“A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amos Towles:
At the end of a year of avid reading I happened upon a book which in its tone if not its subject is a little different from what I am usually drawn to and I came upon it, as so often is the case when something lasting and remarkable happens, by sheer happenchance. A bit of an unusual novel for me, but it proved to be perfectly suited for the time of year, Christmas being just underway, New Year not far, the passing of the year, as is natural at such times, closely and vividly felt.
The book took a short while to persuade me to stay with it but in the end it succeeded. I think it is the ultimate book to read in a quarantine/lockdown.
The time is 1922, the place is Moscow, the main protagonist is Count Alexander Rostov, an aristocrat of the finest order, a real fine gentleman of the old school. He is sentenced to life-long house arrest in Moscow’s finest Hotel, the Metropol, by a Bolshevik’s tribunal for writing a poem deemed to encourage revolt.
Slowly we become immersed in his story and his world, which consists, naturally, of an aristocratic past and his slow accommodation to his new life sentence in the grand Hotel. Here he learns to live life at its fullest, regardless of the circumstances, here he discovers the depths of humanity in all its shades, varieties and colors. Cozy and warm inside the Metropole, a whole separate world exists.
We watch with the Count, who has lost his family, his possessions, his social standing, as everything he loves about Russian life is systematically uprooted by the new regime. The chill of this is certainly felt but for the Count and his friends at the Hotel the passage of time is observed as a ”turn of kaleidoscope“ or a magic lantern that throws its images on the wall, much as in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.
Count Rostov is a man of impeccable personal standards and refined taste, an aesthete and bon-homme par excellence. He is a follower of routines and rituals and in possession of a kind, wise heart. He is eloquent and an insightful observer of live and people. Unlike many other novels about Russia this one does not linger on the dreary life and ubiquitous pain of the Russian people. There is the looming threat of the political regime, but politics mostly stay lurking in the shadows and don’t come to the fore.
The tale is elegantly rendered and clever, the prose is, congruent with the times it depicts, a little antiquated but nevertheless precise, poetic and, as is the whole of the book, very very charming. Spread across four decades the tale is brimming with personal wisdom, philosophical musings and charm. It is a stylish novel befitting a stylish gentleman and its tone is light, easy with gentle funny digressions, winning in its mannered but at the same time very pleasant ways. There is a wonderfully charming and colorful cast of characters.
There are themes of romance, parenting, loyalty, friendship and survival. There is suspense, family drama, food, art and wine. There always is humor and in these times of quarantine the book shows that maintaining connections with people you like and love is the main force with which to keep sane.
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