Imperfect Player

Fanfiction
Title:	Imperfect Player
Author(s):	bandonbanshee
Date(s):	14 July 2005
Length:	1300 words
Genre(s):	missing scene
Fandom(s):	Mary Renault
Relationship(s):
External Links:	archived on MRF
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"Imperfect Player" is a short story by bandonbanshee based on Mary Renault's 1953 novel The Charioteer. It fills in the conversation between Laurie and Ralph at the end of the final chapter of the book. The author relies heavily on their use of dialogue from Hamlet to mediate their natural reticence.

Background

In response to a comment, the author said:

I really wanted to write (or read!) this scene, almost as soon as I finished the book for the first time, because I was curious as to how Laurie could continue with the feigned ignorance of Ralph's letter.

Comments

"Imperfect Player" elicited considerable comment, including the following:

• "Oh, beautiful! And filled with the sense of tragedy that almost was."—comment by cyberducks
• "That was beautiful and moving and spot on and all the other good words. And it could have happened that way, too."—comment by dangermouse
• "That is very, very beautiful. I can see it happening just this way. Yes, and all solved and forgotten by tea time, except not.
  You have MR's voice down so very well. If someone told me this was a lost page, I would believe them."—comment by artaxastra
• "[...] I'm much looking forward to more of anything you write. I have a theory that months or years later, Ralph might tell Laurie something like "It was touch and go with me for a while then", and leave it to Laurie to understand; but I haven't fleshed out the circumstances. And I think the most important part between these two is how coming back to Ralph is "home" to Laurie; Renault makes it very clear throughout the book."—comment by shezan

In particular, bandonbanshee's use of Hamlet drew comment:

• "Oh, combining Shakespeare with The Charioteer makes my knees wobbly. [...]"—comment by lorie945
• "a lovely read. in particular, i liked the hamlet refs (well placed) and the insights into ralph's character."—comment by noorie
• "What a great idea of melding Hamlet with the Charioteer. I really liked the the lines that you used. [...]"—comment by poicale
• "Lovely fic. :) I really enjoyed the way you wove the lines from Hamlet into the story. And Laurie's "I think that was my line" was my favourite bit."—comment by maggiehoneybite