Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure [title page only]

Chabon knocked around the title 'Jews With Swords' for this novel, and the title would have been as accurate for this nice little novel. Two gentlemen of the road embark on an erstwhle adventure that winds up being more than they bargained for. Along the lines of nineteenth century Fantasy Lit by writers such as H. Rider Haggard, the book is graced with wonderful illustrations that portray the adventure as one reads it. Along the way, money is made, lost and made again, a supposed deposed Prince is protected, and much merriment is had. Wonderful.

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 black 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 (today 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 humor abound, however, some of the material (rape and prostitution) is rather adult and parents s

Gentlemen of the Road is the bound version of the tale originally titled Jews with Swords that Michael Chabon originally had serialized in the New Yorker. Chabon is a brilliant writer and this is on full display here, the narrative and pacing are excellent. Chabon conjurs an exotic vanished central Asian medieval word into fully detailed life with very efficient few brushstrokes. The narrative is classic Chabon - a buddy story of mismatched but complementary Jewish men. But where classic Chabon gives you human weakness to temper his compelling character's strengths, there's not much weakness on display here. Zelikman and Amram have mad combat skills and an air of inevitable success that takes this narrative out of Don Quixote territory (parallels with which this story initially suggest) and put it more in the family of the Three Musketeers - excellent swashbuckling fun but lacking that bit of human vulnerability that infuses the narrative with the verisimilitude that make for truly great literature (like many of Chabon's other books - such as Kavalier and Clay, or Wonder Boys). Don't get me wrong - this is a compulsive page turner. Chabon's ability to effortlessly summon forth the vanished world of the Jewish Khazar empire and to flesh out his characters is amazing. Zelikman is like Batman - black clad and haunted by personal loss. He is nuanced - a healer as well as a brilliant killer. Amram is wonderful too - a giant Ethiopian Jew with a huge axe - brilliant with strategy and war experience and fleshed out with his own tragic past. These are wonderful and colorful characters - but they feel like superheroes. I couldn't help get the feeling that Chabon was indulging in a redemptive dream of a violent Jewish past - like Bogdanovitch's character on the Sopranos. When Dr. Melfi complains about how the mob has trashed the Italian-American reputation, Bogdanovitch isn't listening to her complaint. He gets misty eyed and remembers ancestors who rode with Meyer Lansky. "Those were some tough Jews". Having murderous swindlers in the family tree is problematic for Melfi because Italian-Americans would like to transcend that reputation. Jews are trying to transcend the reputation of being eternal victims - "Thus Spake Zarathustra"'s authors of "Slave Morality". Jews have been so beat up and victimized - both by the pogrom mobs of history and the big Anglo kids in their American schoolyard childhoods that it's natural for modern Jews to pine for some fantasy payback in the form of combat-capable Jews. Of course the reality is that there is plenty of history of Jews dishing it out, from Joshua in the Bible, Max Baer (heavyweight boxing champ in the 30s), to the defeats delivered by the Israeli army to Egypt and Syria in the 6 day and Yom Kippur wars (not to mention the often terrible oppression of the Palestinians). As Chabon notes in his afterward - "Jews with Swords" sounds funny because we think of Jews as Woody Allen - not the cold

Chabon, Michael. "Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure", Del Rey, 2007. A Grand Adventure Amos Lassen Michael Chabon is an amazing writer and I relish every book he writes. "Gentlemen of the Road' is quite different than anything else he has written yet it shows Chabon's wonderful style of writing. He writes well and manages to incorporate many elements into his prose which enables the plot to move along at a great pace. I realize that the story of the two gentlemen, Zelikman and Amram had their story originally published in the New York Tines in 2007 in serial form and I began to follow them then and I was glad to get their whole story in novel form so I could relax and read the whole megillah without waiting for an installment. Here is a thoughtful, thought provoking story of two wandering adventurers, two men who under ordinary circumstances would not be friends, making a journey they would probably not make, and encountering all kinds of fascinating experiences. Filled with wonderful illustrators and thoroughly enjoyed the tale of two mis-matched journeymen. Zelikman, a Jew and an Amram, an African are con men and thieves who travel around using their techniques to rope innocent people into their schemes. That is until they meet up with a dethroned prince of the Khazars. It is here that the adventure truly begins with some of the greatest swashbuckling scenes since the days of Errol Flynn movies. I realized that this is not a story to be taken very seriously and is not the adventure story I thought it was going to be. What amazes is how Michael Chabon can reinvent himself with each book that he writes; he always seems to attempt to try something new and different in each book that he writes. Here we have a story in the true pulp style with the tone and atmosphere of classic adventure tales. There is a lot of humor and a tribute to the adventures of old. Chabon's writing is stylish and graceful and he obviously had a grand time writing this book. He has the ability to use the English language as if it is really something special and it is beautiful to read. The meeting and merging of the swashbucklers and the history of the Khazars is masterfully handled and it is just plain fun. The Jewish kingdom of the Khazars is fascinating and Chabon's spin on it makes it that much more so. What is missing, however, is some of the history of the region but that does not detract from the author's storytelling ability. The purpose and tone of adventure is felt throughout the book and Chabon's does not imitate, he pays homage.

A learned Jew disguised as a Frank (Zelikman) and a giant black Abyssinian (Amram) open this story by waging a duel to the "death." Set in times of swords and battleaxes, the story creates a twinge in your literary senses very quickly. After Amram uses a knife to cut Zelikman's hat, Zelikman picks up the knife, turns to Amram and utters the wonderful phrase, "I believe sir, that you have mislaid the implement required for the cleaning of your hoofs. If I am mistaken as to the actual nature of your lower extremities, I beg you to join me in the courtyard of this house, at your leisure but preferably soon, so that, with the pedagogical instrument of your choice, you may educate me." This was genuinely "bust a gut" funny. This begins an adventure of two men who are cynical veterans of the constant conflicts they find in the world. Although surrounded by people killing for profit, spite or simply because they were annoyed at losing a game, Zelikman and Amram manage to maintain their lives as honest people who behave in the manner we normally associate with the term gentlemen. Even when sorely tempted by a foul-mouthed and unappreciative "boy" of leadership blood, they avoid the temptation to do violence to "his" person. The Zelikman character is a gifted healer and he has plenty of opportunities to practice his craft. When he is not doing good he is locked into a good depression, spending nearly all his free time brooding silently and alone. However, that does not detract from the story as it helps Zelikman flow more easily into the mold of the suffering Jew. As the story unfolds, it is often difficult to determine which of the two of Zelikman and Amram is the principal character and which is the sidekick. The roles morph back and forth throughout the story, with true sidekicks and pains in the dorsal parts combining to make an enjoyable story that I could not put down once I got past page seven.