Our protagonist is allowed many of the luxuries of his old life whilst being eternally held in the confines thrust upon him by the state. The book follows Rostov’s life within the walls of the hotel over the proceeding decades, backdropped by the phenomenally turbulent external Russia as it embraces Bolshevism, industrialisation, nuclearisation and eventually destalinisation. Born a rich gentleman, and it is not the business of gentlemen to have occupations, Rostov is sentenced at the age of 30 to indefinite confinement in the city’s Metropol Hotel for his old life of bourgeoisie, with the knowledge that should he ever step outside the building’s walls, he will promptly be shot. ![]() ![]() Starting in the year 1922 in, you guessed it, Moscow, Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov is on trial in a Bolshevik court for his prior status: Recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, Member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt. Not because of the intricacies of the plot (although there are many), or because of how gripping a page-turner it is, but because of the way it’s written. Amor Towles’ New York Times bestseller ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’ is a book that can very literally be described as a pleasure to read.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |