A Gentleman in Moscow in SpecFic Buddy Reads

Dec 29, 2020 Nataliya rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2020-reads

To appreciate this story you need to be able to immerse yourself into a leisurely languorous extolling of the virtues of finer things in life.

Alas, I cannot. I’m a cheap non-gourmand simple person who prefers practicality to nostalgia and will pick a good deal in Best Western over wallet-lightening Metropol Hotel in an eyeblink.

When I was a kid, I read a fiction book about inner workings of a 1950s New Orleans hotel - with the no-nonsense practicality named Hotel by Arthur Hailey. It was dry and

To appreciate this story you need to be able to immerse yourself into a leisurely languorous extolling of the virtues of finer things in life.

Alas, I cannot. I’m a cheap non-gourmand simple person who prefers practicality to nostalgia and will pick a good deal in Best Western over wallet-lightening Metropol Hotel in an eyeblink.

When I was a kid, I read a fiction book about inner workings of a 1950s New Orleans hotel - with the no-nonsense practicality named Hotel by Arthur Hailey. It was dry and strange and a bit too technical for a piece of fiction, but I found the inner life of a large fancy hotel fascinating (and still enjoyed it on the reread). And so I was immensely curious about A Gentleman in Moscow, set inside a hotel over a few decades — the book that promised lovely writing and philosophical asides, the bits that were missing from Hailey’s a bit dry offering.

But instead of taking me on a dreamy philosophical journey through a man’s confinement in a gilded prison of a fancy hotel as the turbulent early Soviet decades raged around it (1922-1954) I found that this book took me on a bored leisurely plod through overwrought mundanity.

“Raised in grand homes in cosmopolitan cities, educated in the liberal arts, graced with idle hours, and exposed to the finest things, though the Count and the American had been born ten years and four thousand miles apart, they had more in common with each other than they had with the majority of their own countrymen.”

This is a story of a refined society gentleman whose leisurely world was suddenly constricted to the entirety of a luxurious hotel which is supposed to be a prison and a gilded cage — but really ends up being a protective gilded bubble allowing for luxurious life of hanging out in inaccessible to most Soviet mortals fancy hotel restaurants and bars, partaking in gourmand meals and exquisite wines, leisurely reading classic novels, getting weekly barber visits and having a maid fix his clothes, playing with fantastically precocious children, rubbing elbows with actresses and Party officials and foreign diplomats, while the turbulent 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and 1950s relentlessly march outside, unable to reach universally-adored Count Rostov (the nobility title he manages to cling to despite living in Soviet Union) behind the porter-guarded doors of this oasis that, no matter how you try, does not appear to be a prison but is probably the safest haven imaginable.

“Who would have imagined,” he said, “when you were sentenced to life in the Metropol all those years ago, that you had just become the luckiest man in all of Russia.”

The years and decades pass as we are enveloped in Amor Towles leisurely writing — vivid gourmand food descriptions, vivid luxury connoisseur views of the hotel, leisurely depictions of leisure, philosophical musings on the world and Russian mentality and the horror of uncouthness of a hotel waiter who dares to not know the perfect stew/wine pairing. We are treated to the instant adoration of the (former) Count by everyone who crosses the sophisticated man’s path, and even Party officials are not immune to his charisma.

“Today, the dining room was nearly empty and the Count was being served by someone who appeared not only new to the Piazza, but new to the art of waiting. Tall and thin, with a narrow head and superior demeanor, he looked rather like a bishop that had been plucked from a chessboard. When the Count took his seat with a newspaper in hand—the international symbol of dining alone—the chap didn’t bother to clear the second setting; when the Count closed his menu and placed it beside his plate—the international symbol of readiness to order—the chap needed to be beckoned with a wave of the hand; and when the Count ordered the okroshka and filet of sole, the chap asked if he might like a glass of Sauterne. A perfect suggestion, no doubt, if only the Count had ordered foie gras!”

The horror... Compared to this faux-pas, the Purges were a walk in the park.

Yes, we are told he’ll be shot the moment he sets his foot outside of his gilded bubble ((view spoiler)) — but why the hell would one really want to venture out? Rostov’s life is in a truly parallel universe to the rest of the Soviet Union, and that, my friends, is a thing to hang on to.

“Since the beginning of storytelling, he explained, Death has called on the unwitting. In one tale or another, it arrives quietly in town and takes a room at an inn, or lurks in an alleyway, or lingers in the marketplace, surreptitiously. Then just when the hero has a moment of respite from his daily affairs, Death pays him a visit.
This is all well and good, allowed the Count. But what is rarely related is the fact that Life is every bit as devious as Death. It too can wear a hooded coat. It too can slip into town, lurk in an alley, or wait in the back of a tavern.”

Then, of course, Towles shows that Life can intrude even on the gilded Paradise. Except for, of course, despite what I expected, life still cannot really breach this bubble of finer things in life into which Towles protectively wraps his character. The shallow, comfortable and surreally fancy existence is barely perturbed by anything.

“Even men in the most trying of circumstances—like those lost at sea or confined to prison—will find the means to carefully account the passing of a year. Despite the fact that all the splendid modulations of the seasons and those colorful festivities that recur in the course of normal life have been replaced by a tyranny of indistinguishable days, the men in such situations will carve their 365 notches into a piece of wood or scratch them into the walls of their cell.”

Compare your life to that in prison all you want, you are still rolling in luxury. Sir.

Forget the historic inaccuracies and liberties and jarring bits of clearly Western perception of Soviet Union life ((view spoiler)) — that I will forgive, given that, admittedly, not tons of historic research went into this, and that we are not actually reading a historic treatise. I can learn to treat this as a “alternate universe” kind of story where such things are possible.

What I can’t cultivate in myself though is that ability to immerse into the “finer things in life” and get myself lost in the long philosophical discussions while my brain yawns and demands for something to happen, for something to matter, for something meaningful to be at stake. For something that isn’t pages of playing games with surrogate daughters or hanging out in empty conversation with hotel staff, or long discussions with a poet friend who does not get to share your bubble, or counting freckles on your lover’s back, or lamenting the drop in the waiters’ quality, or rearranging furniture, or watching American movies with a Party official...

Wait, really, besides the above, what actually happened while the languorous narration extolled the virtues of gourmet food or fancy hotel lobby or excellent waiters? Well, we described honey tasting using this empty senseless - and, let’s face it, refinedly pretentious - word salad: “Rather than the flowering trees of central Moscow, the honey had a hint of a grassy riverbank… the trace of a summer breeze… a suggestion of a pergola…” No, you dolt, there weren’t pergola suggestions in your honey which you *just knew* had to come from your native town, because you are used to the universe bending over backwards for you.

Anyway, this was not for me.

2 stars for enchanting prose behind which was little substance.

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This book was brought to you by the word “willowy”. If I never see that word again, I’ll die content.

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Buddy read with Justin.

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Recommended by: carol. ...more

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Jul 08, 2017 Lyn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

An excellent book.

I have to admit that when I first started Amor Towles 2016 novel about a Russian aristocrat’s return to Soviet Russia, I thought I would not like it and I did not really like protagonist Count Alexander Rostov.

OK, so you’re a well-bred country royal and the rest of the smelly masses have taken over and kicked all the gentry out, or worse, made them downsize to the smallest guest room in the east wing of the mansion – but who cares? Hell, I was almost rooting for the commie bast An excellent book.

I have to admit that when I first started Amor Towles 2016 novel about a Russian aristocrat’s return to Soviet Russia, I thought I would not like it and I did not really like protagonist Count Alexander Rostov.

OK, so you’re a well-bred country royal and the rest of the smelly masses have taken over and kicked all the gentry out, or worse, made them downsize to the smallest guest room in the east wing of the mansion – but who cares? Hell, I was almost rooting for the commie bastards who tossed your smug ass out.

But then … oh, Towles, you magician you, you demonstrated that Rostov – The Count – was not just well groomed and pedigreed, he was that rarest of birds, a principled and dignified – gentleman.

What does that mean? Well, my well-read and sophisticated GR friends, I know a little something of etiquette. Yes, gentle readers, that lost form was taught in Middle Tennessee. One does not skin road kill on the side of the road for all to see, it’s just not done. And it’s the height of impropriety to dance with a first cousin at the family reunion when an eligible second cousin is waiting. Manners.

All joking aside, Rostov (and Towles) show us all a thing or two about class and respectability. Rostov knows that the foundation of social etiquette and manners is a sincere desire to make others feel welcome and important and respected. Rostov, The Count, The Gentleman, truly cares about his fellow countryman as he cares about his country. An exile in Paris when the Bolshevik revolution broke out – he came back, to see his grandmother and to live out his life as a Russian in Russia.

Narrowly escaping a firing squad, Rostov instead finds himself under house arrest in a luxury hotel. Thus Towles reveals to us a lesson in civility and refinement and a true hero as we see Rostov spend the next thirty odd years in the elegant Metropole Hotel in Moscow as a generation of revolutionaries become senior soviets and The Count and his peers grow old and harken back to another age.

Reading this I could not help to think of Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago and Rybakov’s Children of the Arbat. But whereas Rybakov was strident in his criticism and Pasternak ever the Russian poet, Towles’s message is more about the aristocracy of the human spirit, he is displaying for us all a quality of life and existence that can flourish in any setting and in even the most utilitarian of ideologies. One of my favorite scenes was the exchange between Rostov and Anna, who declare they are the confederacy of the humbled.

Towles also demonstrates for the reader that a good story is not just told, it is written, and written with style and erudition. This was one of the best crafted books I’ve read, filled with nuances, word play and personality.

Highly recommended.

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Feb 25, 2017 Emma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, favorites, re-read, russia-eastern-european

ALL THE STARS!! Words fail me! I had high expectations for this book and the story met them and more. This book was actually delicious to me, every page to be savoured. I am in the afterglow of this wonderful and carefully crafted book. The Count is an inspired creation and an inspiring one.

I loved how the world and the turbulent events of The Soviet Union come to the Count in the Metropol and how the Metropol itself is a major character in the book. As well as the Count, we meet a wonderful ca ...more

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Jan 17, 2020 Bradley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2020-shelf, traditional-fiction

Such a charming book!

I was completely caught up in everything about it. I fell right into the Count's reasons for his house arrest (oh, comrade, you don't know how lucky you are that is all you got,) to how this ex-aristocrat rolls with the punches so easily, so charmingly, like a true gentleman. It was so important that he WAS a true gentleman, too. It made all the difference in the world. He was a nice guy, very friendly, and he genuinely liked people. And he was observant. His little world, t ...more

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Aug 06, 2019 Amanda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

All the stars! This was fantastic. No idea why I waited so long to read this one. Just gorgeous writing and a great story.

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May 27, 2017 Suzanne rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, audio

This had so many great quotes and insights. The Count is a great main character. I felt a little lost at first with the Russian history, but I learned a lot. This is one of those books I would love to read again at some point.

“I’ll tell you what is convenient,” he said after a moment. “To sleep until noon and have someone bring you your breakfast on a tray. To cancel an appointment at the very last minute. To keep a carriage waiting at the door of one party, so that on a moment’s notice it can w ...more

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Nov 06, 2016 Ctgt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

And that is just how it should be. That sense of loss is exactly what we must anticipate, prepare for, and cherish to the last of our days; for it is only our heartbreak that finally refutes all that is ephemeral in love.

It's been a long time since I enjoyed a book as much as this one....so many moments to highlight.

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After appearing before a Bolshevik tribunal to defend a "seditious" poem, minor aristocrat, Count Alexander Rostov, is sentenced to confinement in a small attic room of the Metropol ...more

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Aug 13, 2019 Linda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audio, 2019

I just loved this! So many funny scenes, but it was also heartwarming and sprinkled with small words of wisdom to keep in mind as one goes through life.

The audiobook narrated by Nicholas Guy Smith was well done.

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Mar 12, 2019 Cobwebs-in-Space-Ice rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019_audio_reads

I think I was born an aficionado of Historical Fiction. Certainly I don't remember a time before.
Just before A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW was announced as our first read for this quarter, I had discovered, and determined to read THE WITCHES OF ST. PETERSBURG, a novel whose setting is almost immediately prior to the time period of A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW. Unfortunately for me, at the moment I only have access to the audio versions of either, so I hope to "re-read" both soon in text.

I had not yet read auth ...more

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