A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel Paperback – 1 Jan. 2019

Every now and again along comes an outstanding novel that hits every aspect of what a great book should be. A Gentleman in Moscow is epic in its ambition, enthralling in its storytelling, entertaining in its humour and eloquent in its prose. The story is set amongst the chaotic birth of communist Russia, yet celebrates the dominion of the individual. Amor Towles opens the novel on 21 June 1922, with the Count being tried in front of the Emergency Committee of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs for being part of the leisure class, corrupt and a threat to the new communist ideology.“Prosecutor Vyshinsky: State your name.Rostov: Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt.Vyshinsky: You may have your titles; they are of no use to anyone else. But for the record, are you not Alexander Rostov, born in St. Petersberg, 24 October 1889?Rostov: I am he.Vyshinsky: Before we begin, I must say, I do not think that I have ever seen a jacket festooned with so many buttons.Rostov: Thank you.Vyshinsky: It was not meant as a compliment.Rostov: In that case, I demand satisfaction on the field of honour.[Laughter]Secretary Ignatov: Silence in the gallery.”The Count is found guilty but is saved from execution because he wrote a poem supporting the pre-revolutionary movement. Sentenced to indefinite house arrest at the Metropol Hotel in Moscow, he will stay there until 1954. This opening scene illustrates many of the treats awaiting us in the novel – the Count at odds with the ruling party, his adherence to a gentleman’s behaviour, his courage, and the humour with which he dispatches commentary.Immediately on his house arrest, Rostov is moved from his luxurious suite in the Metropol to the attic, and a small room that requires him to make sacrifices of his belongings. Sacrifices in terms of possessions, liberty, social standing and relationships. The character of the Count is adored as he accepts all these challenges with resolve, integrity, humour and the dignity becoming of a gentleman.The talented Amor Towles weaved many aspects into the novel to add incredible depth, with references to Greek and Roman legends including Helen of Troy, and more modern associations with ‘The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe’ and ‘Winnie the Pooh’. The revolving front door of the hotel is an interface between the tumultuous changes and harsh living conditions occurring in Russia under the Stalin era, and the opulence of the hotel, as it resolutely maintains its luxury status.Rostov makes very close friends with some colleagues but notably Nina, who as a nine-year-old girl shows the Count how to reverse the closing walls of the hotel and see numerous adventures in hidden corridors and rooms. Another little girl, Sofia, is introduced into the story who steals the Count’s heart and the connection they have is special beyond description. There are also threats and spies, only too willing to denounce other colleagues, so care is paramount. The character developed for Count Alexander Rostov is surely one never to be forgotten and his adventures, over thirty-two years within the Metropol Hotel, flowed with a constant fascination that remained enthralling from beginning to end – and what an end.I was delighted to read this amazing work from Amor Towles, delighted to discover my great friend Ceecee hadn’t read it either and ecstatic that she wanted to read this with me. For a book that I have rounded down to 5-stars I can only say, it is highly recommended!!

In the newly Communist Russia of 1922, Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, as a gentleman, prides himself on having no occupation, and describes his pastimes as, “dining, discussing. Reading, reflecting. The usual rigmarole”. Found guilty of posing a threat to the ideals of society, he is sentenced to life imprisonment in the Metropol Hotel near Red Square where he has resided for four years: if he sets foot outside, he will be shot. Although still permitted to frequent the hotel’s grand restaurant and bar, he is obliged to vacate his grand suite for a former servant’s room in the attic.Over some 460 pages, the author sustains a flowery prose with fanciful digressions and far-fetched incidents which chime with the Count’s ebullient eccentricity, all likely to charm some readers but irritate others. Falling at first into the latter category, I abandoned this novel until forced to resume it by a pressing book group deadline which caused me to revise my initial prejudice, although I never came to terms with the intrusive narrator, and the useful but distracting footnotes to explain the history.After a somewhat turgid start, the author manages to entertain the reader with his ingenuity, provide a very articulate expression of the Count’s thoughts and develop a farce which proves quite effective in revealing the flaws and contradictions of the Soviet system. As party officials begin to wine and dine at the hotel, it is simply a case of one privileged élite replacing another. The ignorant and incompetent are over-promoted for their loyalty to the Party, and bureaucratic measures intended to impose equality have ludicrous consequences. Following a complaint from the waiter whom the Count has imprudently humiliated as regards knowing the correct wine to drink with Latvian stew, an order comes from on high for all the labels to be removed from the bottles in the hotel cellar to destroy any concept of some wines being superior to others – an outrage to a connoisseur of fine wines like the Count, who can of course still detect a superior favourite by the trademark design of the bottle.This is essentially a soft-centred, escapist read, which gives more space to the count’s eternal word games (“name famous threesomes”, “ a black and white creature”) than to the sufferings of individuals, glossing over the true grimness of life for millions under Stalin. The fate of the young prince who has been reduced to playing for diners in a string quartet is relegated to a footnote: he is questioned in the Lubyanka prison for having committed the crime of possessing a picture of the deposed Tsar which happened to be in one of his books, and banned from ever entering any of the country’s six main cities, while the eminent musician who hired him suffers the worse fate of being sent to a labour camp.One could argue that this tale of how the count manages to pass thirty years in the hotel, unable to walk through the swing doors of the entrance through which he can glimpse the outside world, is an exploration of the resilience of the human spirit, and a consideration of how one can make something positive out of adversity. Perhaps a period of lockdown is a particularly relevant time to read it!Since, the Russians have tended to restore and value some of their great buildings from the past, or emulate them “for the people” as in the Moscow metro system, it is interesting to look up online images of the Metropol hotel as it is today.

This is the captivating story of Count Alexander Rostov, a Russian aristocrat placed under house arrest in 1922, and condemned to live out his days in the Metropol Hotel in Moscow because of his alleged political writings. The reader follows the Count as he adjusts to sleeping in a tiny room and to life without stepping outside of the hotel. Charming, cultured, witty, and irresistibly likeable, the Count adapts to his new reality and develops a new social circle : some of the hotel staff become his friends and confidants, there are the occasional romantic interests, and the Count’s old friends still visit and keep him up to date with life outside of the hotel.The novel is very well written, rich with historical and literary references that make it interesting. The twists were unexpected and made the main protagonist even more likeable ! He was so resilient and resourceful in the face of adversity ! And the ending? Absolutely unforgettable ! A brillIant read from start to finish!

Delightfully written with vibrant and engaging characters including the Grand Metropol Hotel herself, this is an excellent, funny, heartfelt and joyous read.