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A Gentleman in Moscow

Amor Towles

Start date: May 15, 2017

Finish date: June 1, 2017

Discussion: Reading List

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Reading List

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What Members Thought

Feb 04, 2019 Laurel Bradshaw rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 20th-century, daytimers-book-club, literary-fiction, moscow, chunky-450, color-rating-gold

I wavered between 4 and 5 stars on this. 4, because it is not without flaws. I spent the first quarter of the book feeling a bit lost and disoriented and went back to the beginning at least twice. But after awhile, I got into the flow of it. By the end, I wanted to start over and listen to the whole thing again. The characters are well-drawn and delightful. It is literary and slow-moving - if you like action and plot-driven stories this isn't for you. And if you are looking for historical fictio ...more

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Jan 19, 2019 Paige rated it liked it

A little cutesy and maybe...self-congratulatory? for my tastes, but a fun read in some respects. Capable writer for sure but was expecting a little more substance... there were hints of it but it felt underdeveloped in a weird way, especially for how long it was. Definitely preferred Rules of Civility.

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Dec 18, 2019 Matt Arrowood rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I cannot say enough about this book! It has catapulted into my all time 5 books. I want to live in the Grand Metropol Hotel. I love these characters and this is story that lives on after you finish it

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Jan 04, 2017 Alan rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, russia

Slightly precious, sort of Mr. Heloise at the Metropol, where the main character, Count Rostov, is confined for a quarter century, but I ended up liking it for the characters.

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Oct 01, 2017 William rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017

A good story well told. The literary device here is the setting. The story is contained in a small space. In other novels it could be an island, a prison or even a household. Here it is a hotel. What is different here is that just as we look in at the events which take place inside, we also look from inside out as characters from the world outside pass through its doors.
The hotel and its cast of characters share and preserve timeless values of friendship, loyalty and civility, even to those we ...more

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Jun 18, 2018 Temple Dog rated it it was ok

My friends who have loved Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow are going to send me ugly notes, but I was not as enamored with this book as everyone else.

Granted, Towles’ prose is like a cool breeze on a warm summer’s night. But, after almost 500 pages, it just felt like a long hot summer to me.

I must confess, I have traveled to Russia and there was a certain sense of nostalgia, but even those passages felt labored.

The book centered around Count Rostov who has been placed under house arrest in Moscow’ ...more

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