Rating: 
Summary: I prefer Flandes
Review: My first Perez-Reverte book was the Flandes panel, and I think it is much better than this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Accidental Find
Review: I originally bought this book for the purpose of passing time. I was waiting for the paperback release of a book called The Dante Club and was growing impatient. So I just decided to look for another book to hold me over until it came out on Feb. 10th. I settled for this book, and I am so happy that I did. From the very beginning, this book was joy to read. Arturo Perez-Reverte's writing style is among the best I've ever experienced. He is the epitome of a well-read intellectual. I thought I was well-read, but after reading this book, I feel as though I have just learned to read. Today is Feb. 14th and the book that I was long waiting for, The Dante Club, is now on the shelves, but I think I will be picking up another one of Arturo Perez-Reverte's books instead. Probably the Flander's Panel. So if there is anyone who, like myself, has read many mysteries only to be disappointed by the dry writing-style of the author and the predictable plot. Then I highly suggest picking up this book that will actually have you wanting to read until the end.
Rating: 
Summary: The Dumas Gate
Review: A Storm beaten old watch-tower,
A blind Hermit Rings the hour.
All-destroying Sword-Blade Still
Carried by the wandering fool.
Gold-sewn silk on the Sword-blade,
Beauty and fool together laid.
(W.B.Yeats, "Symbols")Onther than the obvious differeces between the single story "The Ninth Gate" and the multi plot of "The Dumans Club", the end does seem more compelling in the movie. Nevertheless, the book does give the reader more time and space to dwell upon the tarot inspired symbols in this wonderful book!
It would seem like a book for book fetishists about book fetishists. Too bad I couldnÂ't get ahold of any first editions! Im sure some of the engravings would be slightly different... A marverlous detective thriller with a slight tinge of paranoia. Also, very interesting is the whole Babalon symbolism running through the book. I can highly recommend this book, even if one has seen "The Ninth Gate".
Rating:
Summary: An Intertextual Page Turner
Review: Perez-Reverte certainly cannot be accused of writing a standard suspense novel. No, he's turned the genre on it's ear and written a fascinating page-turner that leaves the reader guessing until the final pages. If you like novels that break the rules instead of just repeating what everyone's done before, then this is the book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Oh, for the love of books
Review: After reading the same author's so, so "Flanders Panel" a while ago I greatly enjoyed this book, which indeed is pretty decent when compared to the genre's two landmarks, Eco's "Name of the Rose" and "Foucault's Pendulum". As a combination whodunit and exploration of the Dumas' Musketeer novels and the history of Devil worship, this book offers the reader plenty of entertainment and fast-paced action. The story is well-constructed and the characters are rather three-dimensional. While the story involving the Nikon and Irene characters leaves the reader with some loose ends, the central theme of the love of books evokes some of the writing by the likes of Jorge Luis Borges on the subject. While not all reviewers seem to agree with me, I really liked the ending and think that all those who ended up feeling disappointed, just fail to recognize how effectively the writer has been pulling the wool over their eyes. In all, Perez-Reverte provided me with seven hours of good entertainment that I gladly acknowledge with a 5-star rating. Of course one can reason that these books are a far cry from Eco's aforementioned classics. Yet, critics bear in mind even the Italian semiologist has never reached such heights himself again.
Rating: 
Summary: Murder, Mayhem and Lust in the Stacks
Review: Murder, Mayhem and Lust in the Stacks: Book Review of The Club Dumas, by Arturo Perez-Reverte, Vintage International, English translation copyright 1996. Club Dumas takes us through various deaths, book deconstructions, women beating up guys or seducing them, and many late nights discussing attributes only book lovers would adore. All of this is accomplished after repeated draining of (different) gin bottles. The author's love of books, literary life and all the glory that goes with it, is palpable and embodied in the lead character. Corso draws us in. He is an antiquarian book dealer who manages to keep the plot roiling. The unbelievable (and sometimes uncool), rough shenanigans only accentuate his off-kilter, hell-bent hormonally-driven, damned, Dashell Hammettesque bad boy nature. His take on life is quirky enough to lure the reader to continue reading, even in the spots where the plot loses course. One does not have to be a Dumas aficionado, nor a Three Musketeers familiar. Arturo Perez-Reverte fills us in as we go. He continuously anchors the story at to the Three Musketeers and doings with the devil. Corso simultaneously recounts Dumas life facts and searches for copies of The Nine Doors,, a fictitious, ancient text. This manages to careen the reader through subplot after subplot. All in all, the story, with its plethora of literary devices, is too fantastic. So back to Corso... His bad boy non-availability has sensuality, mysticism and romanticism folded into it "In the girl's eyes, silent eyes and without memory, he could see the reflection of ghosts from the past, he could feel them brush his skin." And "He is falling for a very young woman, an apparent devil. For a brief moment, in the pulse of her flesh all Lucas Corso's previous deaths came to life, as if brought by the current of a dark, slow river whose waters were as thick as varnish." Corso is repeatedly described in wolf-like terms...Club Dumas possesses such a hook at the beginning, intriguing and curious characters through the middle but ...alas...the ending veers too far-afield, and the story falls apart. Still, it's worth reading. Amid great character development, literary tidbits, interesting descriptive detail, and saucy, insolent one-liners, we can always find the lupine-like Corso. Oh, yes, did I mention that Corso is a romantic "And the girl. That was all that remained on the shore after the tide went out."
Rating:
Summary: An average mystery
Review: "The flesh-and-bone Corso, having and ID, a known place of residence, and a physical presence, of which his aching bones were proof, was increasingly tempted to see himself as a real character in an imaginary world." This is the premise of this novel. The protagonist Lucas Corso, a cynical book detective, sets out to verify the authenticity of a script attributed to Dumas, and gets entangled in situations that mirror the progression of the Three Musketeers (the imaginary world). Corso travels to Madrid, Toledo, Lisbon, and Paris to achieve his goal. The story is told by two narrators, first by Boris Balkan, literary critic, Dumas specialist, whom Coroso addresses his questions to, and later on after Balkan exists the scene, by an anonymous narrator. I more or less agree with other reviewers who posted negative reviews: I felt the character development weak and the ending lackluster. What the novel lacks the author makes up gloriously with scenes and quotations from the classics of Dumas, Melville, the battle of Waterloo, and many more. Thus if you are interested in literary analogies you might find the book worthwhile. However being a person who'd happily swap progression for a revealing ending in a mystery, I'd have to say my reading experience had been short from delightful.
Rating:
Summary: A true delight for a Dumas junkie.
Review: [A tiny point in the beginning: please do not judge this book by the substandard movie that came out a few years back! It is far better crafted and more interesting...] But here, I said it: I liked this book so much, at least in part, because I used to looooooooooooove Alexandre Dumas-pere's books and know my musketeers by heart. So here's a piece of advice: before reading The Club Dumas, read The Three Musketeers, at least in abridged edition (ugh!), to get what the author is getting on with one of the plot lines. That said, there are two--but you do not know it, until the very end. All through the book, the author has you chasing the wrong hare--only to step aside in the very end and say that this particular hare had nothing to do with all the blood-letting going on in the book (and it is considerable). In the very beginning, the very cool book-hunter Lucas Corso is told about two books: a hand-written chapter from the Three Musketeers written in Dumas' own hand--and a book supposedly written by the Devil (its printer, too, was burned at the stake). ONly three copies survive, with notable differences. Corso is ordered to retrieve the chapter from someone who had bought it, and to figure out which copy of the Devil's book is the genuine one. From then on, an absolutely wild ride ensues. The author manages a masterful deception of Corso--and the reader, has you looking the other way all through the book. This is absolutely one of the best mysteries I have ever read. One little nitpick (not enough to take away a star)--a hugely important twist is barely discussed in the very beginning, just before it's stuck in the very end--basically, to explain the whole story. It makes sense, of course, but Corso's reasoning in arriving at the important conclusion is not given--and the story loses a bit for that... But other than that, it is an absolutely fantastic mystery. I think all who have read will agree: better the Devil you know--if it's anything like the Devil Corso knows.
Rating:
Summary: Like drinking brandy in a dark room of a Secret Libary
Review: That's the feeling I get with this erudite, mesmerizing, creepy little tome by Spanish bibliophile Arturo Perez-Reverte: the book is deliciously rich and positively reeks of forbidden knowledge, and the sensation one gets while leafing through its pages (hopefully you can purloin a hardback edition)is akin to having a good pipe over brandy in a darkened, hidden room of a secret library. There is a handful of authors who are entranced by history, but view it not with the mortician or embalmer's eye so much as the explorer's: history is not so much a fixed narrative as it is an amazing necropolis, a labyrinith, a series of catacombs winding beneath the present. Umberto Eco is such a writer; John Crowley is another; and happily for "The Club Dumas", Perez-Reverte is still another. For Perez-Reverte, there are many secret entrances and recondite passages linking the adventurer in the present to the dubious past. For the Lucas Corso, rare-book dealer and protagonist of "Club Dumas", the trick, having gotten through one of these hidden apertures, lies in getting himself out again with skin, and soul, intact. The book begins with Madrid book-seller and rogue Lucas Corso having been presented with two mysteries: one, an unpublished chapter from "The Three Musketeers" called "The Anjou Wine" and reputedly written by Alexandre Dumas, sold by the book collector Enrique Taillefer hours before his suicide. The other is his commission from book dealer and magnate Varo Borga, who wants Corso to travel across Europe in an effort to determine whether Borga's copy of "The Nine Gates to the Kingdom of Shadows", a grimoire printed by 17th century Venetian printer Archimedes Torchia, is a forgery or authentic. Two mysteries for the price of one, and we haven't even talked about "The Nine Gates" yet. Corso is told that only three copies of the grimoire exist: Borga's, one in the crumbling Portuguese estate of Victor Fargas, and one in the Paris townhouse of Baroness Frieda Ungern, specialist in the occult. Oh yes: "The Nine Gates" is an infamous work, chiefly because it contains everything a wizard needs to summon up Satan himself. Why is Borga interested in authenticating his copy, again? The attentive reader and cinephile will know that Roman Polanski chose "The Club Dumas" as the source material for his fine and thrilling film "The Ninth Gate", but while Polanski distilled the raw (and diabolic) elements from the book, "The Club Dumas" contains far juicier (though quirky, whimsical, and eccentric) fare. Like Umberto Eco, Perez-Reverte is not an author in a hurry, and he's more than happy to take his reader on a saunter down a curious (though shadow haunted) literary lane. One difference between the film and the book is the character of Corso himself: the character in the book is infinitely more complex, sad, and interesting. Corso is a rogue in search of lucre, true, but he's also a man bereft of his love who spends his idle hours wargaming, re-fighting the Napoleonic campaigns (particularly the Battle of Waterloo), and winning for his beloved Emperor, to say nothing of avenging his French grenadier ancestor. Another difference is the way in which the Dumas manuscript figures in the story, entwining itself with the hunt for the diabolic grimoire, and playing with Corso's literary fancies: the shadowy pursuers become the emissaries of Dumas's fiendish Milady de Winter, while a skulking, lurking, mustachioed rogue becomes the Three Musketeers' nemesis Rochefort. And don't worry, even the villainous Cardinal Richelieu makes an appearance. The result is a heady and luxurious read, full of whimsy and erudition---but don't let that fool you. Beneath the meandering turns into Dumas, Dickens, and Melville, among the interested musings on the fate of the old Ogre of Corsica, lies the book's dark diabolic soul that so fascinated Polanski. Perez-Reverte neatly binds the disparate threads of his narrative up, and the ending is more explicit and troubling than that of the movie. Light your pipe, fill your snifter with brandy, and make sure that secret door to the main library is locked: you'll want to make sure you're undisturbed as you savor "The Club Dumas". Just don't try any of the incantations.
Rating:
Summary: Devilish Narrative
Review: After reading two trashy John Brown novels, I was eagerly looking for something intelligent and clever. Surprisingly, I found this book in my library, not knowing when I had bought it. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement; this book held me hostage for an entire day. I found myself yanking out Melville, Dumas and a Latin dictionary just to keep pace with this intense book. My only disappointment stemmed from the realization that I had already seen "The Ninth Gate" prior to reading this novel. I was unaware, prior to reading this, that this was book was the basis for the movie. Although, I quickly deduced this after I was forced to contemplate why I kept envisioning a disheveled Johnny Depp as the main character, despite the author's detailed description of Corso. This book is not a light read, nor is it for someone who doesn't possess more than a rudimentary education in classical literature. However, even a non-erudite reader will find this novel highly entertaining. For people that are reading this novel because they saw the movie, I believe that they are in for a great surprise. While the movie makes a surprisingly decent and concise rendering of the book, much of what makes this novel a thrill to read is left out in celluloid. Despite this novels sometimes overbearing intellectual reference, Sonia Soto, has done a meticulous job of translating this book to English and readers will find that novel contains a storyline that transcends the book's sometimes-complicated references.
Much of the religious references and iconography are well prefaced by Perez-Reverte, however as I mentioned previously, the ubiquitous references to Melville, Dante and Faust will make this novel difficult for the reader who has either skipped or skimmed these author's works. At times I envisioned Perez-Reverte with a perverse grin on his lips as he nonchalantly referenced phrases in "Inferno" or "Moby Dick", with a casualness that implied that the reader should already be intimately familiar with these works. In fact, there is something in this novel that made me, look up a number of works and add an even greater number to my ... wish list. Readers familiar with Perez-Reverte's other novels are already aware of his great love for history and this novel is no different. This novel will pull the reader into an intimate look at Dumas and his contemporaries and will expose even the most literate reader to fascinating facts about Dumas. I started reading Dumas when I was around 9 and I was amazed at what I had missed. I was going to reread Dumas anyways, but this novel made me run back to my bookshelves and begin Dumas anew.
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