From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility and the forthcoming novel The Lincoln Highway, a story about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel—a beautifully transporting novel. The mega-bestseller with more than 2 million readers, soon to be a major television series In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a … Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and 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 live 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 entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery.
Brimming 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 purpose.
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A book with a cast of characters that stay with you long after you finish. Wonderfully written.
fascinating character unperturbed by a forced entrapment who carries on with dignity, grace and thoughtfulness in his new environment although there is little hope of changing circumstances
I loved this book, couldn’t put it down…..
I was enthralled–old world manners and elegance–absolutely nothing like this book!
It often reads like Chekhov, extremely well written.
Loved it! Best book of the decade.
The language in this book was rich and painted such a wonderful picture of the time, the characters and the setting. I highly recommend this book.
Beautiful writing
Count Rostov, the narrator, is a wonderful character, a great companion to have on life’s journey. He is the friend we’d all like to have. He has a generous capacity for connecting with the people around him without relaxing his standards or losing one jot of his individuality. His story, too, is remarkable, the more so as he is limited to living in exile in a grand hotel in Moscow. He makes the most of the surprising variety of human life that passes through the hotel. His attentiveness to the small things we should love in our daily lives gives the ordinary a kind of sacredness. He’s also clever, in the ways readers have always admired in characters like Odysseus, Robin Hood, and Huck Finn. For fans of the Regency romances of Georgette Heyer, here is a gentleman to add to the ranks of your favorite heroes. Then there is Towles’ writing, both his grand narrative strategy and individual passages you want to read again and again.
A good layaround book to go to. I usually read non fiction and this was still good.
This is a brilliantly written book. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Great literature.
You cannot leave the book and the characters are so lovable
Not a book you want to scan quickly. Every sentence is wonderfully written.
This is an epic story of a man in Moscow who is put under house arrest (hotel) in is 30’s. He spends the remainder of his life in the hotel. There is no great plot…..it’s the characters. I could see them, feel them, touch them, smell them. The story is poignant, well-developed. There were times I attempted to gloss over what seemed like an insignificant chapter. Not so….every chapter is relevant to the story. This is a classic…..
Loved this book and all the characters.
Wonder story! Not what I expected and ever so charming, interesting and very intelligent!
Great characters and a great plot. I simply loved this book.
A Gentleman in Moscow is one of the best books I have read. It is all the things I checked above, but there is no box for beautiful, brilliant writing. This book is long and deserves to be savored.
So incredibly well written. I did not want it to end…
Splendid story. Beautifully written. Stays with you long after you’ve finished reading it.