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.
more
I was pleasantly surprised at this GREAT read. I could not put the book down. And to tell the story in the perspective of one person home bound in a hotel. What adventures! What characters! What unfairness! I was totally surprised at the ending but cheered aloud!
A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW: A NOVEL (by Amor Towles)
A Gentleman in Moscow is a masterful character and dialogue study, compelling history lesson, absorbing and humorous romp, and exhilarating work of literary fiction.
Count Alexander Rostov is sentenced by the Bolshevik tribunal to house arrest in attic quarters of The Metropol, a luxury hotel in Moscow across from the Kremlin, where he interacts for thirty years with an intriguing cadre of friends, lovers, and supremely clever children: princess-loving Nina and then musical prodigy Sophia. Both of these young ladies give the Count the opportunity to discover he is a man of purpose.
Amor’s prose is poetic. His metaphors hum. The characters and their relationships march to the beat of their own unique and international drums. The story is whimsical, clever, smooth, wise, and eminently quotable. I will reread this as I’m sure I’ll get more out of it the second time.
Towles writing is so skillfully detailed, it transports the reader to the delicious depth in the labyrinth of this Russian hotel; I emerged feeling as though I had traveled through time to another culture and place.
I started this book when I was distracted, then as I began it again, my attempt was protracted. It wasn’t once or twice, but thrice until I was fully enticed… my fault for trying to rush along literature so rich it ought to be savored. Now, the surprising ‘Gentleman’ is among my favorite books ever.
As part of my practice, I spent twenty years giving professional therapeutic massage in swanky five-star hotels from San Francisco and Aspen to Chicago, Seattle, and Los Angeles. The guests, fellow therapists, concierge, valet, bellman, restaurant staff, and managers were my comrades; I know nooks, crannies, and back alleys of these places. Amor impeccably captured the atmospheric backstory of a grand hotel with spot on details.
Молодец! I highly recommend this book – it is a work of art.
One of the best books I have read in a long time. The author does an outstanding job of taking you on this adventure and the writing is a joy. Hated to see it end. Having been to Moscow I knew the venue which made it even more special. Can’t recommend it enough.
Not a typical read for me. At first things seemed kind of random and surreal—I started picturing the eponymous “Gentleman” as Red Skelton’s Freddie the Freeloader, who always came out okay, whatever the challenge. But eventually those random threads started coming together and suddenly it was a thriller with “Casablanca” overtones. By the time I was done, I was looking for more by this author—I really enjoyed it!
This is the second time I’ve read this book, and I enjoyed it even more the second time around!
One of my favorite all-time books. The characters are beautifully drawn and the question is posed: how would I react when all was taken from me? Would I be able to respond the same way?
Fabulous characters….wonderful read
I’m currently reading. It’s wonderfully witty, insightful, and entertaining. It is sure to become one of my favorites. The language and writing style is top-notch.
Worth every ruble.
This tome affords the reader a journey through the some of the most turbulent times in Russian history without leaving the confines of a grand Moscow hotel. The protagonist, Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, is spared his life in post-revolution 1913, only to be confined in perpetuity to the Metropol Hotel. For the next forty-one years he makes full use of his100 sf attic room and the entire hotel. He watches, acts and reacts with panache as Russian history marches by. Count Rostov has the ability to bend like a willow in the gales of change while maintaining oak-like decorum and civility, even when faced with the pettiest of bureaucrats.
With exceptional skill, Mr. Towles weaves in events and a full and diverse cast of characters. Over the years the count develops friendships and deep relationships that are platonic, familial, and even romantic. He is such an engaging character I found myself wanting to dine with him. This is a complex story about an equally complex nation as it fitfully drags itself from the days of Czars and into an era of brutal dictators, secret police, endless and ever-changing committees, and into the second half of the twentieth century. Yet, despite the complexities, the strings are all pulled together to give a surprising and satisfying conclusion. Five stars and a serving of caviar.
One of the best books I’ve ever read. Absolutely loved it!
Just reread this book. It will be one I revisit often. Great characters. I can visualize myself at the Metropol following these characters around the restaurants, rooms, and passageways.
Loved this book.
What an amazing book. Take the time to read this, savor every moment because you will never forget the adventure that reading it the first time represents. Then you can relax and read it again for pure pleasure-to absorb the fine craftsmanship of the world the author has created and the engrossing story with its twists and turns and surprises. I imagine that I will re-read this book six or seven times in the next few years, I won’t be able to stay away from it.
One of my favorite books ever. So original, and I thought about it long after I finished reading. I have recommenced this book to so many friends and they have all enjoyed it.
What a task Amor Towles has set for himself – to write an engaging novel about a man living out his life in a hotel. And what a smashing success it is!
In 1922, a Bolshevik tribunal sentences Count Alexander Rostov to house arrest inside the swanky Metropol, on penalty of death if he ever tries to leave. How will he survive the tedium?
The answer is in the Count’s resourceful nature. He exercises his aristocratic social skills to build relationships with the hotel staff and its visitors, especially Nina, a young girl who teaches him, in their exploration of the hotel’s service areas, what life is like for other Russians beyond the parlor of privilege in which Rostov has lived his thirty years. And if the Count can no longer venture forth into the world, the world finds its way to him in the persons of a precocious child, an actress, a Kremlin official and a friendly American.
Memorable moments include the Count’s rooftop encounter with the hotel handyman, who shares with him coffee and bread topped with honey flavored by the nearby apple orchard; Nina’s effort to test Galileo’s theory of gravitation by dropping a teacup, a billiard ball, a dictionary and a pineapple from the ballroom balcony onto the dance floor; and the Count’s furtive efforts to help the kitchen staff assemble fifteen ingredients to make themselves an exotic bouillabaisse.
A Gentleman in Moscow is also an adventure in gentle wit and philosophy, so skillfully interwoven through the narrative that one cannot do justice to it with random quotations. As Russians discover that, under Stalin, they have merely traded one brand of tyranny for another, the author is cleverly setting us up for a gripping climax, ingeniously patterned after one of the most beloved movies in cinematic history.
As with many great novels, this one’s success lies in its characters. Rather than succumb to the despair of claustrophobia, Count Rostov finds solace in his friends, and triumph in a human spirit stronger than the bureaucracy bent on subduing him.
Excellent read, especially during this Pandemic! I would not only recommend buying the book but listening to it on audible as you read. It just kept getting better. Had a difficult time getting my sister to finish it for bookclub because she didn’t want it to end. Looking forward to reading it a second and third time.
I love this author and loved this book. It has been awhile since I have read it and think I need to go back and check it out again.
One of the best! I loved it!
This was one of the BEST books I have read in such a long time!! I HIGHLY recommend it!
Good plot and characters. Insight into USSR issues.