Amor Towles and the book ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’

Ever a fan of the effect of story, we turn today to the second published novel of Amor Towles. The 2016 novel A Gentleman in Moscow approaches the notions of human feeling, diminishing distinctions of class and the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, which began during World War One. This work of historical fiction incorporates social customs of the Soviet Union as written by Towles, a writer from the United States.

(Amor Towles wrote A Gentleman in Moscow. His books reportedly have collectively sold more than 4 million copies while being translated into over thirty languages).

The fictional Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov serves as the namesake of A Gentleman in Moscow, having been born in St. Petersburg, Russia. As was the custom before the Russian Revolution, Rostov had lost both of his parents to cholera before joining the aristocratic family of one of his father’s military friends. At age eleven, Rostov joined the family of Grand Duke Demidov. Rostov would later be sent out of country to wound the suitor of Alexander Rostov’s sister, who had broken his sister Helena’s heart. Upon returning home from Paris, France after the revolution, the Count was arrested.

(Amor Towles speaking about A Gentleman in Moscow, the second of his published novels. Much of the books action takes place in the Soviet Union).

A Bolshevik tribunal conducts a trial for Count Alexander Rostov, arguing that as a social parasite that Rostov should be found guilty and shot. A revolutionary poem attributed to Rostov saved his life, with Rostov instead being sentenced to house arrest at his current residence, the Hotel Metropol in Moscow, Russia. Rostov is moved within the hotel, near The Kremlin of Moscow, where he is moved from his luxury penthouse to comparatively austere servant’s quarters.

(An alternate book cover for Amor Towles‘ historical fiction book A Gentleman in Moscow).

The notion of permanent residency at a luxury hotel might not be seen as much of a punishment for some, even on tenuous yet politically motivated charges. The restricted movement coupled with diminished circumstances indeed forces Count Alexander Rostov to engage with those with whom he does have access. Rostov’s gift for conversation on a wide range of subject offers the means for observing the world from a unique vantage point and through a distinct prism. Much of this fare undoubtedly proves slow for many readers who might find things such as the fascination with princesses for nine-year-old Nina Kulikova a bit tedious.

(From left, Amor Towles with his wife, Maggie Towles. Amor Towles wrote the novel A Gentleman in Moscow).

The book introduces an accidental yet real opportunity for Count Alexander Rostov to become a father when, in 1938, the married Nina Kulikova follows her husband Leo to the Gulag, where he has been sentenced to five years of hard labor. The presumption is that the crime that Leo is found guilty of follows a path similar to that of Alexander Rostov. Regardless, Nina follows Leo to a labor camp by the Eastern Siberia Sea and the Arctic Ocean, leaving her daughter Sophia with Alexander with the expectation of calling for the couples’ daughter later. Neither Nina nor Leo were heard from again, enabling a charming story that brings about compelling and interesting questions at the conclusion of A Gentleman in Moscow.

(Amor Towles wrote A Gentleman in Moscow, which was released in 2016).

Themes including parental duty, friendship, philosophical freedom, love, and more are the abstract reasons to find pleasure in the reading of A Gentleman in Moscow. A look into the historical notions of how social structures are constructed through time and place, as in the historical fiction part of the book, also offer the positives that can draw people into the narrative. If this type of fare works for you, then allow me to wholeheartedly recommend this book. I grant A Gentleman in Moscow as written by Amor Towles 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Monday, November 1, 2021