The Fencing Master - Arturo Perez-Reverte

The Fencing Master was Perez-Reverte's first novel, which was first published in Spain under the title 'El maestro de esgrima' in 1998, and was published in the UK in 1999. Since this novel was published, Perez-Reverte has become one of Spain's bestselling authors.

The book is set in Madrid in 1868, and Spain is on the brink of revolution. Jaime Astarloa is a fencing master, reputedly the best fencing master in Madrid, and rapidly ...
...the old school who sees fencing as an art, yet most of Spain now see fencing as a sport, and pistols are becoming the weapon of the day. Jaime's life's work is the writing of his 'Treatise on the Art of Fencing' which, when published, would be one of the major works on the subject of fencing. However, Jaime believes that in order for the work to be the great oeuvre that he wants it to be, it must contain the instructions for a master fencing stroke: ... more

The Fencing Master was Perez-Reverte's first novel, which was first published in Spain under the title 'El maestro de esgrima' in 1998, and was published in the UK in 1999. Since this novel was published, Perez-Reverte has become one of Spain's bestselling authors.

The book is set in Madrid in 1868, and Spain is on the brink of revolution. Jaime Astarloa is a fencing master, reputedly the best fencing master in Madrid, and rapidly approaching old age. He is a fencing master of the old school who sees fencing as an art, yet most of Spain now see fencing as a sport, and pistols are becoming the weapon of the day. Jaime's life's work is the writing of his 'Treatise on the Art of Fencing' which, when published, would be one of the major works on the subject of fencing. However, Jaime believes that in order for the work to be the great oeuvre that he wants it to be, it must contain the instructions for a master fencing stroke: the perfect, unstoppable thrust. He works on this day and night, but cannot come up with the perfect thrust. He does however have a thrust which he teaches only to a special few who have a certain level of practice in fencing: the two-hundred escudo thrust. He is approached by the beautiful Adela de Otero to learn the two-hundred escudo thrust, and when he takes her onas a pupil he finds himself unwittingly mixed up in dark political intrigues.

The novel is told in the third person, and centres around Jaime Astarloa. However, there are several other characters who provide the framework for the novel: Adela de Otero, the beautiful mysterious woman who appears almost from nowhere; Luis de Ayala, a member of the aristocracy whom Jaime has befriended through providing him fencing lessons; and Astarloa's acquaintances whom he meets every day in the café Progreso: Agapito Carceles is a republican and federalist, as well as a defrocked priest; Don Lucas Rioseco is a gentleman, describing himself as a monarchist, whose family has fallen on hard times; Marcelino Romero is a piano teacher at a school for young ladies; and Antonio Carreno is a civil servant. This group serves to provide a reflection of the current political climate at the time in which the novel is set.

I won't say any more about the plot, as it would give the story away.

The book is reasonably short, containing only 212 pages, across eight chapters. Each chapter is reminiscent of the fencing theme: The Fencing Bout; Compound Attack with Two Feints; Uncertain 'Time' on a False Attack; The Short Lunge; Glissade; An Attack on the Blade; The Appel; and, With Bare Blades. These are all preceded by a prologue, which is very short and mysterious: the significance of the prologue is only apparent at the end of the novel, when all the loose ends are tied up. It's only when the significance of it becomes apparent that you actually remember that the prologue is there.

The story is good: the reader is provided with intrigue, and Jaime Astarloa is a likeable and honourable man. Yet as I progressed through the novel, I found the end result to be rather predictable, which was disappointing. Having read other Perez-Reverte works, I had never been greeted with this kind of predictability from him before. Either I've read too many of his novels, or, (and I think this to be more likely) his subsequent works have improved on his first published novel. The third possibility of course is the quality of the translation - a small slip by the translator could be enough to send the novel down a completely different route, or, by getting one word out of context could be enough to change the whole atmosphere of the book.

The characters which are introduced all serve a purpose, yet I wonder how necessary some of the elements of the story are. Although Spain is suffering with huge political problems, this issue is always a side issue and should have been developed more to become part of the main novel. The involvement of the police in the murder too could have been developed further to provide the reader with more intrigue, which is perhaps what this book lacked for me.

The novel is also full of fencing terms. Not being familiar with the art of fencing, this could be frustrating at times, as you can't quite picture the moves that the characters are making. Yet, I should point out that this doesn't hinder the enjoyment of the book and an understanding of the fencing terms and positions isn't essential. Notwithstanding this, I do think it would have been nice for a fencing glossary at the beginning of the book, explaining tierce and quarte, so that were the reader interested in the different positions and terms used, then they had the information available for reference.

On a more positive note though, on the general whole I did enjoy the novel. While I probably wouldn't read it again (too many other novels out there to get through not because it's a bad novel) I would recommend it as an introduction to Perez-Reverte's work or if you're a fan already and wish to investigate all his work. I'd also recommend it if you're looking for an easy read, and something a little unusual - certainly for me this book is still far superior to a lot of chick-lit stuff that's out there. If you're a Spanish speaker then it could well be worth reading the novel in it's original text: translations are good (I read them for ease as I'm such a fast reader) but reading a translation will never be the same as the original.

Further information:

210 pages
Published by Vintage
RRP £7.50
 

...less