The Player of games

Quotes

(The Player Of Games, p.51) All reality is a game. Physics at its most fundamental, the very fabric of our universe, results directly from the interaction of certain fairly simple rules, and chance; the same description may be applied to the best, most elegant and both intellectually and aesthetically satisfying games. By being unknowable, by resulting from events which, at the sub-atomic level, cannot be fully predicted, the future remains malleable, and retains the possibility of change, the hope of coming to prevail; victory, to use an unfashionable word. In this, the future is a game; time is one of the rules. Generally, all the best mechanistic games - those which can be played in any sense “perfectly”, such as grid, Prallian scope, ‘nkraytle, chess, Farnic dimensions - can be traced to civilisations lacking a relativistic view of the universe (let alone the reality). They are also, I might add, invariably pre-machine sentience societies.

I would say that the main character Gurgeh lives in a utopian future where humans solved lots of problems and dominate the galaxy. In the lesser cloud of the galaxy there is a society that seems similar to our current society.

Game Theory andGames in general. I like the contrast between the society.

(The Player Of Games, p.275) The final scene the man watched featured a psychotic male criminal previously injected with massive doses of sex hormones and hallucinogens, a knife, and a woman described as an enemy of the state, who was pregnant, and just before term

(The Player Of Games, p.67) Oh, it’s all so wonderful in the Culture, isn’t it, Gurgeh; nobody starves and nobody dies of disease or natural disasters and nobody and nothing’s exploited, but there’s still luck and heartache and joy, there’s still chance and advantage and disadvantage

(The Player Of Games, p.25) We’re well free of that. You want something you can’t have, Gurgeh. You enjoy your life in the Culture, but it can’t provide you with sufficient threats; the true gambler needs the excitement of potential loss, even ruin, to feel wholly alive.’ Gurgeh remained silent, lit by the fire and the soft glow from the room’s concealed lighting. ‘You called yourself “Morat” when you completed your name, but perhaps you aren’t the perfect game-player after all; perhaps you should have called yourself “Shequi”; gambler

English husk::dry outer covering of some fruits or seeds.

feral::(especially of an animal) in a wild state

entriced::attract or tempt by offering pleasure or advantage

invective::insulting

circumspect::wary and unwilling to take risks

intrepid::fearless

gallivant::go around from one place to another in the pursuit of pleasure

belch::emit wind noisily form the stomach through the mouth

precocious::(of a child) having developed certain abilities or inclinations at an earlier age than is usual or expected.

geriatric::relating to old people