Reviews

Cavalheiros da Estrada by Michael Chabon

trin's review against another edition

3.0

Chabon does a big ol’ adventure novel pastiche, down to the convoluted prose that had me making squinty faces at the page and backtracking a number of times. If you can wade through that, there’s a nice friendship to be found between the two leads, and a bunch of pulp clichés that are quiet enjoyable to encounter. In general, the book’s a fun read of the type I might hope to find in one of the houses on Lake Caspian we sometimes used to rent for a week in the summer, and would flip through dangling my feet off the dock; I don’t really remember the titles or plots of any of those books, though, so…draw your own conclusions.

dreaming_ace's review against another edition

3.0

This was an ok story. Part of the issue for me was I had trouble keeping the characters apart and that did not really bother me. So not bad but if I was asked to explain what happened I could only do so very generally.

bittersweet_symphony's review against another edition

2.0

A colorful tale, full of textured but overly pretentious language. Chabon is able to quickly create the world around you on this Central Asia adventure, but his characters lack much development--another 100 pages of focus on character rather than movement would have accented the action with people the reader really cares about.

At the end of it, I was interested in the cultural landscape but almost apathetic toward the aims and hopes of the characters.

tropichop's review against another edition

3.0

this one was fine. I found it hard to follow at times but the writing and the characters were cool. Chabon has a way with dialogue and this book was no exception

dasbooch's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

jess_mango's review against another edition

3.0

In general, I've enjoyed the books that I've read by Chabon but this one didn't quite do it for me. Perhaps it is because it was a bit of a departure from his typical style.

devrose's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.0

This is just not my kind of book. I read it for a book club.

jeremyjfloyd's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

mrswhite's review against another edition

1.0

...but I never was much of a Kipling fan, come to think of it.

croaker's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is a magnificently written modern take on the pulp adventure stories from writers like Fritz Leiber and Robert E Howard.
His "pulpy" prose is perfect for capturing that sense of action and adventure you expect from this type of story.

The two main characters are best friends and watching them squabble is hilarious. They are rascals that travel all throughout what today would be eastern Turkey and western Azerbaijan. (the story takes place around 950AD) They spend their days conning people at Taverns and stealing from caravans. 

It is too short to risk spoiling the plot with any details about what happens but it is well written and the pacing is fast and exciting. 

The action scenes are beautiful, pulpy, affairs that read almost like anime battles.

It is a refreshing take on a very old genre. I highly recommend it.