The Flanders Panel
by Arturo Pérez-ReverteSign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
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Read in October, 2006
recommends it for:
intellectual mystery lovers, art history scholars, fatalists
I discovered Arturo Perez-Reverte while in Paris on study abroad. This was incredibly unfortunate for me, as english language bookstores were limited, and my yen to read everything he's ever written became quite overwhelming. I still think fondly of that poor bookseller and his terrifed expression when I would walk in every week and demand: "Reverte, s'il vous plait!"
But to the book itself. This book is extremely well constructed. From beginning to climax to the hushed, but shockin...more
But to the book itself. This book is extremely well constructed. From beginning to climax to the hushed, but shockin...more
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I have mixed feelings about this book. The plot is connected to both art history and chess. Well, in a former life (or my youth if you prefer), I was an art historian. In fact I was prepared to do a doctoral thesis on a series of paintings by Rembrandt. I bring that up because it was exciting for me to read a fictional story, a mystery no less, using art as the basis but it was like going back in time. I had to get back to a different way of thinking. Even more so with the chess angle.
The p...more
The p...more
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Read in January, 2005
a bit of a romp through art history, but a good read nonetheless. Diverting.
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Quatrième de couverture
Une jeune restauratrice se voit confier un jour une toile peinte il y a cinq siècles, représentant un seigneur et un chevalier jouant une partie d’échecs, avec, dans le fond de la salle, une femme assise les observant. Trois personnages dont l’Histoire a gardé la trace. Simple détail curieux : le peintre a peint le tableau deux ans après la mort du chevalier et laissé sur la toile l’inscription suivante : « Qui a pris le chevalier? » Autrement dit le tabl...more
Une jeune restauratrice se voit confier un jour une toile peinte il y a cinq siècles, représentant un seigneur et un chevalier jouant une partie d’échecs, avec, dans le fond de la salle, une femme assise les observant. Trois personnages dont l’Histoire a gardé la trace. Simple détail curieux : le peintre a peint le tableau deux ans après la mort du chevalier et laissé sur la toile l’inscription suivante : « Qui a pris le chevalier? » Autrement dit le tabl...more
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Read in July, 2008
Julia, an art restorer, receives a commission to work on a scene before it goes to auction. It depicts a game of chess between a night and a duke with the duchess looking on, and reveals a long-hidden inscription: "Who killed the night?" Julia sets off to solve this 500-year-old mystery which will increase the value of the painting. But she finds the mystery has followed her as people around her are murdered, and the killer leaves clues asking her to play a chess game with him, in w...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommended to Amanda by:
Kathrynrecommends it for: Art Lovers, Chess Lovers, Mystery Lovers
I just finished this book and my immediate reaction is that I need break out the chess board and brush up. This is a great mystery book in which the main character is an art conservator who unravels a mystery about a painting. The mystery itself is wrapped up in the game of chess which can cause some head scratching and an attempt to reach in the back of your brain to remember the intricacies of the game. I loved this book and as an art lover appreciated the length to which the author went to...more
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Read in January, 2007
Je ne connais rien aux échecs. Je commence donc par le seul point noir que j’ai trouvé à ce livre. Les joueurs en raffoleront et le liront sans doute la bave aux lèvres. En ce qui me concerne, je me sens frustrée par mon inculture. À part cette désagréable impression, j’ai malgré tout dévoré le livre. L’idée est des plus originale, les personnages fouillés, passionnant, le style merveilleux, pas de doute, on entre dans l’histoire et on y reste. Je n’ai pas non plus vu veni...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
Those that like to come to their own conclusion
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in April, 2008
Another terrific novel from one of my favorite authors.
In the course of restoring a painting being prepared for auction, the young, talented female restorer stumbles upon a centuries old murder mystery. Tracking down the clues left behind by the painter, she becomes entangled in a current day murder mystery. Tying the two mysteries together is a game of chess, begun centuries ago in the painting and being played to conclusion in the present.
As usual for Perez-Reverte, the s...more
In the course of restoring a painting being prepared for auction, the young, talented female restorer stumbles upon a centuries old murder mystery. Tracking down the clues left behind by the painter, she becomes entangled in a current day murder mystery. Tying the two mysteries together is a game of chess, begun centuries ago in the painting and being played to conclusion in the present.
As usual for Perez-Reverte, the s...more
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recommends it for:
Lovers of chess and antiques, romantics, mystery fans, and people who want to go to Spain
This book is dazzling.
I've read almost everything Arturo Perez-Reverte has written, and this is by far my favorite - I even like it better than "The Club Dumas," which is probably his most famous and was the first book of his I ever read.
Five reasons why I love this book:
1) The sense of place - no one does spooky, rainy Madrid streets with sad Spanish ballads barely audible in the background like this guy.
2) The main character, a feisty, chain-smoking art restorer wh...more
I've read almost everything Arturo Perez-Reverte has written, and this is by far my favorite - I even like it better than "The Club Dumas," which is probably his most famous and was the first book of his I ever read.
Five reasons why I love this book:
1) The sense of place - no one does spooky, rainy Madrid streets with sad Spanish ballads barely audible in the background like this guy.
2) The main character, a feisty, chain-smoking art restorer wh...more
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Read in December, 2007
recommended to Renee by:
Random pick from the library
As I was reading this book I was very much into the intrigue--I'm a growing fan of these drama s a la Name of the Rose and The Da Vinci Code that place a murder mystery in a complex context of art, history or mythology. I feel educated at the end without feeling schooled. So, even though I'd rather take a pencil to my eye than play chess, I skimmed the chess parts and kept up with the art piece.
My biggest issue with this book was that it was an almost perfect example of deus ex machina. Sud...more
My biggest issue with this book was that it was an almost perfect example of deus ex machina. Sud...more
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Well i'm not quite finished with this, but of the three Perez-Reverete books i've read this is probably my least favorite. I just haven't been able to connect with the characters or circumstances, which is odd becuase i'm an artist who enjoys a good game of chess.
One small thing i keep going back to that i just have a horrible time with, and i feel so nitpicky about it being such a big deal to me; but a Restorationist that gladly smokes like a chimney around the centuries-old art that she is...more
One small thing i keep going back to that i just have a horrible time with, and i feel so nitpicky about it being such a big deal to me; but a Restorationist that gladly smokes like a chimney around the centuries-old art that she is...more
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Read in April, 2008
I enjoyed this as I enjoy all Arturo Perez-Reverte books - immensely, right up until the end. In the past, the big reveal has occasionally been a big let-down, but this was not bad at all. The story is fascinating - Julia, an art restorer, finds a hidden inscription under the paint of an old Flemish painting - "Who killed the knight?" This launches her into a modern-day mystery, where people associated with the painting and her investigation of it start turning up dead.
The paint...more
The paint...more
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This disappointed me, especially since it came so highly recommended. I just couldn't buy into it though. The plot was absurd and unbelievable in numerous places. The characters lacked common sense. Let's see...someone is trying to kill me...I think I'll go out late at night by myself and cruise around the city, hail taxis, go to a nice restaurant, and then head back to my apartment for a quiet night by myself where the killer just so happens to know I live. That kind of crap really grated ...more
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Read in May, 2008
Like other Pérez-Reverte books, this one initially consumed me. All the elements of his novels are present: interesting and complex characters, a modern mystery that plays out against a historical backdrop, in-depth descriptions that bring to life arcane subjects - in Club Dumas the antique book trade, in Fencing Master fencing, in this book, chess.
Unlike other Pérez-Reverte books, however, this one lost me in the last quarter when the mystery was resolved. I found the revelation of wh...more
Unlike other Pérez-Reverte books, however, this one lost me in the last quarter when the mystery was resolved. I found the revelation of wh...more
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Read in October, 1999
Most of Arturo Perez-Reverte’s (A Spanish journalist and TV reporter, turned to writer) novels have been made into films, most are in Spanish but I’ve a copy of the one titled Uncovered (1994) a half-German/half-Spanish production starring Kate Beckinsale and one of my favorite actors, Peter Wingfield, in a small but slimy part.
This book is incredibly well plotted and my absolute favorite of this author. A quick synopsis: Julia, and art restorer discovers “Who killed the knight” unde...more
This book is incredibly well plotted and my absolute favorite of this author. A quick synopsis: Julia, and art restorer discovers “Who killed the knight” unde...more
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recommends it for:
Chess players, Aficionados of Art, History lovers, Intellectuals, etc.
I remember that I finished this book last time I was here in Bogotá...and I plan on reading another one of Pérez-Reverte´s novels while I´m here. Anyway, this book was The book that got me hooked on mystery novels. I don´t know whether it was the history, the art, the chess, the suspense, or the cleverly constructed characters that consumed me. But all things aside, this is a clever whodunnit with puzzles abound that merits a reading.
P.S. - Pérez-Reverte includes chess diagrams, allowi...more
P.S. - Pérez-Reverte includes chess diagrams, allowi...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in November, 2008
Read as a trashy mystery novel, there's really nothing objectionable about this, although for some reason, I was really expecting more. Especially galling was the villain, complete with a needlessly complicated, and mostly pointless, plan that seems to exist only so that the novel might exist. When the villain finally gives an explanatory monologue at the end, the rationale is, quite frankly, kind of offensive (and it feels unintentionally so).
The chess and historical subplots ended up seemi...more
The chess and historical subplots ended up seemi...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
Reader of Perez-Reverte
I another dualistic murder mystery by Arturo Perez-Reverte that can be likened to his other popular mystery the Club Dumas. This time the multiply plots are centered on a painting call "The Game of Chess", and a professional antiquities restorer, Julia. Many of the books supporting characters reflect those of Club Dumas, Munoz, the disheveled chess master, has many similarities to main protagonist in Club Dumas. But for all it similarities to Club Dumas, I believe it was much tighter i...more
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Read in January, 2000
OK, so I like chess, I like early Renaissance Dutch painting, I like high concept novels and I like murder mysteries. It was almost as though this book had been written for me!
And it's utterly fantastic into the bargain. Every twist and turn of the plot is surprising and consistent, and the skill with which the different aspects are integrated is marvellous. Even the chess game works properly, which is nothing short of a miracle. Normally when something like this is used as a plot device...more
And it's utterly fantastic into the bargain. Every twist and turn of the plot is surprising and consistent, and the skill with which the different aspects are integrated is marvellous. Even the chess game works properly, which is nothing short of a miracle. Normally when something like this is used as a plot device...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.82 (921 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.76 (796 ratings) number of reviews: 114
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