Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure
by Michael Chabon
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Book Reviews of Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure
Book Review: a great adventure tale
Summary: 4 Stars
Stating in his after word that the alternative title for this work was"Jews with Swords," you can get an idea of the playfulness the author had while writing this book. Michael Chabon came highly recommended by a variety of friends, and this slim novel caught my eye while perusing the shelves at my local book store. Having never read Chabon before, my impression was of a 'serious' novelist who utilized quirky titles, and with some trepidation I decided to purchase "Gentleman of the Road." I was pleasantly surprised with an incredibly well written and entertaining adventure tale set in an interesting historical period.
The book centers around the scare-crow figure of Zelikman and his physical opposite, the imposing Amram, who as partners and kindred spirits seek to make their fortune traveling the road. They con, they save a youth, they lead an army as Chabon creates a lively atmosphere set in the 10th century crossroads of the Caucus mountains. The characters are well-written and charismatic, and although the book is slim, make a strong impression throughout and remain memorable. I thoroughly enjoyed the setting and while the plot unfolds like a pulp adventure novel, Chabon's mastery of the language is charming. By the end, I felt two things, a sense of wanderlust - wanting to travel, and a desire to read more. "Gentleman of the Road" is in the fine tradition of entertaining adventure novels and a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Book Review: "Gentlemen" Misses the Mark
Summary: 2 Stars
Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of AdventureBook Review
Gentlemen of the Road
Michael Chabon
Arthur L. Finkle
Michael Chabon is a superior new talent. His genius is to present Jewish topics through the brilliant lens of precisely crafted historical fiction, as amply demonstrated in "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" and "The Yiddish Policeman's Union.
In "Gentlemen," Chabon presents the Khazarian period (c 650 -1000) in which an Ethiopian, a Burgundian and Arabian - all adventuresome Jews - appear in a denouement in medieval Khazaria.
This novel misses the mark. There is no background of why Khararia's king converts to Judaism ans what type of culture eventuates.. There is no continuity of the Jewish community as represented by the Ethiopian, Burgundian and Arabian.
In his afterward, Chabon presents the premise that there were medieval Jews adventuring in the Crimean.. Such afterward should have been the forward, along with its excellent map representation of the area.. Further, because there are so many strangely transliterated words, there should also be an appendix.
I hope Mr. Chabon fleshes this book out to reflect the enormous variety and rich cultural experiences in Khazaria and other medieval Jewish communities.
Book Review: Where's My Award for Finishing This?
Summary: 3 Stars
Chabon's language winds and wends in so many different directions; I found it both beautiful and headache-inducing. The novel is about two unlikely friends - Amram, the giant African, and Zelikman, the scarecrow from Francia. They are, indeed, "gentlemen of the road," going where the wind and fortune take them. Early in the book they get caught up in the affairs of an embattled royal bent on revenge and reclamation of the family throne. The storyline is peppered with a high body count (though none of it is grisly) and plenty of clever revelations to make the story interesting. I found the two main characters charming and complex, though the dense writing style still kept them at arm's length from me.
I felt like I earned something while reading this book - it really was that difficult for me to process (and it's only 196 pages!). I can't put my finger on what made it so hard, or why I enjoyed it so much. I read the author's afterword, and even in a more conversational tone, I found Chabon diffult to "follow." My husband read and enjoyed his young adult novel Summerland, and his Pulitzer Prize winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay has been recommended to be by many people. Even though I often felt confused in the maze of this book's language, I know I'll eventually give Chabon another try.
Book Review: Plot and Prose
Summary: 4 Stars
4 Stars means: I was a great read and I would recommend to almost anyone.
What Chabon manages to do here is combine the "Literary" style prose with the classical plot driven adventure tales. He does it with a large amount of success. Not only does his detailed and complex prose add depth to the tale, which if told by another author might be left lacking, but it adds an enjoyment to the reading.
The characters are fun people and the drawings which go with the book are a good addition. I wish Chabon would write more books like this because it is extremely rare that you find a historical adventure novel presented by someone with this much literary talent. Reading this book is a opportunity that must not be missed whether you are a fan of historical novels or not.
Overall the only real flaw is the lack of cohesion which occurs in any serialized novel. There is an element that feeds off the last portion and yet still is able to make itself an individual story, where this might seem desirable in serialization it reads a little rough in book format. Nonetheless it is a superb achievement and a strike against anyone who says that genre fiction and literary fiction have to be separate.
Book Review: So much less than its influences
Summary: 2 Stars
I was extremely disappointed with this book. I had eagerly awaited reading Gentlemen of the Road as I am a long-time fan of the swashbuckling adventure genre. I have read and enjoyed the works of all the authors Chabon cited as influences, and I have to say, this novel falls far short of any of them. This is the first and probably the last Chabon book I have read.
After hearing so much about his creative genius, I am amazed at the utter poverty of imagination Chabon displays here. Of all the possible situations he could have exposed his heroes to, he has chosen a very dull and often tediously cliched scenario. Certainly, his novel is perhaps one of the only to portray 'Jews with swords' but that aspect really does not add much to the story. His characters are essentially pale imitations of Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser and show none of that duo's roguish spark and charisma.
This story may have been a worthwhile diversion as a newspaper serial, but as a full-priced stand alone novel it is a vastly inferior product. I would much rather have dug out my old Fritz Leiber and Michael Moorcock paperbacks and read them instead.