Authority Without Domination: “Shibumi” by Trevanian
“Miss Swivven regretted two aspects of her career: this getting sunburned every week or so, and the occasional impersonal use Mr. Diamond made of her to relieve his tensions. Still, she was philosophic. No job is perfect.”
“Hana laughed softly. “Do call me Hana. After all, I am not Nicholai’s wife. I am his concubine.”
I’ve read "Shibumi" a long time ago. Its appeal was so great at the time that immediately after having finished it, I wanted to take up Basque lessons and learn to play Goo. Apparently and according to Trevanian, chess and Goo are utterly “different”:
‘”How would you compare chess with Goo?”
Nicholai thought for a second. “Ah…what Goo is to philosophers and warriors, chess is to accountants and merchants.”’
Read on, if you're not afraid to read hich-octane literature disguised as spy fiction.
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