A Gentleman in Moscow
Ratings456
Average rating4.2
I loved this book. It was so well written and fun to read. Absolutely delightful from beginning to end.
This book, hands down, is one that I needed when I've read this. With the uncertainty of the world, it's so easy to escape to the world of the Count, as you see a true gentleman in Moscow.
It made me wish that there were more gentlemen today, and the entire book had me wanting more.
Una historia que encanta y cautiva.
La narrativa, escrita con un profundo aprecio por los grandes clásicos de la literatura rusa y su profundo sentido del humor, sumerge en la inagotable capacidad humana para enfrentar los infortunios de la existencia.
Me hace reflexionar sobre la vida y la importancia de la amistad que puede darse incluso en cualquier circunstancia por mas dificiles que parecieran si conservamos esa “normalidad”, es decir equilibrio.
A Gentleman in Moscow is a long haul to get through, but very well written and engaging. It's far more character driven than plot driven, and it presents ideas more than happenings, but overall it is a good read. It makes you think and feel—about history, freedom, and time passing. It's a good read for those who don't want to read anything too heavy, but want to read something of substance.
Rostov, a fictional count, is placed under house arrest at the luxurious Metropol Hotel in Moscow after the Russian revolution. He stays here for decades. This is the plot.
It's admirable that Amor Towles was able to write such a captivating book with such a simple plot. The book is a remarkable mix. It's heartwarming, at times emotional with a hint of sadness. Through it, a picture is painted of Russia from Lenin to Khrushchev. As a reader, you feel like a spectator, just like Count Rostov. The events pass before your eyes without significantly impacting the world within the Metropol.
The scenes are, without exception, interesting and lively. The language is to the point. Very well done. The entire book maintains a subdued humorous tone, sometimes bordering on absurdism. One of my favorite scenes is when Rostov discovers that all the labels on the wine bottles have been removed because in the new Russia, there's no distinction even in wine. Only red and white are served.
With Andrey a few paces behind him, the Count began walking the cellar's center aisle, much as a commander and his lieutenant might walk through a field hospital in the aftermath of battle. Near the end of the aisle, the Count turned down one of the rows. With a quick accounting of columns and shelves, the Count determined that in this row alone, there were over a thousand bottles—a thousand bottles virtually identical in shape and weight.Picking up one at random, he reflected how perfectly the curve of the glass fit in the palm of the hand, how perfectly its volume weighed upon the arm. But inside? Inside this dark green glass was what exactly? A Chardonnay to complement a Camembert? A Sauvignon Blanc to go with some chèvre
I can recommend this book to absolutely anyone, regardless of genre preferences.
5 stars
I thoroughly enjoyed this read, though it did read more slowly than I would have liked. It's a detail-rich story with Russian history in footnotes thrown in and a LOT of Slavic names, so I had to constantly turn back to previous chapters to remember characters. BUT - it was a lovely chronicle of one man's house arrest in a luxury Moscow hotel, from the Revolution up through the Cold War. It seemed that the smaller his world got, the more it opened up, as he discovered more and more about himself, his friends - both old and new - and Russia as it changed.
Who knew a book about a man under house arrest for decades could be so interesting! But when you have really interesting characters it makes a HUGE difference. I also found it interesting how the last couple chapters suddenly jump into overdrive on the action, kind of a shock to the system.
And I found it intriguing to see a different perspective on the transition thru 3 different leaders and their influence on Russian culture.
Beautiful writing and plotting, but the bottom line is that the Count is a rich, pretentious aristo who worships dead white male poets, composers and authors. YMMV if you don't subscribe to the Eat the Rich ethos.
This book is over the top in its reverence for the Renaissance man who is accomplished at everything without exerting any effort to achieve it. A wonderful leisurely read but about halfway through I began to find it really amusing. Not something I would be dying to read again unless I could discuss every fine detail (and there are a lot of them). It is a good book to read when you want to be able to be interrupted, there's nothing gripping that makes you annoyed at the interruption, but it's a good enough read that you are not in danger of dropping it entirely if interrupted.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I really like this book . It's a very enjoyable story, but just short of epic. Certain areas may not be as fulfilling as they could have been. I'm not quite as captivated or blown away, but still had a great experience. I'd recommend this book to others and continue reading from this author. I would probably re-read it.
This was a long read for me. I enjoyed it thoroughly and it was beautifully written but at times it felt slow moving.
A tale about a man who is confined to one area. He watches the world go on and change around him while not being able to be apart of it. But he makes the best of the cards he's been dealt.
The characters are wonderfully written and really help bring the story to life.
I borrowed this one from the Libby app on audiobook, at the same time I had quite a few other holds come through. When this one came through first, I decided to start it first, but this has been a slog to get through and I find myself reading and finishing other books, trying to come back to this one, and moving on once again. I'm running into an issue here because the book is beautifully written, it's charming, and it's a comfort read for sure. That being said, I'm probably just not in the mindset for this book right now, it's slow, it's boring, and the descriptions are just too much. This would make a beautiful movie or series, but as a book it's just so dense. Normally, I love me a good slow burn, but it's not that nothing is happening, exactly, but that the things that are happening, are just told in such a calm way that nothing in this book, excites me, and I find myself not really being invested with the characters.
I understand all of the glowing reviews, and I may come back to try to finish this one day, but for now I'm marking it as DNF 30%
I took this book as essentially a fairy tale about being a “noble” person. Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced in 1922 to live out the rest of his life in the Metropol Hotel. If he steps foot outside, he will be shot. He's moved out of his luxurious suite and into a cramped attic room and begins a new life under house arrest. Although he experiences some moments of feeling trapped and bored, he manages to accept changes in his circumstances and to find happiness, friendship, and meaning in the life he makes for himself.
I call this a fairy tale because although the people around him experience the consequences of changes in Soviet life, Alexander Rostov seems to be largely insulated from it all. He experiences sadness at the death and disappearance of his friends, and he does what he can to protect the people he cares about. However, his charm, his ability to talk to people, and his willingness to adapt his skills to his circumstances endear him to some of the important people he meets, and they protect him when they have occasion to. I found this insulation from the hardest hardships of Soviet Russia hard to believe, no matter how charming the former Count was. So, although I enjoyed the story very much, I take it about as seriously as I take bubble gum or cotton candy. Charm, emotional intelligence, and adaptability are important, but a totalitarian regime can still easily crush a person with those attributes.
Read with scepticism.
I found this equally interesting as spending 2 weeks in Covid quarantine hotel. 2 stars for nicely flowing storytelling, zero stars for the rest.
Strong main characters, but weak secondary. The first “book” was fast going and interesting, but the middle section, roughly 200 pages, was slow and a bit tedious. The last 100-150 pages were very good and the pacing felt natural and quick, without feeling like Towles was trying too hard to tie up all the bits.
3.5 stars. I think that it could have been 100 pages less and more enjoyable.
Gentle and enjoyable. Rostov is a sympathetic, if absurd, character and inhabits a soft life of house arrest where all the truly horrendous history is only background noise to his semi-isolated existence.
I quite enjoyed this quirky book about a “gentleman” incarcerated for life in a hotel in Moscow.
This book couldn't be called an exciting page-turner. I found I could take my time reading it.
The story proceeds as a series of vignettes – snapshots into Alexander Rostov's life – each interesting in itself but seemingly only loosely tied together. However, everything comes together nicely in the end, yielding a very satisfying read in total. Chekhov would have approved.
To say more would spoil things.
4+ stars.