Title: A Gentleman in Moscow
Author: Amor Towles
Genre: Historical Fiction
Page Count: 462
Date Published: September 6th 2016
Published By: Viking Books
Rating: 4.75/5
Similar Books: Rules of Civility, Night Train to Lisbon, The Dutch House
Plot Summary: A Gentleman in Moscow immerses us in another elegantly drawn era with the story of Count Alexander Rostov. When, in 1922, he is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the count 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 a doorway into a much larger world of emotional discovery.
I first learned about "A Gentleman in Moscow" when I was scrolling through goodreads trying to find my next book. After reading the synopsis, and scanning a few reviews I was obsessed before even purchasing the book. When my copy came in the mail I was so excited. When reading this book I was pulled into a world full of joy, simplicity, and beauty. There were moments while I was reading where I had to stop, and just appreciate the beautiful line I had just read.
"Then for the first time that night, he let himself weep, his chest heaving lightly with release. But if tears fell freely down his face, they were not tears of grief. They were the tears of the luckiest man in all of Russia."
I have never in my life gone through such an array of emotions while reading a book. I have laughed, I have cried, and I have felt at peace with the world. This book is emotionally draining in the best way possible. At one moment I'm laughing, and feeling so full of happiness, but the next I'm crying, and trying to finish the chapter. So for that I would just like to say FUCK THIS SHIT. It's so intensely amazing, but why are you doing this to me? I love this book so much, and it continues to hurt in the best way possible.
I had an audition recently, and I was just hoping that they would ask me what book I was currently reading so that I could talk about it. Of course that didn't happen, but it just goes to show that this is a book that begs to be talked about.
What amazes me is the fact that I enjoyed this so much. It is an amazing and incredibly written story that is somehow astonishing, but also embraces the everyday, and day to day. Usually that would bore me to death, but here I can't help but adore those moments on mundanity. The routine of Count Rostov leaning back in a chair with his feat up, and reading is so elegantly rendered that even though it is a simple, and routine action I have no choice but to adore it. I will recommend this book to everyone because I think there is something that everyone can enjoy about this found family, and well developed story.