Will I love A Gentleman in Moscow?

I didn't expect to like A Gentleman in Moscow nearly as much as I did. I'm not a gentleman. I don't really care about gentlemen, and I'm generally not all that sympathetic to the plight of the Russian aristocracy. Most of them had what they had because they were, in effect, slave owners.

Plus Rostov spent the book in a hotel. What could be less exciting--a prison without the normal drama and suffering of a prison? This book demonstrates what a great writer can do. To put the reader inside a world and a character, creating not just interest but… show more.

This book has been criticized for ignoring the brutal aspects of the Bolshevik revolution and giving us only old-world elegance and luxury. Hello? It’s historical FICTION! Instead of facts, the author gives us atmosphere, a charming main character who is being gradually revealed to us.

It made me ask: Did time change him, or was he always that way, and the events brought out his “true” self? It’s a story told in a polished style or, as one reviewer put it, with “a permanently arched eyebrow.” 

I didn’t know about this novel until I caught an episode of the series on Paramount+. I decided not to watch the rest of the show until I read the book. I’m so glad I did. Masterfully told, I absolutely loved the Count from the opening and all the way through to the end. I fell under his spell like so many others—two little girls, a movie star, employees and visitors to the Metropol, and more. I particularly loved the ending because I didn’t see it coming in exactly that way.

We chose this as a book club book and almost all of us became completely submerged in the time, place, and situation of the story. The book brought out the best in human empathy, with a wonderful amount of wit.

I loved this novel about a Russian count holed up in a luxury hotel in St. Petersburg. His daily life in the hotel, his relationship with the gamin, Nina; and the Russian revolutionary context in Moscow are all brilliantly handled. I felt as though I was there with him. Five stars!

Weaved in the historical element in a comical way. The main character was sad, but hopeful. The supporting characters were well rounded and likeable, even the villians. Oh those Russians!

I could not stop reading this book—and when the TV series came out, I fell in love all over again. A trapped, imprisoned aristocrat who is elegant and only slightly snotty and who has a bedrock of humanity underneath any stiffness and propriety—that’s the protagonist, Rostov.

This novel features not one but two abandoned children, and, in both cases, their plights bring out the best in Count Rostov. He is naturally kind, but he also finds resources and courage he never knew he had. I’ve experienced the book three times—reading, listening to an audiobook, and watching the TV series and… show more.

I found Count Alexander Rostov to be a fascinating character with real depth. Sentenced to house arrest for the rest of his life, he outwits his opponents at every turn. I love how he changes the lives of everyone around him, whether they are his friends or his jailers, and ultimately how he is changed by them.

As you may have gathered, I love books that stay with me for weeks, months, sometimes even years, after I’ve turned the last page.

Amor Tole’s book has stayed with me for a long time, in part because it is so audacious. I mean, who decides that they’re going to write a book about the Russian Revolution and the Stalin dictatorship through the eyes of a character who, for decades, is kept under tight house arrest in a downtown Moscow hotel? An incredibly brave and brilliant writer would be my answer.

The result is a beautifully told story built around… show more.

This is the story of a Russian aristocrat who has lived under house arrest in a luxury Moscow hotel for thirty years. Like Towles’s other books, it’s beautifully written and hard to put down. I found the idea of an aristocrat being held under house arrest in a Soviet hotel unusual and intriguing. The book is cleverly written, with elements from the early parts coming together in the second. It’s one of those books worth re-reading–something I rarely do (so many books, so little time).

I also highly recommend Amor Towles’s other books, Rules of Civility and Lincoln Highway.