Reviews
Maybe because this is an author I like, the book reads easily and the story is fun.
Chess is played on an eight-by-eight board with 64 squares and 32 pieces, 16 each for black and white. I learned for the first time that chess originated in India. I played briefly in my twenties. I liked the direct, sweeping movement of the pieces more than in Korean chess. The thrill of calling “checkmate” pulled me into the game, though I have mostly forgotten it now. 📌 Autophobia versus anthropophobia; group versus individual. Autophobia is fear of being alone, combining Greek auto,
Human beings are remarkably complicated animals. We often condemn people who cannot easily empathize with those around them as socially deficient, or even as psychopaths. Nicole and Monica in this novel are the opposite: they cannot stand watching their teachers and classmates—people right beside them—casually carry out cruel policies such as confining small animals or conducting experiments on living creatures. Are Nicole and Monica antisocial misfits and misanthropes? Or are they unusually
Nicole O'Connor presses her face close to the cage and peers at a white mouse. The eleven-year-old's large teal eyes meet the frightened rodent's bright red ones. She gives her golden hair a sharp toss. At the end of her sentence, the girl lifts the latch, carefully opens the cage, and lets the mouse out. Like a receding tide, 640 mice pour out and instantly take over the halls of James Cook Middle School in Melbourne, Australia. Nicole smiles with satisfaction. The mice, whose freedom was
The Diagonal of the Queen is Bernard Werber's new novel. I always look forward to his opening scenes—that brief moment before the curtain rises, when you wonder what will happen. The first scene, “Act One: Two Cunning Children,” surprised me. On the same day, two girls of the same age, 16,000 kilometers apart in Australia and New York City, reacted in very intense ways to things that disturbed them. Their reasons differed, but opposites do seem to attract; the girls are strangely alike. Chess
Nicole is an “autophobe” who fears being alone; Monica is an “anthropophobe” who hates people gathering in groups. They first meet as opponents at age twelve at the World Chess Championship in Reykjavík. Nicole wins their first match. Monica, unable to bear being in a crowd, begins strangling the winner, Nicole, until Nicole's father manages to stop her. Monica is restrained by bystanders and sent to counseling with her mother, Jessica. Nicole's father furiously threatens to sue, but Nicole
I find myself wondering whether this is really a Bernard Werber novel. Where did the mind-boggling ideas, suspense, and tightly woven plotting of his earlier works go? Nicole's sudden act of terrorism (a sudden burst of ethnic sentiment over one story about her father's ancestry...), and Monica becoming a world-famous author after writing a single essay—what is that about? Maybe volume two will be different, but this book leaves me disappointed in the author.
The two protagonists, Nicole and Monica, seem to represent opposite extremes. Nicole fears being alone and believes in the power of groups; Monica has anthropophobia, believes in exceptional individuals, despises the foolishness of crowds, and cannot even bear being touched by other people. Their stories unfold in alternating chapters. They meet at a chess tournament, resolve to take revenge, and the revenge grows. Real events are also woven in, making the story feel more realistic and
♟️ This book made me realize how annoying it is to miss my subway stop and have to go back. I usually avoid reading novels on public transit for that reason, but this one made me forget the rule. It also reminded me how much I worry about carrying paper books during monsoon season. Bernard Werber's new novel is every bit as good as expected. 🔹️Nicole—Melbourne: autophobia, a child who cannot bear being alone and believes in the power of groups. She views world news from a macro perspective and
TheDiagonalOfTheQueen1 Review BernardWerber OpenBooks Nemesis He is not a soulmate but a soul-enemy. The moment they meet, they recognize each other and devote their lives to destroying one another. ♟️Nicole O'Connor—attends James Cook Middle School in Melbourne, Australia. She cannot stand being alone (autophobia) and is expelled after releasing bees in the science lab while alone. ♟️Monica McIntyre—attends middle school in New York City. She likes being alone and quiet (anthropophobia). After
Bernard Werber: Queen's diagonal 1
Bernard Werber, whose extraordinary stories never fail to surprise and delight readers, returns with his new novel, The Diagonal of the Queen. It follows two women clashing on the international political stage: Monica believes exceptional individual ability drives human progress, while Nicole believes united groups move history. Which of them will emerge as the final victor? Which side will determine the course of humanity's progress? As the two protagonists, whose beliefs in individual and collective power are diametrically opposed, battle around the world from the Pentagon to Mecca, Werber offers an overview of today's international affairs and intellectual thrills, along with the suspense and pleasure of a novel in which the winner is always impossible to predict.
Korean title: 퀸의 대각선 1
Korean author: 베르나르 베르베르
Korean publisher: 열린책들
ISBN-13: 9788932924397
Reviews
Maybe because this is an author I like, the book reads easily and the story is fun.
Chess is played on an eight-by-eight board with 64 squares and 32 pieces, 16 each for black and white. I learned for the first time that chess originated in India. I played briefly in my twenties. I liked the direct, sweeping movement of the pieces more than in Korean chess. The thrill of calling “checkmate” pulled me into the game, though I have mostly forgotten it now. 📌 Autophobia versus anthropophobia; group versus individual. Autophobia is fear of being alone, combining Greek auto,
Human beings are remarkably complicated animals. We often condemn people who cannot easily empathize with those around them as socially deficient, or even as psychopaths. Nicole and Monica in this novel are the opposite: they cannot stand watching their teachers and classmates—people right beside them—casually carry out cruel policies such as confining small animals or conducting experiments on living creatures. Are Nicole and Monica antisocial misfits and misanthropes? Or are they unusually
Nicole O'Connor presses her face close to the cage and peers at a white mouse. The eleven-year-old's large teal eyes meet the frightened rodent's bright red ones. She gives her golden hair a sharp toss. At the end of her sentence, the girl lifts the latch, carefully opens the cage, and lets the mouse out. Like a receding tide, 640 mice pour out and instantly take over the halls of James Cook Middle School in Melbourne, Australia. Nicole smiles with satisfaction. The mice, whose freedom was
The Diagonal of the Queen is Bernard Werber's new novel. I always look forward to his opening scenes—that brief moment before the curtain rises, when you wonder what will happen. The first scene, “Act One: Two Cunning Children,” surprised me. On the same day, two girls of the same age, 16,000 kilometers apart in Australia and New York City, reacted in very intense ways to things that disturbed them. Their reasons differed, but opposites do seem to attract; the girls are strangely alike. Chess
Nicole is an “autophobe” who fears being alone; Monica is an “anthropophobe” who hates people gathering in groups. They first meet as opponents at age twelve at the World Chess Championship in Reykjavík. Nicole wins their first match. Monica, unable to bear being in a crowd, begins strangling the winner, Nicole, until Nicole's father manages to stop her. Monica is restrained by bystanders and sent to counseling with her mother, Jessica. Nicole's father furiously threatens to sue, but Nicole
I find myself wondering whether this is really a Bernard Werber novel. Where did the mind-boggling ideas, suspense, and tightly woven plotting of his earlier works go? Nicole's sudden act of terrorism (a sudden burst of ethnic sentiment over one story about her father's ancestry...), and Monica becoming a world-famous author after writing a single essay—what is that about? Maybe volume two will be different, but this book leaves me disappointed in the author.
The two protagonists, Nicole and Monica, seem to represent opposite extremes. Nicole fears being alone and believes in the power of groups; Monica has anthropophobia, believes in exceptional individuals, despises the foolishness of crowds, and cannot even bear being touched by other people. Their stories unfold in alternating chapters. They meet at a chess tournament, resolve to take revenge, and the revenge grows. Real events are also woven in, making the story feel more realistic and
♟️ This book made me realize how annoying it is to miss my subway stop and have to go back. I usually avoid reading novels on public transit for that reason, but this one made me forget the rule. It also reminded me how much I worry about carrying paper books during monsoon season. Bernard Werber's new novel is every bit as good as expected. 🔹️Nicole—Melbourne: autophobia, a child who cannot bear being alone and believes in the power of groups. She views world news from a macro perspective and
TheDiagonalOfTheQueen1 Review BernardWerber OpenBooks Nemesis He is not a soulmate but a soul-enemy. The moment they meet, they recognize each other and devote their lives to destroying one another. ♟️Nicole O'Connor—attends James Cook Middle School in Melbourne, Australia. She cannot stand being alone (autophobia) and is expelled after releasing bees in the science lab while alone. ♟️Monica McIntyre—attends middle school in New York City. She likes being alone and quiet (anthropophobia). After
