The Compleat Gentleman: The Modern Man's Guide to Chivalry

Rating:
Summary: a modern guide to an age-less image of a man's ideal
Review: The modern era has left void the definition of an ideal Man. If the "primitive wild man" of the men's movement leaves you thinking there must be another option, then Mr. Miner's "Compleat Gentleman" is for you. Using a concise (very concise) review of selected ages, Mr. Miner simultaneously presents an image of the ideal "compleat gentleman" and lays out several broad avenues for further investigation should you care to take him on. I found his book both a call to which I could aspire and a guide to start me on my way.

Rating:
Summary: essential reading
Review: While other reviewers have done an admirable job, I would merely like to point out that this book's strengths are much greater than the sum of any perceived weaknesses.

I have most books available on "The Art of The Gentleman" and consider this one a most valuable addition. If you are serious in pursuing this lifelong quest, this volume will prove essential.

Even now it is at my side since I am in the midst of a third re-reading.

Rating:
Summary: Becoming a Compleat Gentleman in the 21st Century
Review: With the large number of books being published these days, one might think there are ample books already available on any given subject. The subject of the Gentleman may be a counter-example to that idea. Brad Miner's book, The Compleat Gentleman, attempts to fill the void of books describing and defending the virtues of a gentleman.

Most of the first chapter centers on the actions of the men onboard the sinking Titanic, both the hit motion picture and the true history. While watching the movie in the theater with his son, the laughter of some teenagers behind him at the words of a gentleman made him realize what constituted chivalry in the early 1900s have been lost on the current culture. In this chapter he uses the men of the Titanic to define some elements of the gentleman and set up the rest of the book.

Chapter 2 begins Mr. Miner's deep plunge into the history of chivalrous tradition. The natural starting point is Arthurian legend since "King Arthur is the lightning rod of the chivalric imagination." Two threads are developed in this chapter that are often interwoven: the literary history of chivalrous tradition and historical information on the training and activities of knights. He not only discusses the chivalric elements of Arthurian legend but also the issues of historical reliability of the traditions. He continues on to training of the page, squire, and the knight, which leads historically to the Knights Templar.

The position of the knight faded away, but the code of chivalric conduct remained. "The model of the true knight was gradually supplanted by the beau ideal of the complete gentlemen, which-arguably-reached its zenith during the long reign of England's Queen Victoria." This transition is brought to bear in Chapter 3 in a discussion of the plethora of literature on gentlemen's code of conduct in the midst of the Victorian era.

The first three chapters are the foundation for the next three. A set of values and characteristics being established historically, Mr. Miner defines three main categories essential to the gentleman: the warrior, the lover, and the monk. Chapter 4 focuses on the martial spirit of the gentleman. According to Mr. Miner's analysis, honor is to be valued above, even at the expense of death and key to this is being prepared for anything. He colors his report with a bit of history and evidences from his own experiences.

Switching back to a more historical analysis, Mr. Miner examines the courtly love tradition in Chapter 5. After a brief tangent on women in the military, Mr. Miner comes to the conclusion that in love the goal of the gentleman is "to allow a woman to be what she wants to be." His ideal woman is "the architect of her own happiness."

Mr. Miner begins his discussion of monks in Chapter 6 pointing out what seems to be an inherent contradiction in the categories of the gentleman. "At any time have there been `lover monks'?" Instead of women, Mr. Miner focuses the affections of the monk on learning and truth. The monk qualities of the gentleman then are education and self-discipline.

After all of the build up from historical analysis, Mr. Miner gets to the application of what it means to be a gentleman today. For today's warrior courage, strength, and honor are necessary, as well as always being prepared. For today's lover, he reiterates "What does a woman want most? To have her own way. This is the key to both conjugal joy and social harmony." For today's monk he also reiterates the necessity of education. Mr. Miner sums up this chapter, in part, by reflecting on some of the codes of our armed forces and how those are examples of codes of conduct for the gentleman.

The final chapter is on the art of sprezzatura, roughly meaning restraint, though Mr. Miner spends time throughout the book playing with slight variations of meanings. The gentleman "is possessed of the commingling of restraint and detachment that is sprezzatura and that we can easily call cool."

When I picked up The Compleat Gentleman, I expected more of a book on conduct. To a great degree, I was pleasantly surprised by Mr. Miner's emphasis on historical analysis and definitions, as well as a discussion primarily focused on character rather than conduct. This is to Mr. Miner's credit. However, much of the historical information became tedious. I found myself bored through Chapters 2 and 3 and mostly kept reading in hopes that Chapter 7 would be worth it. Not only was some of the information tedious, but particularly the overview of the debate on Arthurian legend was irrelevant to the rest of the book.

The chapter on sprezzatura, I think, would have fit better before discussing the applications for today's gentleman. But disorderliness is somewhat characteristic of this book. At several points Mr. Miner begins talking about a future chapter, apologizes for getting ahead of himself, and returns to the point where he started. This often made the book feel unorganized and perhaps not well thought out (surely he has a Word processor and can rearrange his points!).

What makes this book a worthwhile read is: 1) the topic is not discussed often enough, so any discussion of it is worth the time, 2) many "academic" discussions of literature and history are brought into a layman's understanding, and 3) Mr. Miner draws out many conclusions that would make the world the better place were they practiced by men. For a Christian perspective read my full review by adding dot com to my name.

I could have easily put the book down towards the beginning, but about half way through it became more difficult to do so. In the end it was worth the time, and I would expect to read it again within the next 5 to 10 years. Overall: B-