Arturo Pérez-Reverte
Finished reading 31 janus 2004
Some of the elements of this book are really interesting and enjoyable. Parts of this book I really quite liked, and after reading those parts, I considered The Fencing Master a good book. I was mistaken.
On the back of the novel, there's a quotation that reads, 'A delightful Period Whodunit', so I don't think it's spoiling any thing to say that this is a novel with some suspense in it. For the first half of the book, how ever, none of the 'whodunit' elements have arisen, and the book is then quite good. When it's just a simple story about an introverted, old-fashioned Fencing Master; his friends; and his one noteworthy student; it's a fine tale. Where it goes from there, how ever, is clichéd, melodramatic and Hollywood.
The main character, Astarloa, I liked a lot. I could truly identify with him. His friends the Marqués and his group at the Cafe Progresso, were also well-drawn characters. At the end, though, all characters become contradictory to their established natures.
There are many scenes about fencing in this book, and those are quite thought-provoking and exciting, especially the bouts that take place. The writing of the book, how ever, and this may be the translator's fault more than Pérez-Reverte's, is obvious and heavy-handed. It 'tells' more than it 'shows', and there's even a part in the book halfway through where the main character tells the reader every thing that's happened in the book so far. In case you just picked up the book in the middle, or some thing.
Over all, I was disappointed with this book, if only because I saw in it such potential. Most of the beginning of the book, before the mystery elements presented themselves, was really good, if not great; but the ending the whole book took a nose dive, and I've a feeling that the ending is more the story that Pérez-Reverte wanted to tell. I'm skeptical about reading any of his other books.
Rating: 1/5