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Having adored A Gentleman in Moscow, I was compelled to read Amor Towles's first book. Although well-written and evoking the atmosphere of the late 1930s, I was not as drawn into this book. It was no fault of the author; I just found the time, place and characters of Gentleman more to my interest and liking. I did like the way the characters were developed in Rules of Civility. Two working girls in New York City meet a wealthy young man on New Year's Eve and the three soon become fast friends. E
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This story - mostly set in 1938 - was mainly engrossing but occasionally frustrating. The brilliance of the story is the way Towles captures a certain year, in a certain place, from a certain point of view. Or rather, 1938 in New York for Katey Kontent. It also captures the way that a period of time can be formative and yet have little visible affect on our lives.
That last element - the formative time with little outward influence - is something that I love to see in books. It doesn't always ma ...more
That last element - the formative time with little outward influence - is something that I love to see in books. It doesn't always ma ...more
Not sure what it is about this book, but I was sucked in to its world immediately. I put aside chores and stayed up late finishing it. The writing is elegant. The dialogue unspools easily. The plot is interesting and sometimes surprising. I often marveled at how the author, a man, could write the main character's, a woman, voice so believably. And then there's the setting: how can one go wrong writing a love letter to NYC?
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This book was great. It was easy to get swept up in the plot and the time, set in the 1930s. Extremely well written and kept me intrigued throughout. Katey Kontent may be one of my very favorite characters of all time.
I probably wouldn't have read read this if I wasn't reading it on tape. The narrator had such a compelling voice that it made up for the fact that the main character/author liked to hit you over the head with the meaning of the book. There were often points at which I would have abandoned this book if it wasn't for the voice. It wasn't a bad narrative and the characters were somewhat interesting as was the setting. However, it wasn't a page turner.
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4 1/2 stars. Boy, did I ever like this book! So well-written.
Nov 09, 2011
ScottK
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Dec 03, 2011
La Fay
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Jan 19, 2012
Tressa
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Feb 13, 2012
Sarah
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Mar 13, 2012
Megan
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Aug 16, 2012
Laurie
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Dec 30, 2012
Meg
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Sep 25, 2016
Jennie
marked it as considering
Jun 05, 2017
Tasha Corcoran
marked it as to-read
Sep 11, 2018
Chrissy
marked it as to-read
Nov 25, 2019
Mike
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Apr 15, 2020
Hutch
marked it as to-read
