Book Report: Gentlemen of the Road (pt. 1)

[yggdrasil_]

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

Comments

Fancy that.

[velfadar]

Yossi only just loaned it to me, as part of a comprehensive attempt to get over that reading block. I must admit I remain unimpressed, all the way to page 14. The guy has his finger real easy on the adjective trigger.

And I think I beat you - he had me with "myna" already, which is what? Second sentence on the first page?

Re: Fancy that.

[yggdrasil_]

I was originally unimpressed with the Yiddish Policemen's Union for similar reasons - he was laying the language on thick and heavy and it felt like he was in it for the style and not the substance. Later on, though, he really incorporated the style into the substance and the book became really, really good. I'm willing to cut him a lot of slack, especially since I liked his last 3 books so much.