Customer Reviews

Flanders Panel, The

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(55)
3 star:		(40)
2 star:		(23)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I'm a chessplayer. The theme of this book caught my attention and, in many ways, lived up to its promise. The chess and real life dramas are woven smoothly, and the chess strategy and reasoning made sense (with one or two moments of artistic license). The opening intrigued me, the middle game complicated matters, and the endgame brought things to a tidy conclusion.

I couldn't help but wonder if I was missing some of the writer's heart in the translation. The characters are expertly crafted, but lacked heart and connection with me. Although I enjoyed the moves of the deadly game, I had little feeling for those that give their lives in the course of the chess maneuvering. The language, while tight and European-sounding, seemed to be a bit generic at points.

Overall, the threads of the mystery draw tighter and tighter and the author leaves a few surprises for the reader. Some may find intrigue in the chess aspects or the art aspects...I found myself primarly drawn into the strategizing of the villain and those trying to unmask the villain's identity. The suspense was based on the unfolding strategy, such as in a game of chess. And I was captured. Check and mate.

I've read most of Perez-Reverte's texts, and "The Flanders Panel" -- his debut -- is vintage material. Often compared to the work of Italian intellectualist-author Umberto Eco, Perez-Reverte engages new themes and topics in each work, delving into them with a passion and interest that I can't help but find impressive -- in each case, the details are sufficient to let the characters pass for experts, but not overwhelming or boring.

In TFP, the topics du jour are art restoration, historical intrigues, and chess, and the three blend together to create a sinister and satisfying thriller -- I took this one down in about four hours, while on vacation at the beach, and was hooked as soon as the real action started. (Give it about 20-25 pages before you put it down the first time.)

Using the process of a chess game to drive the action of the book, Perez-Reverte manages to make an often-dull game vibrant, exciting, and threatening. I'm a chess fan, myself, but you don't have to be to get into, wrapped up in, or to the end of this book. Diagrams are included to show each move in the "game" that unfolds, and the action on the board is mirrored in real life -- a sinister murder for each piece captured on the table. The characters are believable and well-written, and P-R's prose, as usual, flows well and feels good going down.

If anything disappoints, it might be the ending. Like "The Club Dumas", another fantastic intelli-thriller, the ending feels a bit rushed, and less complete than you're led to expect... it IS plausible, and it ISN'T obvious, and that's enough to make it passable. A rushed ending, however, does not kill a good read, and that, in the end, is what TFP is: a nice, quick, engaging and intellectual thriller, and a nice debut for a promising author. If the comparisons to Eco are inaccurate, it is because Eco tends to give excessive thought and explanation to each theme in his novels, while Perez gives you just enough background info to get you excited, and then runs with it.

BOTTOM LINE: A good strong intellectual thriller for those who find Mary Higgins Clark and her kind just a bit too formulaic. Perez-Reverte scores.

Arturo Perez-Reverte is an amazing writer, truly gifted not only in the art of spinning a creative and sophisticated mystery but also in jumping the cultural and historical boundaries.

This book (as is The Club Dumas) is a bibliomystery fan's dream come true. Julia, a woman who restores paintings for a living, is asked to help restore a fifteenth-century masterpiece, the painting depicts a chess game between the Duke of Flanders and his knight - but within it is a hidden message - Who Killed The Knight and thus the novel begins.

This book is filled to the brim with fascinating information about art, history and chess. If you liked this book you should run out and get The Eight by Katherine Neville- is another stunner!

I am a great fan of Arturo Perez-Reverte, and this book does not disappoint.

The main characters - the frustrated art restorer who lives on caffeine and nicotine, the middle-aged gay friend who still maintains an aura of intellectuality and manages to seduce the young boys, the female art dealer of a certain age who keep male comany with her American Express card, the lonly chess player who is shy but ultimately the most intelligent individual - they are all drawn in loving detail. Like the fifteenth century flemish painting that starts the action in this book, Arturo manages to paint all the details so they sparkle in the light from the main story.

The story is a wonderful convoluted mystery-within-a-mystery narrative of the type that Arturo does so well. I could not help but to be drawn in to the mystery: I was guessing and deducing along with all the charaters in the book.

Some of the auxiliary charaters are sketched with less care. They appear stereotyped and for this I have deducted one star in the rating. However, it is like a great painting with a poor frame: of course it detracts from the overall experience, but the painting is still a masterpiece.

I enjoyed reading this book very much. Not being a chess expert I may have enjoyed it more than some reviewers that complained that the chess puzzle was not clever. I suppose it is true that not being an expert of chess helped me be interested in the book, yet, in spite of that, if you are a chess expert, lighten up and enjoy anyway. Mr Perez Reverte is a journalist and a writer, not Jose Raul Capablanca. the plot was nicely laid and the writing very good, and the only reason I did not rate this a full 5 stars was because some of the characters, Julia and Munoz, kind of diasppointed me, but I also suspect that the author never meant to give us perfect human beings. And also, I felt I got the answer of who killed (took) the knight too soon. I certainly recommend this book to anyone wanting a mystery with style. Finally, I simply am amazed that one reviewer called this book homophobic. How can someone so misread a book?

Endings matter. Whether it's a novel, a love affair, or a game of chess, the whole tends to be colored by the denouement. Bungle the finale and you have to question the value of the entire enterprise.

The end of "The Flanders Panel" is forced, shabby, and crude, which is a real shame because it's such a good novel otherwise. It has sympathetic, fully realized characters in a skillfully developed plot. Fascinating details of art history are embedded in the story, and the use of chess as the key to one of the crucial plot elements was an inspired move.

So, if you can stomach a sloppy finish, then by all means read this book. You might even enjoy it enough to forget the ending.

I am quite pleased with this novel. It starts out with a rather intriguing question, Who took the knight? With such a lackadaisical beginning, Arturo Perez-Reverte begins a masterpiece of storytelling and intrigue.

But, before I continue with wonder and awe at the ability of the author to link 500-year apart events, let me make two technical notes. First, the translator was a breath of fresh air. I am hesistant to pick up novels by foreign authors, despite wonderful reviews, simply because the translations are often so sketchy. I don't know if it is the languages (Russian and German seem especially hard to understand), or if it is merely poor translation of phrases, but translated works often leave me wanting for more. Second, I have read all of the comments about understanding chess, and I think that they are a bit silly. Granted, you have to know what chess is and have an inquiring mind to care about the retroanalysis sections (which were fascinating, by the way), but you should have that kind of attitude toward learning anything new in a book, be it art history, archaeology, numismatics, or whatever the case may be. Just because it is chess doesn't mean that it is hard to understand.

Anyway, the technical parts aside, there was only one part of the book that I could have done without: The "flashbacks" (if such a term is accurate for memories that don't belong to any of the main characters) are interesting enough and are fun, but how real can they be? The Renaissance was a completely different time, and, like any different culture, is likely completely not understandable by us today.

But for that, I enjoyed the entire book, even the ending that is losing stars on other reviews. I believe that most of the people who criticize it don't understand it, but if you read carefully the comments of all of the characters (in the whole book; you can't start slacking toward the end), you will understand why the antagonist did what he/she did.

Enjoy this book. Buy it, rent it, I don't care, but enjoy it and think about all that it represents. Then, pass it along and discuss it with others. It is a treasure, far greater than the piece of art which it spends so much time discussing.
Harkius

The idea is fantastic. A painting has a chess game, reverse solving which leads to the solution of an ancient murder. But the author does not stop there - he wants to strech the plot into modern times instead of leaving well enough alone. The last half of the book was not beleivable - some of the writing and ideas were beautiful but the story lost its reason for being after the initial mystery was solved. But the first half was exactly right! I was involved in the chess moves, found the connection between the chess game, the painting and the characters very real and in general had a great time reading it. The sheer enjoyment of the first 135 or so pages carried me the whole way through, but in retrospect I wish the author waould have stopped sooner - I would have then considered it a masterpeice

This book, in my opinion, was extremely well written and thoroughly researched. The author has the incredible ability to describe, in complete detail, the surrounding areas so well, that the reader actually feels like he/she is really there. The author describes the characters' emotions in such a way, that the reader can honestly feel what the character is feeling. I love that in a book! The theme of chess is woven throughout the entire novel and without a love for the game or, at the bare minimum, an understanding of how the game is played, there is a very good chance that this book will leave the reader confused. The characters (especially the "bad guys") base their every move on the position of the chess pieces and the "good guys" have to counteract with a move of their own. With all of that being said, I felt that this was a five star novel up until the last chapter. Although I felt that the ending was slightly far-fetched, it was still a plausible ending. However, I felt that the main character's response to the "solution" of her mystery was weak and unbelievable. There is a twist at the end and, in my opinion, the main character did not respond to that twist in a way that corresponded with her actions throughout the rest of the novel...she suddenly became signifigantly less emotional than she had been up until this point and for me, that was worth the reluctant removal of one star.

I started reading Perez-Reverte with the Seville Communion and then followed up wi the rest of the translations. I am not sure which is my favorite, The Flanders Panel or The Club Dumas. Both have a lot to recommend, not the least of which is the mystery itself.

I find that I learn something with every novel, whether it is chess in this particular book or fencing or literature and antiquarian books. I am entertained by the book's plot, its premise, its character development or the style with which the story is told. On top of all that I get a wee lesson in an arcane discipline, what more can one want.

The character development is very good, the best part is that the author does not rely on cute devices to get himself out of jams that he has written himself into. Are you listening John Grisham?

I won't reveal too much of the plot, except to say that the duality problem presented by the painting and the duality presented in the novel itself was simply exquisite, a very neat and tidy way to unscramble the mystery, a way that is very satisfying to the rational mind.

I have enjoyed these books very much and I will continue to await more translations from Spain.