Book Review - Gentlemen of the Road
Synopsis: This short, swashbuckling novel is the most recent work by Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon. It is set in the Caucasus Mountains in the 10th century and is the story of two unlikely Jewish friends: a pale, skinny, black-clad Frankish physician named Zelikman; and a giant of a man and former soldier from Absynnia named Amram. ( I can’t help but picture Tom Petty and Michael Clark Duncan in these roles.) Zelikman and Amram are ‘gentlemen of the road’, a polite way of saying con artists, horse thieves, mercenaries and drifters. Their adventure begins when they encounter Filaq, the adolescent and unpleasant son of the recently murdered Bek of Khazaria. Prince Filaq is determined to return home to avenge his family’s death, and Amram & Zelikman begrudgingly join him in his losing cause. Swordplay, rescues, deception and daring feats ensue.
My thoughts: First, a disclaimer - I’m an unabashed Chabon fan, so perhaps I’m not the most unbiased reviewer around. That being said, I found this book to be completely delightful. It’s a classic, swashbuckling adventure story - think of Arabian Nights or H. Rider Haggard’s King Solomon’s Mines - but with the added twist of Chabon’s rapier wit and just a touch of Jewish angst. To immerse you in the idea of a classic adventure, Chabon employs a slightly anachronistic, highly stylized way of writing. Even the chapter titles reflect this prose style: “On anxieties arising from the impermissibility, however unreasonable, of an elephant’s rounding out a prayer quorum” or “On the melancholy duty of soldiers to contend with messes left by kings”. The style takes a little getting to used to at first, but it genuinely adds to the story. This latest foray into a highly stylized genre novel seems to be Chabon’s latest thing which began with his crime noir The Yiddish Policemen’s Union and now continues with an adventure story. If you like Chabon’s previous works, this one is a must read.
Red Flags: There is some sword-fighting type violence, some implied sex and many highly stylized insults usually referring to one’s lack of manhood or the lack of virtue of one’s ancestors.
Read-alikes: King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard, The Last Cavalier by Alexander Dumas, Indiana Jones novels (various authors).
Add comment February 26th, 2008
There’s one thing, however, that isn’t available on the internet and that’s the information found in our Martinsville & Morgan County files. This stuff is fascinating! Local newspaper clippings from decades past cover not only the big events, but all of the weird and wonderful little stories as well. For example, did you know that 11 year old Larry Adkins of Martinsville was the state Bubble Gum Blowing Champion in 1947? He received $100 and a new bike for his efforts. I wonder where Larry is now? By my calculations he should be about 72 years old. You can read the full story of Larry’s triumph in the “Unusual Features” file.
Even better, did you know Mr. Kleen was from Martinsville? His real name is Ernest Bemis, by the way. The accompanying article only talks about his boxing and professional wrestling career, but he’s the spitting image of Mr. Clean of cleaning fame. The question is, who came first? Mr. Kleen or Mr. Clean? Did he style himself after a recognizable product logo, or did the Proctor & Gamble folks use him as their model? According to P&G, Mr. Clean was introduced in 1958 and ‘while many models have portrayed him for us, we [P&G] don’t have a record of their names.’ This photo of Ernest Bemis was published in 1969, eleven years after the introduction of the iconic advertising figure, but our Mr. Kleen had been a professional wrestler since 1952 after winning the Mr. Indiana physique contest and a successful four year career as a professional boxer. The most impressive part of this article? It gives Mr. Kleen’s statistics - arms-22″, neck 22.5″, chest 56.5″ and able to clean-and-jerk 715 pounds among other accomplishments. You can read more about Mr. Kleen in the ‘Personalities’ file.
