Book Report: Gentlemen of the Road (pt. 1)
Having finished John Steinbeck’s delightful Travels with Charley, I’ve now started reading Michael Chabon’s latest novel, Gentlemen of the Road, a break from his usual 20th century fare taking us to the Caucasus mountains around the turn of the first millennium, while putting his usual Jewish spin on things - an adventure story set in the Jewish kingdom of Khazaria.
I’ll be writing more as my reading progresses, but for now I’ll just note that Chabon managed to stump me three times in the first two pages with words I didn’t know. So in keeping with the tradition of fine book reviewers before me, I’ll elaborate on these words here:
Words Looked Up:
- Shatranj: An earlier form of chess, invented in India but popularized in Persia and the Middle East around the first millennium AD.
- Bambakion: A type of padded under-garment, worn under armour, especially by Byzantine troops.
- Buskin: a knee- or calf-length boot made of leather or cloth which laces closed, but is open across the toes.