A Gentleman in Moscow

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.

I loved A Gentleman in Moscow because I learned so much about Russian history while enjoying a remarkable story told from the perspective of one sequestered man. I loved his equanimous response to the many upheavals he endured.

The tone of the story and the way it builds steadily to its revelations is brilliant. I love that the main character knows so much—as a gentleman—about wine, food, politics, literature, and music and so informs the reader in a delightfully smooth manner.

Russia is once again in the headlines, sparking a geopolitical contest between her and the West.

The period immediately following the Second World War can be viewed as a romantic era, marked by new hope for peace and the rebuilding of the world. The establishment of the UN aimed to resolve power struggles at the negotiating table rather than on the battlefield. 

These elements are all found in this novel, which delves into the past to shed light on Russia's psyche and how it might shape the future. It effectively connects the past with the near future. House arrest is… show more.

This book is a brilliant novel, full of humor, history, and bigger-than-life characters, set against the background of the USSR. I ordered this book because it was my grandson’s favorite novel of 2022. He worried that he’d overhyped it. He had nothing to fear. 

After the main character, Count Alexander Rostov, is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a 1927 Bolshevik tribunal. The man, who had never worked a day in his life, suddenly finds himself living in an attic room, confined to the walls of the Metropol hotel in Moscow. 

Experiencing the Count’s emotional discovery while some of the most… show more.