pdf â A Gentleman in Moscow  Amor Towles
E in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors Unexpectedly his reduced circumstances provide him a doorway into a much larger world of emotional discoveryBrimming with humor a glittering cast of characters and one beautifully rendered scene after another this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpo Later Edit I thought about deleting my confession because I received a few complains saying I got too personal Most of my reviews are a bit but maybe a went too far with this one However I thought better and the review stays because i want it to be a warning that this social platform which should be a place to share our opinion of books with each other in a friendly manner sometimes becomes a stress factor There is a pressure to like some books because everybody does and you don't want to be the odd one out or you might feel reluctant to share your true feelings because some fanatics will attack you Guys we are here for the same thing the love of books in general We might not always agree but we should be kind to each other and respect other's opinions Ladies and gentleman I have a confession to make I pride myself that I am always honest in my reviews and for this reason I want to start the year with a confession about my original review of AGIM I was dishonest I increased my rating and I gave it a favorable review that was not in accordance to my real feelings I do not know why probably because so many of my friends were in love with it and I felt that I should have had the same opinion During last year I've thought about this book a lot and a negative review I read today by Jonathan made me decide to come clean My true opinion about this book is that it is neither charming or fun I could not stand the main character as I found him pretentious and superficial The plot lacked realism and I do not feel it reflects the Russia of that time I also have to admit that O only read 60% of itOriginal review I can define this book with one word namely charming As the word’s definition states the book was very pleasant and attractive thanks to its protagonist count Alexander RostovWhen the Bolsheviks came to power Count Rostov is sentenced to home arrest in Hotel Metropol one of the most famous and elegant establishments of this kind in Moscow Moved from his uarters to a small attic room the Count needs to adjust to life in confinement and he does that with wit dignity poise and elegance He treats the hotel personnel with kindness and interest and makes unforgettable friends from the employees of the hotel and guests The most memorable is a little girl Nina who becomes the count’s guide into the secrets of the hotel The book reads as a beautiful fairy tale Its lack of realism and the count’s capacity to be above all Russia’s problems and also his own made me reduce one star I enjoyed this novel although I read it very slowly Some parts were marvelously enchanting others less so All in all a beautiful book uite fitting for this season
Amor Towles  A Gentleman in Moscow ePub
A Gentleman in MoscowWith grace and verve about the s and manners of a society on the cusp of radical change”A Gentleman in Moscow immerses us in another elegantly drawn era with the story of Count Alexander Rostov When in he is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal the count is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin Rostov an indomitable man of erudition and wit has never worked a day in his life and must now liv Melinda and I sometimes read the same book at the same time It’s usually a lot of fun but it can get us in trouble when one of us is further along than the other—which recently happened when we were both reading A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor TowlesAt one point I got teary eyed because one of the characters gets hurt and must go to the hospital Melinda was a couple chapters behind me When she saw me crying she became worried that a character she loved was going to die I didn’t want to spoil anything for her so I just had to wait until she caught up to meThat one scene aside A Gentleman in Moscow is a fun clever and surprisingly upbeat look at Russian history through the eyes of one man At the beginning of the book Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov is sentenced to spend his life under house arrest in Moscow’s Metropol Hotel It’s 1922 and the Bolsheviks have just taken power of the newly formed Soviet Union The book follows the Count for the next thirty years as he makes the most of his life despite its limitationsAlthough the book is fictional the Metropol is a real hotel I’ve even been lucky enough to stay there and it looked mostly the same as Towles describes in the book It’s the kind of place where you can’t help but picture what it was like at different points in time The hotel is located across the street from the Kremlin and managed to survive the Bolshevik revolution and the rise and fall of the Soviet Union That’s a lot of history for one buildingMany scenes in the book never happened in real life as far as I know but they’re easy to imagine given the Metropol’s history In one memorable chapter Bolshevik officials decide that the hotel’s wine cellar is “counter to the ideals of the Revolution” The hotel staff is forced to remove labels from than 100000 bottles and the restaurant must sell all wine for the same price The Count—who sees himself as a wine expert—is horrifiedCount Rostov is an observer frozen in time watching these changes come and go He felt to me like he was from a different era from the other characters in the book Throughout all the political turmoil he manages to survive because well he’s good at everythingHe’s read seemingly every book and can identify any piece of music When he’s forced to become a waiter at the hotel restaurant he does it with this panache that is incredible He knows his liuor better than anyone and he’s not shy about sharing his opinions The Count should be an insufferable character but the whole thing works because he’s so charmingTowles has a talent for uirky details Early ish in the book he says the Count “reviewed the menu in reverse order as was his habit having learned from experience that giving consideration to appetizers before entrees can only lead to regret” A description like that tells you so much about a character By the end of the book I felt like the Count was an old friendYou don’t have to be a Russophile to enjoy the book but if you are it’s essential reading I think early 20th century Russian history is super interesting so I’ve read a bunch of books about Lenin and Stalin A Gentleman in Moscow gave me a new perspective on the era even though it’s fictional Towles keeps the focus on the Count so most major historical events like World War II get little than a passing mention But I loved seeing how these events still shifted the world of the Metropol in ways big and small It gives you a sense of how political turmoil affects everyone not just those directly involved with it A Gentleman in Moscow is an amazing story because it manages to be a little bit of everything There’s fantastical romance politics espionage parenthood and poetry The book is technically historical fiction but you’d be just as accurate calling it a thriller or a love story Even if Russia isn’t on your must visit list I think everyone can enjoy Towles’s trip to Moscow this summer