A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
What It's About
The Metropol Hotel in Moscow
The book follows Count Alexander Rostov who is labeled an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal in 1922 and sentenced to an indefinite period of house arrest in the grand Metropol hotel. The Count finds himself in a similar situation to us in quarantine with "so little to do and all the time in the world to do it" which Towles says leads him to be "threatened by a sense of ennui - that dreaded mire of human emotions." Across the length of the book, we see the Count try to make the most of his situation by forging friendships and relationships with hotel staff and guests, all the while striving to become a man of purpose.
How I Discovered It
I started to see this book pop up in recommendations only 4 years after it was published at the beginning of the pandemic. The first time I heard about it was from Bill Gates' recommendations of books to read to get you through the pandemic. It then popped up on my Amazon suggestion list a few times as well and I saw that it was recommended by Oprah as well. Finally, in December 2020 my college book club (Rutgers READ) decided to read this book over the winter break and that's when I finally ordered it off Amazon. After sitting on my shelf for a month or so I finally picked it up and started reading it towards the end of January and then tore through it in 10 days.
Who Would Like It?
Honestly, I'm pretty sure everyone would see at least a part of ourselves in this book. The book revolves around those timeless common human themes: love, friendship, parenting, struggle, among others. The confinement of the Count makes this a great read with a lot of us in a similar situation with quarantine. Although I'm not really a Russophile, I feel like this book has made me a little bit of one - that being said if you are a Russophile this is a must-read book for you.
Thoughts (SPOILERS AHEAD)
The Metropol’s Dining Room
This has instantly become one of my favorite books that I’ve ever read. The Count has got to be one of the most relatable characters I've ever read in a long time - probably something to do with the pandemic (just guessing). I found myself thinking more like him by the end of this book - just generally being more playful and upbeat even if I’m confined inside my home.
There are a number of beautifully rendered scenes in the book and Towles is an absolute master at crafting what could easily be seen as dry and boring situations into entertaining and engaging scenes. A couple of favorite scenes included the hilariously realistic first date that the Count observes at the Piazza (page 95) and the lobby scene where Anna’s dogs chase the hotel cat (page 111) among many others.
Favorite Quotes
"If a man does not master his circumstances, then he is bound to be mastered by them."
"But imagining what might happen if one's circumstances were different was the only sure route to madness."
"But in a period of abundance, any half-wit with a spoon can please a palate. To truly test a chef's ingenuity, one must instead look to a period of want. And what provides want better than war?"
"The principle here is that a new generation owes a measure of thanks to every member of the previous generation. Our elders planted fields and fought in wars; they advanced the arts and sciences, and generally made sacrifices on our behalf. So by their efforts, however humble, they have earned a measure of our gratitude and respect."
"With so little to do and all the time in the world to do it, the Count's peace of mind continued to be threatened by a sense of ennui - that dreaded mire of human emotions."
"'If only I were there and she were here,' she sighed. And there, thought the Count, was a suitable plaint for all mankind."
"It is the business of times to change...and it is the business of gentleman to change with them."
"Fate would not have the reputation it has if it simply did what is seemed it would do."
"And as she talked, the Count had to acknowledge once again the virtues of withholding judgment. After all, what can a first impression tell us about someone we've just met for a minute in the lobby of a hotel? For that matter, what can a first impression tell us about anyone? Why, no more than a chord can tell us about Beethoven, or a brushstroke about Botticelli. By their very nature, human beings are so capricious, so complex, so delightfully contradictory, that they deserve not only our consideration but our reconsideration - and our unwavering determination to withhold our opinion until we have engaged with them in every possible setting at every possible hour."
"As the coffee was being poured, the Count wondered whether this was the beginning or end of the old man's day. Either way, he figured a cup of coffee would hit the spot. For what is more versatile? As at home in tin, as it is in Limoges, coffee can energize the industrious at dawn, calm the reflective at noon, or raise the spirits of the beleaguered in the middle of the night."
"If patience wasn't so easily tested, then it would hardly be a virtue."
"I do like to think there is a difference between being resigned to a situation and reconciled to it."
"From the outset, it was agreed that there would be no skimping - no shortcuts or substitutions. It was the symphony or silence."
pg 244 - the twice-tolling clock
"Just remember that unlike adults, children want to be happy. So they still have the ability to take the greatest pleasure in the simplest things."
"I'm quite fond of being left behind. It always gives me a whole new perspective on wherever it was I thought I was leaving."
"I guess the point I'm trying to make is that as a species we're just no good at writing obituaries. We don't know how a man or his achievements will be perceived three generations from now, any more than we know what his great-great-grandchildren will be having for breakfast on a Tuesday in March. Because when Fate hands something down to posterity, it does so behind its back."
"For when life makes it impossible for a man to pursue his dreams, he will connive to pursue them anyway."
"It is one of the intrinsic limitations of being young...that you can never tell when a grand adventure has just begun."
"One does not fulfill one's potential by listening to Scheherazade in a gilded hall, or by reading the odyssey in one's den. One does so by setting forth into the vast unknown."
"Now if, as a rule, the Count generally avoided drinking after eleven, he absolutely never drank after midnight. In fact, he had even found himself quoting his father to Sofia on the subject, asserting that the only things that came from the practice were foolhardy acts, ill-advised liaisons, and gambling debts."
"Oftentimes...our best course of action appears objectionable at the first step. In fact, it almost always does."
"The Count restricted himself to two succinct pieces of parental advice. The first was that if one did not master one's circumstances, one was bound to be mastered by them; and the second was Montaigne's maxim that the surest sign of wisdom is constant cheerfulness."
"But no counsel, however well-grounded in history, is suitable for all. Like bottles of wine, two men will differ radically from each other for being born a year apart or on neighboring hills."
"For as it turns out, one can revisit the past quite pleasantly, as long as one does so expecting nearly every aspect of it to have changed.”