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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780345501745
ISBN number: 0345501748
Label: Del Rey
Manufacturer: Del Rey
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 224
Printing Date: October 30, 2007
Publishing house: Del Rey
Release Date: October 30, 2007
Sale Popularity Level: 8754
Studio: Del Rey
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Product Description:
Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, sprang from an early passion for the derring-do and larger-than-life heroes of classic comic books. Now, once more mining the rich past, Chabon summons the rollicking spirit of legendary adventures–from The Arabian Nights to Alexandre Dumas to Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories–in a wonderful new novel brimming with breathless action, raucous humor, cliff-hanging suspense, and a cast of colorful characters worthy of Scheherazade’s most tantalizing tales.
They’re an odd pair, to be sure: pale, rail-thin, black-clad Zelikman, a moody, itinerant physician fond of jaunty headgear, and ex-soldier Amram, a gray-haired giant of a man as quick with a razor-tongued witticism as he is with a sharpened battle-ax. Brothers under the skin, comrades in arms, they make their rootless way through the Caucasus Mountains, circa A.D. 950, living as they please and surviving however they can–as blades and thieves for hire and as practiced bamboozlers, cheerfully separating the gullible from their money. No strangers to tight scrapes and close shaves, they’ve left many a fist shaking in their dust, tasted their share of enemy steel, and made good any number of hasty exits under hostile circumstances.
None of which has necessarily prepared them to be dragooned into service as escorts and defenders to a prince of the Khazar Empire. Usurped by his brutal uncle, the callow and decidedly ill-tempered young royal burns to reclaim his rightful throne. But doing so will demand wicked cunning, outrageous daring, and foolhardy bravado . . . not to mention an army. Zelikman and Amram can at least supply the former. But are these gentlemen of the road prepared to become generals in a full-scale revolution? The only certainty is that getting there–along a path paved with warriors and whores, evil emperors and extraordinary elephants, secrets, swordplay, and such stuff as the grandest adventures are made of–will be much more than half the fun.
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Rated by buyers -
The very first thing that struck me about this book was the dedication, "To Michael Moorcock". Having grown up reading many more than the average number of science fiction/fantasy novels and later realizing how most people didn't I thought dedicating the book to one of the most iconic fantasy writers of the late 20th Century was very interesting. As I started reading 'Gentlemen of the Road' I found that there were a number style similarities between the many 'Eternal Champion' novels of Moorcock and Chabon's piece. Whether the similarities are coincidental or in some way an homage I don't know.
'Gentlemen of the Road' is a nice little read, very suited to a trip or vacation, or as a gift to someone about to go on vacation. Chabon writes in a windy almost lyrical style that enhances the historical and implausible aspects of the story. The two main characters, Zelikman and Amram, though somewhat wooden from time are everything you expect from a traveling duo of rogues in 9th Century Kazaria and give as good account of themselves as anything encountered in a Moorcock or Howard novel.
I will say that I did find the 'Afterword' a bit disingenuous. Chabon makes all the typical humility and writer caveats but then does that annoying thing that writers tend to do obliquely, tell you how smart they are and then give a little lecture. I think that at this stage in his career he simply should have had the balls to insist that the book be titled 'Jews with Swords' and if that rankled too many people simply subtitled it 'or Gentlemen of the Road'. But no, he has to put in a 6 page 'Afterword' and lecture me on stereotypes. Thanks Mike, but do what you want subsequent time and leave lecturing the reading public to the critics.
Rated by buyers 
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As someone who enjoys adventure stories (Sabatini, Leiber, Burroughs, Cussler, H. Ridder Haggard, Sax Rohmer, L'Amour, Anthony Hope) I was pleasantly surprised to find this book at the local library, and Michael Chabon's name was a big reason why I picked up the book.
The Good:
- Interesting setting - I have never read a novel about the Khazar Kingdom, and I found it very interesting.
- Deep characters - Chabon's strength in the novel is his characterization. His characters of Amram and Zelikman are very lifelike and engaging, and fit together nicely, much like Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.
- Chabon pays homage to the genre with his vivid prose, that creates a great image in the reader's imagination.
The Bad
- The plot is very disjointed, and I felt that it skipped and rushed necessary parts of the story. In addition, there was little sense of suspense, which is necessary for this type of the novel. The plot twists were not well executed, and the book's ending is not very interesting.
My take?
Although Chabon is a very good writer, he does not have the skills for an adventure story. Although the characterizations are important, what is most important for an adventure novel is a tight and well thought out plot. This novel left me feeling unsatisfied at the end, and I think that it could have benefited from further editing or elaboration. No way does it measure up to a true master of the genre like Rafael Sabatini, or Fritz Leiber and so I give it a 2/5.
Rated by buyers 
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This book should come with a big warning wrapper: "Michael Chabon's latest book is unlike his previous work, it is an homage to classic adventure writing -- your results may vary." That's because it's a book whose enjoyment depends heavily on the reader's expectations, and a number of reviewers seem to find fault with it because of this. If you're a fan of Chabon, be warned that it's miles away from his early work like Wonder Boys or The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, and while it shares certain themes with more recent work like Kavalier & Clay, The Final Solution, and The Yiddish Policeman's Union, it's a large stylistic departure and really an experiment unto itself.
Originally written in serial chapters published in the New York Times Magazine, the story follows the stylistic and narrative conventions of the old time pulp serials. And if you've never read any old adventure classics like H. Rider Haggard's Allan Quartermain stories, Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian stories, or Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar stories, then the heavily stylized form may throw you. Indeed, some reviewers have complained that the story is confusing and hard to follow, which frankly, baffles me. Like its literary ancestors, the plot is such that a 10-year-old could follow and recount it, so the conclusion I draw is that the genre itself is defeating some readers. Sure there are leaps of setting and time, a constant stream of new characters, and plot twists aplenty -- but it's hardly daunting stuff. Similarly, a lot of people seem put off by Chabon's use of archaic and obscure words, but that's exactly how a lot of those old adventure stories were written, and the gist of the meanings can be inferred from context in almost every case.
The story itself concerns a pair of 10th-century Jewish "gentlemen of the road" who drift around the civilized world getting by as mercenaries and grifters. Following the classic template, they are a study in opposites, one a hulking grey Abyssinian, the other a reedy, pallid German. Neither fits the modern Western stereotype of what a Jew is, and that's very much part of Chabon's point. His writing has long tinkered with the notion of Jewish identity, and here it is taken to colorful but historically accurate extremes. They are classic rogues with hearts of gold (or at least silver), and the story finds them in the Khazar kingdom, a small Jewish land on the west of the Caspian Sea, resting uneasily between Christian and Muslim empires (yesterday the area includes parts of Russia, the Ukraine, and most of the Caucuses). After a great introduction to the two heroes, the story properly kicks off when they find themselves in the company of a deposed prince. Adventure ensues as they try to help him get back home, which involves raising an army and dealing with marauding Vikings, before they even get to deal with the usurper. Violence, treachery, and humour abound, however, some of the material (rape and prostitution) is rather adult and parents should read the book before handing it over to children.
The book is nicely designed -- aside from the cover, which is a total flop (the British edition has a much more evocative cover which is a homage to classic adventure book covers). Each chapter features an illustration from legendary artist Gary Gianni, which help to set the mood and tone. A few of these feel rather hasty and unfinished compared with other work of his I've seen, but he nails the style just right. On the whole, this is a wonderful little entertainment from one of contemporary fiction's big guns, and while it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, it's at least worth trying.
Rated by buyers -
Amram is a giant of a man, an African of uncertain origin, Zelikman, a Frank, tall and thin and as pale as Amram is dark; the two are travelling companions, gentlemen of the road. They make their way seeking opportunities, by cunning and deceit. Then they find themselves entrusted with the custody of Filqa, a youth who claims to be a deposed prince, and soon they are inevitably involved in helping the boy endeavor to regain his kingdom.
Placed in the historical setting of the ancient Jewish kingdom of Khazaria (present day Ukraine) around the 10th century, it is a fascinating story with plenty of plot twists and more than a few surprises. But the real delight of the tale is Michael Chabon's inimitable prose; Chabon is here clearly indulging himself in his most flamboyant and fluid mode, creating combinations of words that simply roll of the page. The result is witty, entertaining and often very funny and a pure pleasure to read. Perhaps the one casualty of Chabon's extravagant writing is that occasionally the overall sense sometime becomes confused in the abundance of words, but that is a small price to pay for the overall enjoyment.
A departure from his more usual contemporary settings, the author himself admits in an interesting Afterword that he is on something of an adventure of his own with this book. He has certainly created yet another original and appealing work, this one beautifully illustrated with line drawings by Gary Gianni - a hint of Michael Chabon's fascination with comics?
Rated by buyers -
Michael Chabon's Gentlemen of the Road reads like a classic novel, as if part of a required reading list for an English literature course. The vocabulary alone sent this reader to a dictionary more than once.
The novel opens with a thrown insult followed by a thrown axe, immediately setting the stage for a fight as well as setting the tone of the story and drawing the rough characters we will learn about and follow.
Amram, a huge African whose weapon of choice is the above-mentioned axe, and Zelikman, a Frank physician, make strange bedfellows in this wild adventure story. The unlikely pair find themselves traveling through tenth-century Asia together on a mission to reluctantly save Filaq, a prince of the Khazar empire, and help him reclaim his throne usurped by his uncle.
The characters and their relationships to each other are portrayed in subtle tone but visceral description. Grey-haired Amram has skin that is as "lustrous as the tarnish on a copper kettle and his eyes womanly as a camel's." Zelikman, on the other hand, is a "fair-haired scarecrow," a "thin-shanked fellow" whose hair falls in "two golden curtains on either side of his long face" and has an unhealthy relationship with hats. This Mutt and Jeff work their way through the Caucasus Mountains, pissing off the locals as they go, hurling insults, blades and witticisms along the way.
Whether purposeful or not, this book's prose is purple. One particularly colorful scene describes a man who is dragged from his hiding place and "slashed open like a gushing sack of wine." That painted the picture for this reader.
The atmosphere of this story compares to that of The Three Musketeers, Lethal Weapon, and several Hollywood Bible films all at once. And this story is all about guys. It is a long time before any female characters appear on the scene, though when one does, she makes up for the lack of women we don't see beforehand in a way that surprises and satisfies.
Illustrations by Prince Valiant artist Gary Gianni accompany the story, lending concrete pictures to the characters, if Chabon didn't paint them strongly enough already. Some people may argue that pictures can take away from the imagination of the reader, but if you can let that go, it doesn't take away from this well-told story. In fact, it gives it a closer resemblance to the classic novel. One doesn't see much artwork in novels these days, so it's a little refreshing.
Chabon's lengthy sentences and highbrow words do not make for a light read. In addition, the unfamiliar names and places may prevent its accessibility to the average reader, even at just under 200 pages.
Gentlemen of the Road is a literary, albeit action-packed, buddy road trip. While the map on the inside cover provides a little understanding of the geography of the story, perhaps a glossary - of the real and the fictitious - would have been more helpful.
Reviewed by Margaret Andrews for Curled Up With A Good Book
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