The Fencing Master

Perez-Reverte se ha convertido en una leyenda y sin duda alguna mejores trabajos le siguen a este fantastico libro, no es dificil convertirse en un fanatico de este fabuloso escritor que posee el arte de describir con tanta hermosura que muchos escritores famosos envidiarian. El maestro de esgrima junto con el Club Dumas se convierten en clasicos de la literatura castellana.

Novela de aventuras pero también policiaca, de traiciones y maniobas políticas en el Madrid galdosiano de 1868, El maestro de esgrima es la historia de un mundo de tahúres y mercachifles mantenido a distancia por un florete honorable. Pero es, sobre todo, una inquietante parábola sobre el poder del dinero, la ambición política y la extinción de los valores de honradez y fidelidad en los finales del siglo XX. En lugar del típico puzzle de engaños propio de las novelas de intriga, El maestro de esgrima nos ofrece una sutil meditación sobre los enigmas profundos de la elección y el Destino. Una espléndida novela de la primera a la última página. El maestro de esgrima sumerge al lector en un duelo elegante cargado de intriga y sensualidad.

The Fencing master was a bit of a surprise, as it finds success more as a character study and exploration of personal ethics, unlike earlier novels Flanders Panel and Club Dumas, which were intricate and playful mysteries. Nontheless, this was a satisfying and enjoyable read. The book is built around a memorable figure, the fencing master, a Quixote like man of remarkable ethical consistency and dignity, but with a self awareness and sense of irony lacking in the man from La Mancha. Riverte also treats us to thrilling fencing sequences, political and moral intrigues of 19th century Spain, and a femme fatale to rival m'lady in the Three Musketeers. A worthy novel from one of the most interesting and intellectually diverse writers working.

Arturo Reverte-Perez continues to impress me with his talents for crafting some of the most addictive novels I have read in recent times. Not only is Reverte-Perez a master of layering suspense, but also really has a real gift for writing. His style is like a rich chocolate; I craved every chapter of The Fencing Master. Also, unlike The Flanders Panel and some of the author's earlier books, the ending of this book was definitely not a let down. In fact, I thought it was one of the most enthralling parts of the story. If you want to read something with a sense of adventure, but don't want to reduced to reading some cheap paperback airplane thriller, read the Fencing Master.

The antiquarian book trade, chess, art restoration, and an audacious hacker in the Pope's personal computer have all served as jumping-off points for Arturo Perez-Reverte's unusual intellectual thrillers. Earlier books by the Spanish journalist made the past part of the present, but with The Fencing Master, he enters the realm of historical suspense. Don Jaime Astarloa teaches fencing, a skill which is already quite outdated by the book's 1868 setting. He makes a modest living from a few dedicated clients, and plans on a quiet retirement in the near future. These plans take a turn when a beautiful young woman asks him to teach her the killing thrust for which he is known across Europe, and which he has taught to only a few favored pupils. Like many European writers, Perez-Reverte assumes a certain level of education among his readers. In this case, he stirs Don Jaime's dilemma in with the threatened overthrow of Queen Isabel, coffeehouse plotters and bigmouths, and the possible takeover of Madrid by revolutionaries. These unfamiliar historical events are handled with great clarity, as are the fencing terms and thrusts which are the fencing master's art. Perhaps because of the weight of the historical setting, The Fencing Master is a much less convoluted book than the earlier Seville Communion or The Club Dumas, with a less Dickensian cast of characters and fewer tricky twists and turns. This is a more character-driven book, but don't imagine you'll be disappointed-the ending is spectacular. (A film version of The Club Dumas is due to be released soon. It will be interesting to see what Hollywood makes out of a story that revolves around a manuscript by a 19th century writer of massive adventure stories!)