on page 2 of the A&E thread.)


Sat, 6 Oct 2007, 14:27
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Faterson wrote:
No quotations are available so far for this Nero Wolfe novel – not a very successful novel, I'm afraid – but I have just posted my 5-minute review of Gambit on the associated webpage.


No quotes? Pish and tosh, my good man! :wink: Watch this space.

Harsh review! Mini-spoilers I quite liked this story, but agree that the bugged restaurant and the 'unmasking' were a little tired. However, I enjoyed Archie's 'disgrace', and thought Sally Blount a likeable and realistic client, with Stout managing to show, not tell, that she has a strong character and a sensible mind - enough that Wolfe puts up with her as a guest. I also liked the double-bluff of her father's involvement, similar in approach to If Death Ever Slept, and the fact that I twigged who had done the bumping off before Archie - although that's probably not a recommendation for a mystery ... :P

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Sat, 6 Oct 2007, 14:52
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AdonisGuilfoyle wrote:
No quotes? Pish and tosh, my good man! :wink: Watch this space.

Thank you very much for launching that collection tonight, Adonis. :) I'll be adding a few excerpts of my own from this volume later on.


Sat, 6 Oct 2007, 22:19
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Faterson wrote:
Thank you very much for launching that collection tonight, Adonis. :) I'll be adding a few excerpts of my own from this volume later on.


Actually, when I came to selecting from my own crop, I must confess it was a struggle - most of my quotes are little references about the characters that I might want to recall later on (such as Wolfe's wife, which I still can't place!), but not exactly priceless gems that require logging for posterity! Only the vicar quote is worth noting; everything else - Cramer thinking Archie might eat the note, the imagery for Archie being woken up by the house phone - just made me laugh. And you may want to insert a few paragraph marks and ellipses, Faterson - I'm not fussed, but I know you like to be precise :wink:

Also - is page 175 a spoiler, think ye? I'm not sure. It wouldn't leap out at you if you hadn't read the book, and the plot is such that you probably wouldn't care if it did, but ... :?

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Sat, 6 Oct 2007, 23:08
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AdonisGuilfoyle wrote:
And you may want to insert a few paragraph marks and ellipses, Faterson - I'm not fussed, but I know you like to be precise :wink:

Yes, I'll be happy to do that later on. I've been struggling with time management in recent months – not nearly enough time for work on this site. :cry: And, I'll be spending 5 days in Berlin later this week, so again I won't have as much time as I'd like to have for these noble scholarly efforts. :wink:

However, in working on this site, I strictly follow the Recent additions webpage, going from its bottom to the top in my cleanup work. So, sooner or later I'll also get to the Gambit collection of quotes, adding my own excerpts and adjusting any missing details in quotes already submitted. 8)

AdonisGuilfoyle wrote:
Also - is page 175 a spoiler, think ye? I'm not sure.

You're right, it's not an unequivocal spoiler. Just to make sure, I've deleted the names from the quote, but linked them to a new special spoiler webpage for Gambit. That should make the quotes collection perfectly safe to peruse for anyone :!:

(It's not the first such special spoiler webpage on this site; an Agatha Christie spoiler webpage is available here; this will be a regular device. I've seen some JavaScript on other people's sites capable of showing/hiding small sections of text on a webpage – a few words or lines of text – which would be ideal for our purposes, but as of right now I wouldn't know how to employ that sort of JavaScript here. So, for the moment, there'll be special spoiler webpages whenever needed. 8))

And thank you for reminding me of spoilers, Adonis: I should practice what I preach, and I've now also inserted a spoiler warning into my own 5-minute review of Gambit; that JavaScript piece of code would come especially handy in there, but you can't have everything right away. :oops:


Mon, 8 Oct 2007, 12:39
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Well, Gambit arrived, has been read and returned and once again, I liked it.

Much is shown of the Wolfe/Archie relationship, their teamwork in tackling the job, discussing the facts of a case and bouncing ideas off each other.
Or it may be because Wolfe finally showed passion for something other than food. :D In fact, the 'outrage' has stirred him to the point of leaving his chair and undertaking the tedious task of burning a large book, page by page.
Or so I thought until Archie mentioned the cheap binding! We know Wolfe surrounds himself only with the best. A book of such prominence and daily use surely would have been bound in leather. Did he know what was in the dictionary and only engaged in grand theatrics for himself and the benefit of the household?

The ending of Gambit was disappointing, specifically the restaurant table scene. First we get the actual conversation. Then a replay for Wolfe, then a replay for Avery and another replay for Cramer. Enough!!
And why was the murderer so brilliant in committing the crime and so inept handling a blackmail attempt?

Now, 'The Woman' :?
To the casual observer, Mrs. Blount seems rather dull and uninteresting, yet, all males, even those who never met her, quiver before her hypnotic powers of attraction. (Of which she herself is unaware ?)
Every so often, Stout seems to leave the ground and engage in a 'witchy woman' fantasy.
There is another example of this, somewhere. The title escapes me, but a woman was referred to by her father-in-law as 'the snake'.
Said snake watches tv in a semi-darkened room. Archie joins her for the purpose of sounding her out. They have a brief, civil conversation.The snake leaves the room and Archie rises as in a trance and follows her across the room to the door.
After the door closes, he realizes, he has no idea how or why he got from the chair to the door.
Archie ??? Please!

This would have been a very good episode on film. It had everything, the front room with fireplace in use, the office, a penthouse, a club and NYC in winter !

I found 2 wothwhile quotes which I will post if I can find the Gambit site. They may already be there though. 8)


Fri, 26 Oct 2007, 23:51
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starfish wrote:
The ending of Gambit was disappointing, specifically the restaurant table scene. First we get the actual conversation. Then a replay for Wolfe, then a replay for Avery and another replay for Cramer. Enough!!

Yes, I think 'Gambit' was a weak mystery, too. Archie's confrontation of the murderer was also rather weak - I was with Orrie, rolling my eyes at his speech! :wink:

Starfish wrote:
Every so often, Stout seems to leave the ground and engage in a 'witchy woman' fantasy.
There is another example of this, somewhere. The title escapes me, but a woman was referred to by her father-in-law as 'the snake'.

I like that term - the 'Witchy Woman' Syndrome! The 'snake' was Susan Jarrell, the daughter-in-law in 'If Death Ever Slept'; I thought Stout's handling of her character was subtle compared to the heavy-handed description of Mrs Blount's allure. Men reacted to Susan - and I'm not actually sure if that's her name! :oops: - without acknowledging her power, but the daughter, the family friend, Cramer, Wolfe and Archie all report how attractive and charismatic Mrs Blount is, until the reader is fed up of reading about her!

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Sat, 27 Oct 2007, 0:58
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