A Gentleman in Moscow
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It’s giving Suite Life of Zack and Cody but with more elegance and a lot more vodka. A Gentleman in Moscow explores the sentiments of the Soviet Union from 1922-1954 from the perspective of a former Count who is stripped of his name and excellence after the revolution. He’s also confined to a renowned hotel, the Metropol, which IMO requires some suspended disbelief. As a member of the aristocracy, the Count is hated by the revolutionists as a relic of the old way of life, but instead of getting rid of him altogether, they just say ~hey stay at this nice hotel for the rest of your life~. You’ll get a slightly worse room, but still.
Who cares, though. The writing massively outweighs any question marks. Amor Towles writes the Count in a way that strikes the perfect balance between sophistication and pretentiousness. The Count is a true gentleman who appreciates the finer things, and thus makes us as readers appreciate them. It slows down the pace of the reading in a refreshing way that also makes me stop and smell the flowers.
Midway through the novel, I wondered how it would keep going. Not much occurred other than character development, and as much as I liked reading the Count do cool stuff like eat and drink nice things while spitting witty, beautiful dialogue, I didn’t see how that would take up another 250+ pages. Then, there came a surprise that kept it humming along swimmingly.
The Count is the ultimate networker. He understands and appreciates people. He’s genuine with them, and the respect that he gives is reciprocated, so he makes a bunch of friends. Real recognize real. He is a true *gentleman* in Moscow. So, I think that the events leading up to the ending, while certainly exciting, go against his true nature in small but uncharacteristic ways, making the staunch Gentleman less gentlemanly. Not to tell Amor Towles what to do, but I think the could have made some simple plot tweaks to retain the character, the excitement, and the final surprise.
I was initially introduced to Amor Towles when I read and reviewed Rules of Civility. His elevated way of writing is more befitting Russian aristocracy than a rando girl in Brooklyn, so I think that this book is more indicative of his true capabilities. I give it 4 out of 5 flames. I enjoyed reading it, and I think that the Count is a particularly compelling character, but Towles’ voice is distinct and I do think it can come across as obnoxious to some.
