A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles
I have read a fair amount of Russian fiction and stories set in Russia, which is why I picked up this book. It’s rich in witty dialogue and observes the manners of the time. And the time is just a few years after the Russian Revolution in the 1920s, a period of upheaval as Soviets are establishing supremacy.
A Russian count, accused of writing a counter-revolutionary poem is sentenced to life imprisonment in Moscow’s sophisticated Metropole Hotel. At the time Count Rostov is brought to the hotel, he is consigned to a tiny room on the top floor, crammed with random pieces of furniture. Raised to appreciate the finer things in life, he revels in a life of the unrushed. Even so, he adjusts to his cramped quarters and makes a series of charming encounters throughout the book that spans several decades.
Every nook and cranny of The Metropole is described with immense detail and color, and every encounter, whether permanent or temporary, made me feel as if I were enjoying high tea and pastries with everyone from Soviet officials, to artists, and guests. Considering that there was so much political turmoil going on in Moscow at the time, it was oddly serene inside The Metropole, a world of its own, a comforting oasis.
Count Rostov is refreshingly optimistic and the story is light-hearted. He seems at ease with the world and open-minded, even having endured a painful past. The themes that course through this book cover sociopolitical commentary, friendship, parenting, and romance.
Inside The Metropole, the bleak gray of the Soviet world outside seems to melt away. And, what we are left with is an old-world sense of elegance and sophistication, with insights into how privileged nobility are sometimes more motivated by everyday pleasures than political battles.
