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Liked It “Hysterical and exciting!” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “http://amyletinsky.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/book-review-gentlemen-of-the-road/” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“http://amyletinsky.wordpress.com/2009/09/10/book-review-gentlemen-of-the-road/”
Amy Letinsky wrote this review 11 days ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“it was OK, might recommend it to the right person, interesting enough, i guess”
scotie wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Part I of the review:
Jeff H wrote this review Tuesday, September 22 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I want to do nothing. Nothing. Okay, maybe I’ll read a book. Hmm… Gentleman of the Road, by Michael Chabon. Well, I really liked Kavalier and Clay. And I liked Yiddish Policeman’s Union. And this is a short book- maybe I’ll just read this book, and work myself out of this 5 month funk I’ve been in…
… For numberless years a myna had astounded travelers to the caravansary with its ability to spew indecencies in ten languages, and before the fight broke out everyone assumed the old blue-tongued devil on its perch by the fireplace was the one who maligned the giant African with such foulness and verve.
What the hell is a ‘myna’? What’s a ‘caravansary’? Dammit- I’m reading a Michael Chabon book! Which means words I’ve never heard and… yep, there they are- Zelikman- funny Jewish names. Sigh… I want to do nothing… nothing… I really don’t even want to read this book. I don’t want to do anything. Nothing. NOTHING EVER AGAIN!”
Part II of the review:
So, yes, I have finally read this book. Okay- so I guess this was the story that Michael Chabon published over a period of time through the New York Times. I remember hearing about this and thinking, "I'd like to read that..." but it turns out a full subscription to the New York Times would cost me $350, or $245 for just weekends, and let's face it- I'm not going to pay a few hundred dollars for "All the news that's fit to print" when I can get all that same news (all the news that's fit to upload into a web browser?) for free (or for whatever internet costs- it should be free). Anyway- but this isn't about how little I care about the "paper of record" and their fancy crossword puzzles- and how I’d probably be smarter if I read that particular paper- but New York doesn’t need the ego boost of having me read their paper- this is about how I muddled through the 193 pages of Gentleman of the Road, and king of enjoyed myself while doing it.
It does read like a serialized story- which isn’t a bad thing, but every chapter did end with that cliffhanger type of feeling… or did it?
Part III of the book review.
Overall- I didn’t feel the same connections with these characters as I did with Chabon’s other characters in his other novels- but then again, he only had 200 pages to work with (whereas his other books have 400 plus pages to cram full of words that I have to look up and names that I pronounce phonetically in my head) but I still enjoyed myself reading the book. It was apparently steeped in historic Jewish culture- maybe- I wouldn’t know. There was a big deal about elephants- though- it wasn’t really a big deal. Overall I think it’s a pretty good quick read. It brought me out of my five-month-long funk. Or did it?
Part IV
I’ll say this: The ending was so-so. There was all this build-up till the end, and then it just sort of ended. It made me wonder if it being published in a newspaper had anything to do with the ending. And then there’s this weird afterward by Michael Chabon. In the afterward Chabon discusses why he wrote the book (he’s experimenting with different formats?) and then he talks about going on adventures, and there’s this big to do about ‘Jews with swords’ and then he says something that almost sounds like a backhanded compliment about people not reading books anymore… or people reading books instead of carrying swords as a way of escapism, or something like that. I could have misunderstood what he was saying, but still Dude- I just bought your freaking $22 dollar book (which is still a way better deal than the $350 newspaper subscription) stop lecturing me about being afraid of going on adventure with swords and what not. Let’s just all of us read a comic book and relax. ”“Hysterical and exciting!”
Guy S wrote this review Thursday, September 10 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Michael Chabon knows how to create worlds you want to explore. In this world you will need a dictionary.”
Natalie Y wrote this review Tuesday, July 21 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Okay. Interesting historically, but I don't think this is Chabon's forte.”
Mark S wrote this review Monday, July 6 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This is a short adventure novel set at the time of the Khazar Empire, and the two main characters are Zelikman, a Jew who is described as skinny, pale, blonde, and dressed all in black, and Amram, an African of opposite stature. The two men have a strong bond and make their living by their wits. They are intriguing characters, but they are never fully developed. I would have enjoyed knowing more about the history of this friendship. Anyway, the two of them wind up getting involved in an adventure in which the stakes are much higher than usual, a very serious affair in which they guard and protect an endangered prince.
Sharyl S wrote this review Sunday, June 21 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
This novel may be short, but it's not a quick read; I found it to be slow-moving and bogged down with historical references that made the plot seem unnecessarily complicated. There is some fun humor, though I'm not sure I got all of it, and Chabon always works his magic with great phrases, but I think his longer novels may be more to my liking. Chabon has invented some wonderful personalities in his books, but Zelikman and Amram are pretty much stock characters, and this adventure lacks intensity.
Oh, well. Can't love them all, I guess, but I do give this one an A for being unique. ”“So creative. Wordsmithing at it's best!”
Jeffrey P wrote this review Wednesday, June 17 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“ Beautifully written but also incredibly self-conscious. I had the same problem with this book that I had with Chabon's "Summerland" in that I could see him scrambling to make all the references to his genre he could but never felt as if he was making a real living breathing world. "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" avoids this by telling a bigger story within the confines of the detective genre so that it works as a wonderful take on the genre but trancends that genre. Here Chabon's world feels small and contrived as if his heart isn't really in it though intellecually he knows what these kinds of stories need to have. ”
Robephiles wrote this review Monday, June 1 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I don't think this will be my favorite story of Chabon's, although it is the first book of his I've read. He certainly has the most incredible vocabulary in a writer that I've seen outside Shakespeare. The story was okay, an adventure of the middle ages, but I don't think I was in the right mood for it.”
AUkat wrote this review Tuesday, May 12 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
