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What Members Thought
There is this interesting experience when you go to a book that has been recommended to you by people you like and admire (not unlike going to a movie under similar circumstances) and the rave reviews eliminate the ability of the art to live up to one's expectations, which in part is what happened to me with this book.
I understand the appeal of the book with the themes of choosing relationships over self-interest, but that simply makes the happy espionage ending seem quite a bit forced, especia ...more
I understand the appeal of the book with the themes of choosing relationships over self-interest, but that simply makes the happy espionage ending seem quite a bit forced, especia ...more
This book has given me reader's block.
It was so beautifully written, the characters so engaging, the premise absolutely fascinating...it was the Perfect Book and now I'm having a hard time picking up another book without immediately putting it back down because it can't quite compare.
I found myself reading and rereading so many sentences/paragraphs/pages, not because I was distracted or bored (as would be the case of rereading such things in other books) but because they were so magically wrough ...more
It was so beautifully written, the characters so engaging, the premise absolutely fascinating...it was the Perfect Book and now I'm having a hard time picking up another book without immediately putting it back down because it can't quite compare.
I found myself reading and rereading so many sentences/paragraphs/pages, not because I was distracted or bored (as would be the case of rereading such things in other books) but because they were so magically wrough ...more
Covering a span of over 30 years, from 1922 to 1954, and set in the Hotel Metropol in Moscow where Count Alexander Rostov is kept in house arrest, there is a routine to the Count's confinement that makes this book a very relaxing read. The Count at his leisure fills us in on so many things Russian, old and new and we experience the irony of a "Non person" able to live in relative comfort while the Russia of Solzhenitsyn's "One Day in the Life of Denis Ivanovich" goes on somewhere far away from M
...more
DNF - I read the first 50 pages and decided life was too short to force myself to finish this slow-paced and seemingly pointless novel. If I was bored out of my mind and had nothing else to read, I’m sure I’d be happy to receive this book and learn more about the Count’s daily existence—the writing is clever enough—but I can’t be bothered when there are so many other books on my want-to-read list that I imagine I’ll enjoy more than this one.
However, I realize I am in the minority here, as most ...more
However, I realize I am in the minority here, as most ...more
Wonderfully written book. Old world style and how the Gentleman stays this way.
Beautifully crafted!
I listened to the audiobook and while the narrator was great...perhaps it wasn’t the “right time” for me to meet this book because based on everything everyone has told me + the Goodreads ratings = clearly i missed something 😞
Exquisite!
Jun 05, 2018
Ksmom
marked it as to-read
Aug 20, 2018
Kim
marked it as to-read
Nov 17, 2018
Katie
marked it as to-read
Dec 26, 2018
Natasha
marked it as to-read
Dec 09, 2020
Tanya
marked it as to-read
