Books Tasted - Everything bookly (and a few other things)

I just read Michael Chabon's Gentlemen of the Road in 3 days. When I first cracked it open, I wondered if I would even get through it, because the prose is overly flowery, and dare I use my husband's favorite word, "pretentious." For example, this sentence on the second page -

With his skin that was lustrous as the tarnish on a copper kettle, and his eyes womanly as a camel's, and his shining pate with its ruff of wool whose silver hue implied a seniority attained only by the most hardened men, and above all with the air of stillness that trumpeted his murderous nature to all but the greenest travelers on this minor spur of the Silk Road, the African appeared neither to invite nor to promise to tolerate questions.

Whew!

I don't know whether the writing got shorter or I just got used to it, but after the first chapter I did get more drawn into the story. It's a swashbuckling story of hired swords, coupes, and Jews (you heard that right, it is a Michael Chabon book, after all) and it's pretty riveting. I was able to guess some of the twists pretty far in advance - I imagine it's a difficult job as a writer to drop some hints without dropping too much of a hint - and it didn't have the heft of Kavalier and Clay (the only other Chabon book I've read). I didn't think the characters were fully developed; the emotional response was lacking from what in real life would be extremely traumatic events. But overall, I'd recommend this as a good quick read. Just don't go in expecting a Pultizer Prize winning novel.

I checked this book out from the library, and about halfway through there is a photo of someone's smiling happy extended family or friends. So when I take it back, I'm hoping they can get the photo back to the rightful owner!

P.S. There is an afterword by Michael Chabon about the book which goes something like this, "Blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah, and blah blah." I do NOT recommend reading the afterword.