"The Fencing Master" by Arturo Perez-Reverte is a throwback to another time... in fact, even within the 1868 time setting of the story, the protagonis"The Fencing Master" by Arturo Perez-Reverte is a throwback to another time... in fact, even within the 1868 time setting of the story, the protagonist (a fencing master, go figure) is a throwback to another time, an era of pure honor and purer scruples. Of course, such an era has never existed, but within any moment there exist those Quixotic souls who live as if one might transcend the hungry groveling of politics, economics and sexuality.
Such behavior may be fantasy, but in my opinion so are most poetic and religious concepts. Does this worry me? Not terribly. Anyone who has loved "Don Quixote," "The Lord of the Rings," "The Old Man and the Sea," (and so many more) will understand what I'm trying to describe: Only by keeping alive the illusions of perfection, trust, sacrifice and love -- only by deluding ourselves just a bit -- can we face the random Darwinian cruelties of existence.
And in that sense, "The Fencing Master" is an existential story. One may not be able to effect change or impose codes of behavior upon the evolving whims and demands of human society, but one can choose to uphold those tenets in spite of the futility.
I'm not certain what impresses me more about "The Fencing Master:" that the book is so good, or that Sr. Perez wrote it at age thirty-seven. Precocious fellow.
(Hats off to Margaret Jull Costa for this exquisite translation from the original Spanish.)...more
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