Originally a fifteen-part serial in New York Times Magazine earlier this year, Michael Chabon’s antique adventure tale Gentlemen on the Road has found itself bound and on bookshelves.
Chabon, unsurprisingly, is invested more than ever in reestablishing genre fiction as a literary pursuit, but Gentlemen, set in an ancient empire of southern Russia during the tenth century, requires some effort to stomach.
Some themes have remained constant throughout Chabon’s career — male companionship and Jewish identity being the most prominent — and fans will find them comfortably intact in his latest offering. Beyond that, this is a markedly different publication from the well-established author.
Chabon has penned something less like a novel and more like a literary exercise. And who can blame him? With a “magnum opus” already under his belt (Pulitzer-winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay) and Yiddish Policeman’s Tale a close second, it’s time for Chabon to take a risk.
Chabon finds his risk in the Middle Ages with two professional transients, an unlikely pair of Jewish scallywags with the honorable rascal streak that characterizes his main players. The story opens with a recently orphaned and obstinate young prince that is suddenly thrust upon the two companions. Through a series of well-crafted plot twists, the odd couple find themselves at the head of a rebellion.
Unlike his earlier novels, Chabon concentrates on the plot this time around, only offering initial character development. Though his characters are rich with imperfection and idiosyncrasy, they change little throughout the course of events, failing to invest the reader in the outcome of their happenings beyond the suspense factor.
Tempering the suspense is the author’s oft-circuitous syntax. Where Chabon’s colorful language has enhanced his other, character-driven novels, here it becomes a word swamp. More verbose than ever, Chabon draws heavily upon archaic language and historical references that are sure to be over the head of many.
The adventure gets the better of Chabon’s mannerisms and manages to drag itself out of the swamp for the last, and better half of the book, but by then, loyal fans might find themselves wondering what his point is.
And that is probably why Chabon tacked on an afterward. Defensive and candid, he explains the motivation and process for writing Gentlemen. He confesses that, like characters in his past novels, he’s “gone off in search of a little adventure.” And though it isn’t his strongest work, an experiment in genre fiction from an adventurous Michael Chabon is still worth picking up, if at least to learn some authentic swashbuckler jargon.
– Kristena Adamo
Gentlemen of the Road
Michael Chabon
224 pages, hardcover
$21.95, Del Rey
Release: October 30, 2007
Michael Chabon: www.michaelchabon.com
Del Rey: www.randomhouse.com/delrey