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The year is 1866 and revolution is brewing in Spain. The corrupt Bourbon queen, Isabella II, is slowly losing her grip on power as equally corrupt exiled politicians vie to be her successor in a new republic. Against this background of political upheaval, Don Jaime goes about his business, teaching a dying art to a dwindling number of students. This is a man who resists changing times; to a friend he explains, "I have spent my whole life trying to preserve a certain idea of myself, and that is all. You have to cling to a set of values that do not depreciate with time. Everything else is the fashion of the moment, fleeting, mutable. In a word, nonsense." But then Adela de Otero--a woman with a mysterious past and an amazing talent for swordplay--comes into his life, and Don Jaime's world is turned upside down. As always, Pérez-Reverte offers literary excellence, a thumping good mystery, and fascinating insight into an arcane practice, in this case, fencing. Though the 19th-century politics in the book may resonate more with a Spanish audience than with English readers, the moral at the heart of The Fencing Master is universal: "to be honest, or at least honorable--anything, indeed, that has its roots in the word honor." In this, Don Jaime and Arturo Pérez-Reverte both succeed. --Alix Wilber
| AUTHOR: | Arturo Perez-Reverte |
| CATEGORY: | Book |
| MANUFACTURER: | Harvest Books |
| ISBN: | 0156029839 |
| TYPE: | Mystery & Detective - Historical, Fiction - Historical, Fiction, Fiction / Thrillers, Literary, Suspense, Thrillers |
| MEDIA: | Paperback |
| # OF MEDIA: | 1 |
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Customer Reviews of The Fencing Master
Fencing Master, NOT Zoro, for Catherine Zeta-Jones and Antonio Banderas As I was reading the book I thought that the actors from the first Zoro movie would be a great fit for the characters in this book. Enough of that though. I have to say I am a fan of historical fiction, but am not very interested in fencing nor the time period in which this book was set. However, Perez-Reverte made it all very intriguing and entertaining for me through the characters. Do not shy away from the book if the subject matter seems foreign, the emotions, thoughts, and great writing bring it all home. I would have liked to see more interplay given between Luis De Ayala and Adela, but otherwise found little to fault. It is a good change to see the hero, Don Jaime, depicted as a loner a minority that have gotten a rough time of it lately. I would suggest readers look for small thumbnail sketches on the political figures referenced like Prim and Navarez to get a better understanding of the events described in the book. All in all a very enjoyable read, but a notch below Perez-Reverte's The Flanders Panel and Club Dumas.
Beautiful Ending
The writing and the story are very, very good -- definately better than the Flanders Panel and slightly ahead of the Seville Communion, but it's the ending of this book that shows a master's command of the story. Weeks after reading this novel, I still cannot get the final scene out of my mind; simply perfect. Frankly, if you are new to Perez-Reverte, this is probably the novel that I'd recommend first.
Enjoyable
All things considered, an entertaining read. I learned a lot about classical fencing and the court intrigue in Spain in the 1860s. The titular hero is nicely imagined, as is his beautiful nemesis. The writing is a bit stylistically flat in places and the character descriptions seem too clumsy for a novelist of Perez-Reverte's credentials. The novel is hard to put down once the intrigue gets rolling; I just wish it hadn't taken nearly 2/5's of the book to happen. I think P-R's other works are better, but I still enjoyed the book.