isauldur's review against another edition
2.0
I only got about halfway through this book. As I said in my review of Chabon's The Final Solution, his prose just doesn't lend itself to more dynamic styles like the detective story or, in the case of Gentlemen of the Road, to the swashbuckler. This novel is very grim and oddly dry for a story that has so much action and sword-fighting adventure. The syntax is very complex and dense, with very long sentences that left me wondering where the sentence even started. The paragraphs were massive, solid blocks of text for a whole page. There was little dialogue to break them up, and even when there was dialogue, it wasn't very engaging.
As I said, this novel is very grim, and even the humorous and ironic chapter titles kind of lose their comic impact when all the characters do is brood and lament the past. This story is not nearly as refined as Kavalier & Clay, or as engaging as The Yiddish Policemen's Union. Even The Final Solution is better in my opinion, because at least it captured in brief passages the spirit of the classic detective story.
This book needed to be quicker, because even at only 200 pages, it really drags. I was roughly one quarter of the novel in and I still had no clue what the plot was or what direction it may take. The characters weren't all that interesting because we don't really get to know them pretty well outside of the occasional sad introspection that sucks the fun out of any adventurous spirit the novel may have had.
I have no doubts that Michael Chabon is a great writer, but the problem is that his typical style just doesn't lend itself to these styles of novels. And for that, sadly, I couldn't finish this book.
As I said, this novel is very grim, and even the humorous and ironic chapter titles kind of lose their comic impact when all the characters do is brood and lament the past. This story is not nearly as refined as Kavalier & Clay, or as engaging as The Yiddish Policemen's Union. Even The Final Solution is better in my opinion, because at least it captured in brief passages the spirit of the classic detective story.
This book needed to be quicker, because even at only 200 pages, it really drags. I was roughly one quarter of the novel in and I still had no clue what the plot was or what direction it may take. The characters weren't all that interesting because we don't really get to know them pretty well outside of the occasional sad introspection that sucks the fun out of any adventurous spirit the novel may have had.
I have no doubts that Michael Chabon is a great writer, but the problem is that his typical style just doesn't lend itself to these styles of novels. And for that, sadly, I couldn't finish this book.
jlandie's review against another edition
4.0
Very fun. Audiobook is maybe not the ideal format for chabon, I kept zoning out.
halschrieve's review against another edition
3.0
Chabon jots down an action movie and one races along for the ride; while the story is convoluted, and the history isn't necessarily confirmed, it is very fun and one desperately wishes it would actually become a film.
dllh's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyed it but not enough that I didn't sneak two other books in between starting and finishing it. The book's a bit of a haze of names of groups of people I wasn't much familiar with, so I read mostly for the sword fights and the humor and felt like I was giving short shrift to the history and culture it invites further understanding of. It's a very short read. The afterword, in which Chabon makes sort of a defense of his having written such a book, is a nice little read.
filia_secunda's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Very fun old-fashioned historical adventure (think Kim by Rudyard Kipling or Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson), written with some new-fashioned ideas that rarely feel out-of-place or annoying. You can tell the author has done his research, and he may be stretching history a bit but isn't breaking it. If you accept the right historical theories it's really possible that these wacky far-flung characters could all meet, all adventure together, and all be Jewish. Loved the prose too - it's the long ornate sentences that are proper for this kind of old-timey action-adventure novel, and it rarely has the clumsiness it might have in the hands of some modern-day writers. The author's afterword where he talks about the nature of adventure, the confusion some people felt at a "literary" author writing a book like this, and the reactions to thebook's working title (Jews with Swords) is to die for.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Rape, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, and Death
Minor: Slavery
jessicacho's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
marko_krstanovic's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
debchan's review against another edition
3.0
to be fair, i didn't pay much attention to the ending, which was the important thing.
very different than what i was expecting. first of all, amazing setting.
second, that stunt at the beginning was pretty cool and a very nice way to set up what follows.
the writing was difficult to follow at times and i lost the plot at the end, but i'm sure that was just my fault.
overall, i liked the characters and the place they were in. i just lost the whole story.
very different than what i was expecting. first of all, amazing setting.
second, that stunt at the beginning was pretty cool and a very nice way to set up what follows.
the writing was difficult to follow at times and i lost the plot at the end, but i'm sure that was just my fault.
overall, i liked the characters and the place they were in. i just lost the whole story.
lidia710's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
i did not enjoy this