Due to many events of the book taking place at one of the Metropol's restaurants, the Count's interactions with other characters often center around food and beverage choices. Many classic French and world wines are mentioned in the book. Châteauneuf-du-Pape is especially key to the storyline. [4] Analysis [ edit ] The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles: 9780735222359". Penguin Random House . Retrieved October 17, 2021. In the first few weeks and months, the Count has a difficult time coping with his new life. He feels restless and purposeless as he spends his days reading, visiting the barber, dining in the Metropol’s two restaurants (the Boyarsky and the Piazza), and drinking in the hotel bar, the Shalyapin. The protagonist is the fictional Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on 24 October 1889. He was raised on his Rostov family's estate "Idlehour" in Nizhny Novgorod. Rostov's godfather was his father's comrade in the cavalry, Grand Duke Demidov. When the Count's parents died of cholera within hours of each other in 1900, Grand Duke Demidov became the 11-year-old's guardian. Demidov counseled him to be strong for his sister Helena, because "...adversity presents itself in many forms, and if a man does not master his circumstances, then he is bound to be mastered by them." [1] The Rostov siblings are aristocrats, making social visits to nearby estates by horse-drawn troika or sleigh.

Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the Count has been sentenced to house arrest indefinitely. But instead of his usual suite, he must now live in an attic room while Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval. His Excellency is charm personified: he is altogether a bon vivant, a gourmet, a polymath and a gentleman of unrestrained integrity. Men love him, women adore him; even cats and dogs purr and pant in his glittering presence. In short, this is a chap who might make even Cary Grant seem inelegant. Winstead and McGregor have worked together a couple of times previously, including in Fargo season 3 and Birds of Prey. A Gentleman in Moscow behind the scenes and moreBrimming with humour, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavour to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose. I kept thinking - isn't it 'somewhat' an odd punishment to be given a life sentence of confinement to the walls inside a hotel? A grand hotel at that-- The Metropol Hotel. I mean "Eloise" .... in the Plaza Hotel in New York City was happy, but she was free to step outside. The NYT bureau chief in Baghdad from 2017-18, Coker takes the reader inside the war in Iraq from the perspective of Iraqis themselves, some of who fought Isis and some who decided to help them. This book reveals the terror that was brought on a country in extremely personal circumstances and it seems that no one was left unscathed. A superbly researched and written book from a journalist who tells a story from Iraq, not from a western perspective. – Sean Davey Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura Osip Ivanovich Glebnikov is a former colonel of the Red Army- whom Alexander has many political conversations with.... and not only about Russia, but the rest of the world. They watch and discuss the movie Casablanca--- and the symbolism is achingly beautiful.

When Towles was a young man, he credited Peter Matthiessen, renowned nature writer, novelist, and one of the founders of The Paris Review, as the primary inspiration for writing novels. [8] Towles' first novel, Rules of Civility, was successful beyond his expectations, so much so that proceeds from the book afforded him the luxury of retirement from investment banking and the opportunity to pursue writing full time. [9] Surrealist fiction and literary fabulism have a lot of overlap and are sometimes referred to interchangeably. They aren’t the same thing as fairy tales, though, I agree. What I meant was that the story in “The Twenty-Seventh Man” is in some ways just as unlikely as the one in A Gentleman in Moscow but it speaks to a greater truth whereas A Gentleman in Moscow (if I understand what Sirius is saying about the ending; I only read part of the book) is more of a fantasy. And then there are the digressive flights. When a sinister hotel waiter (and Bolshevik stooge) suggests the wrong wine to accompany Latvian stew, the Count thinks, "The Rioja? Now there was a wine that would clash with the stew as Achilles clashed with Hector. It would slay the dish with a blow to the head and drag it behind its chariot until it tested the fortitude of every man in Troy ..." and so on.

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Andreeva, Nellie (2017-08-18). "EOne Ups Carolyn Newman To SVP Scripted Programming, Acquires 'A Gentleman In Moscow' Book Rights For TV". Deadline . Retrieved 2022-09-02. No historical novel this year was more witty, insightful or original ' - Sunday Times, Books of the Year You don’t have to be a Russophile to enjoy the book, but if you are, it’s essential reading. I think early 20th century Russian history is super interesting, so I’ve read a bunch of books about Lenin and Stalin. A Gentleman in Moscow gave me a new perspective on the era, even though it’s fictional. Towles keeps the focus on the Count, so most major historical events (like World War II) get little more than a passing mention. But I loved seeing how these events still shifted the world of the Metropol in ways big and small. It gives you a sense of how political turmoil affects everyone, not just those directly involved with it. As my review's title indicates, 'A Gentleman In Moscow' is the BEST book I've read in 2018 and despite five months remaining in the year, I doubt that any book will topple its distinction in my mind. This is the first book by author Amor Towles that I'm reading and he is now firmly planted as one of my favorite authors. According to his bio, Towles graduated from Yale University and received an MA in English from Stanford University and boy does this academic prowess show in his writing. Towles' choice of story structure, his intelligent diction and syntax, his masterful crafting of the brilliant plot, and the poetic, sometimes dreamlike storytelling is unlike anything else I've read in a long while. All of the characters introduced are broad and serve an intrinsic purpose.The Count, the titular gentleman in Moscow, is an in-depth character study of a man in exile who does not let the fancy hotel prison get the better of his wits as life goes on around him.

And yet, the art form had grown on him. Like the American correspondents, jazz seemed a naturally gregarious force – one that was a little unruly and prone to say the first thing that popped into its head, but generally of good humor and friendly intent. In addition, it seemed decidedly unconcerned with where it had been or where it was going – exhibiting somehow simultaneously the confidence of the master and the inexperience of the apprentice. Was there any wonder that such an art had failed to originate in Europe?” The setting of the novel is a world famous opulent hotel that sees all manner of events taking place with scrumptious, delicious food being served with all the pomp and circumstance of proper fine dining. In that regard, Towles gave the Count the heart and mind of a seasoned, well traveled bon vivant who knows high-end cuisine with an exceptionally refined taste. I am a classically trained chef and I've worked in many high-end hotels and high-end kitchens and I must say, I was thoroughly impressed with the snappy and clever level to which the author imparted food and wine into the count's tale. From the preparation and serving of authentic dishes, to the wine varietals, to the top-notch appellations and vintages, to the detailed pairings, I was wide-eyed and dazzled because it was all on point. Without pretension, the descriptions were a truthful account of the etiquette of respectable cuisine. Because of my own culinary acumen and epicurean sensibilities, I am always looking for the use of food and wine symbolism in books I read and in movies/TV shows I watch. 'A Gentleman In Moscow' is perhaps one of the best iterations I've encountered in a long time. This book will be pure delight for the lover of fancy food and for the gastronomes and epicures like me who are in the know. If you’re looking for a summer novel, this is it. Beautifully written, a story of a Russian aristocrat trapped in Moscow during the tumult of the 1930s. It brims with intelligence, erudition, and insight, an old-fashioned novel in the best sense of the term.”

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I was simply curious. And most -- how might I have behaved if I were in the counts situation? I'd like to think I might have stood tall- held my dignity - be the gentle woman - as Alexander was a GRAND GENTLEMAN. Fun, clever, and surprisingly upbeat . . . A Gentleman in Moscow is an amazing story because it manages to be a little bit of everything. There’s fantastical romance, politics, espionage, parenthood and poetry. The book is technically historical fiction, but you would be just as accurate calling it a thriller or a love story.” I was either losing sleep reading this book, tossing out all other daytime plans to continue, reading....or I was obsessively thinking about this book when I wasn't reading it. Here, indeed, was a formidable sentence--one that was on intimate terms with a comma, and that held the period in healthy disregard.”