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A Gentleman in Moscow

Amor Towles

Start date: May 15, 2017

Finish date: June 1, 2017

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Jun 29, 2017 Tensy (bookdoyen) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, historical-fiction

This is a delightful book for people who enjoy beautiful language and character development. The story of Alexander Rostov and his years of legal confinement at the Metropol Hotel in Moscow is a sheer delight and much of my entertainment pleasure came from the wonderful narration of the audio book by Nicholas Guy Smith. This novel about a gentle, erudite aristocrat and how he adapts to changes in Russia and to his reduced living circumstances, is not for readers who want a fast paced, plot drive ...more

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Apr 17, 2017 Sylvia Tedesco rated it it was amazing

A beautiful read. Count Rostov and his story has kept me enthralled for days. I read it slowly as the language spills out like poetry, like a good story told by an accomplished racconteur. Full of bright scenes, humanity, warmth and love. Confined by the Bolshevik Tribunal to live out thirty years in a luxury hotel in Moscow and his adventures and accommodations to make life as comfortable and amusing as possible make this the best book I've read in a long time. Here is a link to see beautiful p ...more

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Jul 02, 2023 Roy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles has been on my radar for some time. As a 2016 publication it's not especially old, but whenever I would go on a bookish web site such as Goodreads, it seemed that someone in my stream had recently read it. Plenty of those readers were hyping it up, but from the synopsis it did not appear to be a particularly eventful story, and I also stumbled upon reviews by people who weren't feeling it. I'm intrigued by books that people either love or loathe, not too many A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles has been on my radar for some time. As a 2016 publication it's not especially old, but whenever I would go on a bookish web site such as Goodreads, it seemed that someone in my stream had recently read it. Plenty of those readers were hyping it up, but from the synopsis it did not appear to be a particularly eventful story, and I also stumbled upon reviews by people who weren't feeling it. I'm intrigued by books that people either love or loathe, not too many falling in the middle. So I finally got around to borrowing a copy from the library to discover which camp I would fall into. The title provides a healthy portion of plot summary. Amor Towles' book is not about a spy. It isn't about a war hero. It isn't a coming of age story or a love story or a revenge story. It isn't about someone who comes to see the error of his ways or who comes to an epiphany after some transformative event. The book is literally about a guy in Moscow, and even that can be said to be an overly broad description since he doesn't spend time in very many neighborhoods or locations throughout the city of Moscow. What Count Alexander Rostov happens to be is a gentleman in a fancy, old hotel named the Metropol where he spends decades of his life under house arrest. His crime is a poem that was credited to him. Being that this is Russia in 1922, a poem which can be translated as a call to action of the revolt variety is sufficient cause for severe punishment. Being well connected is why he ends up on house arrest rather than executed. Revolution always seem to be a spark away in Russia, a fact that I was reminded of when a flare up took place there during the time that I was reading this book. It looked for a minute like Putin was about to be bounced, but he is a resilient guy, as is the country of Ukraine that refuses to be taken over by Russian forces. I suppose it will be while I'm reading some other book in the future that Putin's reign finally ends one way or another. Revolutions are a pretty big deal to those who are out on the streets, picking sides, waiting to see how it will turn out and what the repercussions of the result will be. But for a man residing in a hotel who rarely sets foot outside of its walls, it's background noise. A Gentleman in Moscow is about quiet observations of the poetry of the human condition set within narrow physical confines. At the beginning of the story, which has a surprisingly large page count for a book about a guy who doesn't go anywhere and do all that much, Rostov is booted from a luxury suite and relocated to a much smaller room in the hotel's attic - his small world rendered even smaller. Uncomplainingly he decides on which possessions will make the trip with him since he won't have room to keep everything. With quiet dignity and aristocratic bearing he goes about the business of living for days, weeks, months, years while the world outside goes on without his participation. He befriends a young girl who is mature beyond her years that is staying with her family in the hotel for an extended period of time. This takes place shortly after Rostov gets his faced shaved clean for the first time in however long it has been, a fact that initiates their first conversation. The friendship proves pivotal for two reasons. The first is that for some reason she has a skeleton key that can any open any locked door in the hotel, and shortly before leaving she gifts this key to Rostov. The second reason is that years later as a married woman with a daughter, Nina returns to the Metropol and leaves Sophia behind with her childhood friend while she goes off in search of her husband who was sent to Siberia. Nina never returns and so Count Rostov finds himself in the unexpected role of father. He also lands himself a girlfriend. Eventually he gets a job, working as a waiter in the hotel. He has a clique of good friends who are also employed there. Rostov ends up with the bulk of things that people aspire to acquiring - a partner, family, friends, an occupation that he is well suited for. He has everything except freedom. The primary missing ingredient in his life is mobility. Prior to his sentencing to house arrest, he was a wealthy, well traveled man who was content with his circumstances, saddened only by the early death of his sister. After his confinement at the Metropol he remains the same person with the same demeanor as the world keeps spinning. But the thing is, while the happenings of the world at large do affect us and sometimes fascinate us, the private lives we each lead are what matters most to us. Whether a Democrat or a Republican is in charge, whether economic indicators are up or down, whether it's a time of war or peace, stability or upheaval, we have our inner circles that remain largely untouched by the maelstrom outside our doors. For a stretch of pages I found myself astounded by how little was happening in this novel in terms of plot development. Yet I happily kept reading because it was such a pleasure to bask in the nothingness, in the microscopic examination of the beautiful minutiae that surrounds us daily. Whatever can be appreciated is a treasure. It might be a fresh shave, or a quality meal, or a melodic tune, or a pleasant conversation. Our ability to appreciate it is what makes a kingdom of our immediate surroundings, whether that kingdom is a humble room, a luxury suite, a stately palace, or the opportunity to reside in a wide variety of locations throughout the globe. We aren't made rich by how much we acquire, but by how much we value whatever it is that we have on hand and in our hearts. In the end, consider me among those who were enchanted by A Gentleman in Moscow. I was reminded of the movie The Terminal. National treasure Tom Hanks stars in that one as a guy who is stuck at an airport terminal for weeks because upheaval in his homeland has made him a man without a country. Due to interactions with the airport regulars, this airport takes on a feeling of home rather than being like an isolation cell in a prison. It's in another movie, Cast Away, where we see Hanks in a true solitary confinement situation, so desperate for companionship that he starts to imagine a volley ball as his friend. Count Rostov is far luckier in spite of acquired misfortunes than a guy stranded on a deserted island, because relationships with our fellow man provide us with infinite currency. This lesson is elegantly displayed in Amor Towles' fine novel. ...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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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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Jul 29, 2019 Victoria rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Another gem of a story by Towles. I was (and still am) madly in love with Rules of Civility and for his second book he didn't disappoint. What a charming story and cast of characters uniquely told. This is the unputdownable book I've been searching for, and a reminder that every now and then the bestseller list gets it right. ...more

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