A Gentleman in Moscow: Difference between revisions
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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."<ref>[https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/311564/a-gentleman-in-moscow-by-amor-towles/ A Gentleman in Moscow] (2016), p. 18.</ref> The Rostov siblings are aristocrats, making social visits to nearby estates by horse-drawn troika or sleigh. |
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."<ref>[https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/311564/a-gentleman-in-moscow-by-amor-towles/ A Gentleman in Moscow] (2016), p. 18.</ref> The Rostov siblings are aristocrats, making social visits to nearby estates by horse-drawn troika or sleigh. |
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As a young man, the Count was sent out of the country |
As a young man, the Count was sent out of the country by his grandmother for wounding a [[Cad (character)|cad]] in defense of his sister - events covered through [[Flashback (narrative)|flashbacks]]. Upon returning home from Paris after the [[Bolshevik revolution]] of 1917, the Count was arrested, beginning the narrative. |
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Each of the book's chapters is set according to a doubling then halving chronological structure. The first chapter is the day after the Count's arrest, the second is two days after, and subsequent chapters are set five days, ten days, three weeks, six weeks, three months, six months, one year, two years, four years, eight years, and sixteen years after the beginning of the narrative. At this point, the structure reverses, with the time between chapters progressively halving until the final day of the narrative. |
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== Inspiration and plot == |
== Inspiration and plot == |
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=== The trial === |
=== The trial === |
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The Count is charged as a [[Parasitism (social offense)|social parasite]] before a Bolshevik tribunal, with the expectation that he will be found guilty and shot. He is unrepentant, and eloquently refuses to confess. Because of a revolutionary poem attributed to him, |
The Count is charged as a [[Parasitism (social offense)|social parasite]] before a Bolshevik tribunal, with the expectation that he will be found guilty and shot. He is unrepentant, and eloquently refuses to confess. Because of a revolutionary poem attributed to him, for which some senior Bolsheviks consider him one of the heroes of the struggle against the Tsarist regime, the Count is spared a death sentence. Instead, he is placed under house arrest for life at his current residence, the [[Hotel Metropol Moscow|Hotel Metropol]] in central Moscow. |
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=== The hotel === |
=== The hotel === |
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A military guard escorts the Count back to the Hotel Metropol, where he is ordered to vacate his luxurious suite and move to the cramped servant's quarters on the sixth floor. As time goes on, the Count cultivates a social circle of friends from his youth as well as selected residents, staff, and customers of the Hotel and its restaurants. These include a one-eyed cat |
A military guard escorts the Count back to the Hotel Metropol, where he is ordered to vacate his luxurious suite and move to the cramped servant's quarters on the sixth floor. As time goes on, the Count cultivates a social circle of friends from his youth as well as selected residents, staff, and customers of the Hotel and its restaurants. These include a one-eyed cat, a seamstress, a Russian chef, a French maître d'hotel and former circus juggler, a poet, an actress, an underemployed architect, an orchestra conductor, a prince, a former [[Red Army]] colonel, and an aide-de-camp of an American general.<ref name="nytreview">{{cite web |first1 = Craig |last1 = Taylor |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/25/books/review/amor-towles-gentleman-in-moscow.html |title = A Count Becomes a Waiter in a Novel of Soviet Supremacy |work= The New York Times |date=2016-09-23 |access-date=17 June 2019}}</ref> |
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Due to his diminished circumstances and restricted freedom, the Count has time for self-reflection. He is a brilliant conversationalist, readily discussing diverse subjects such as evolution, philosophy, Impressionism, Russian writers and poetry, food, post-revolutionary Russian society, and Russia's contributions to the world. |
Due to his diminished circumstances and restricted freedom, the Count has time for self-reflection. He is a brilliant conversationalist, readily discussing diverse subjects such as evolution, philosophy, Impressionism, Russian writers and poetry, food, post-revolutionary Russian society, and Russia's contributions to the world. |
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In 1938, an unexpected arrival changes the Count's circumstances. Nina Kulikova, now a married woman, visits the Count. She confides that her husband Leo was arrested and sentenced to five years of forced labor by the [[Gulag]]. Nina decides to follow her husband to [[Sevvostlag]] in [[Kolyma]], a remote region of the Soviet Union bounded by the [[East Siberian Sea]] and the [[Arctic Ocean]]. She begs the Count to accept temporary custody of her young daughter Sofia, while she makes arrangements for the child to join her in [[Siberia]] to be near her father. This is the last time the Count sees Nina, so at the age of 49, he becomes Sofia's surrogate father. |
In 1938, an unexpected arrival changes the Count's circumstances. Nina Kulikova, now a married woman, visits the Count. She confides that her husband Leo was arrested and sentenced to five years of forced labor by the [[Gulag]]. Nina decides to follow her husband to [[Sevvostlag]] in [[Kolyma]], a remote region of the Soviet Union bounded by the [[East Siberian Sea]] and the [[Arctic Ocean]]. She begs the Count to accept temporary custody of her young daughter Sofia, while she makes arrangements for the child to join her in [[Siberia]] to be near her father. This is the last time the Count sees Nina, so at the age of 49, he becomes Sofia's surrogate father. |
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Sofia is a quiet, highly intelligent child. Her potential manifests itself |
Sofia is a quiet, highly intelligent child. Her potential manifests itself through various escapades, including games of hide-and-seek as a young girl and quickly navigating the hotel in order to surprise her father. |
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Later, Sofia takes piano lessons. She surprises the Count by playing a [[Chopin nocturnes|Chopin nocturne]] (Opus 9, number 2, in E-flat major) after only a few lessons. It is clear to both the piano teacher and the Count that Sofia is a musical prodigy. |
Later, Sofia takes piano lessons. She surprises the Count by playing a [[Chopin nocturnes|Chopin nocturne]] (Opus 9, number 2, in E-flat major) after only a few lessons. It is clear to both the piano teacher and the Count that Sofia is a musical prodigy. |
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=== Observations of life in the Soviet Union === |
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=== Wine === |
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The Count's experiences with the various forces of the Revolution, the Soviet state, and foreign guests provide opportunities for reflection on different historic moments through the Cold War. The Count's views are particularly affected by the experience of his childhood friend after being asked to censor one of Dostoevsky's writing, which culminates alongside Sofia's artistry in the climax of the book. |
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| ⚫ | Many classic French and world wines are mentioned in the book. [[Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC|Châteauneuf-du-Pape]] is especially key to the storyline.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Daskal|first=Victoria|date=5 October 2021|title=A Gentleman in Moscow's Wine|url=https://www.mummywineclub.com/post/a-gentleman-in-moscow-s-wine|url-status=live|access-date=2021-10-05|website=www.mummywineclub.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005115202/https://www.mummywineclub.com/post/a-gentleman-in-moscow-s-wine |archive-date=2021-10-05 }}</ref> |
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=== Food and drink === |
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| ⚫ | 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 AOC|Châteauneuf-du-Pape]] is especially key to the storyline.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Daskal|first=Victoria|date=5 October 2021|title=A Gentleman in Moscow's Wine|url=https://www.mummywineclub.com/post/a-gentleman-in-moscow-s-wine|url-status=live|access-date=2021-10-05|website=www.mummywineclub.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005115202/https://www.mummywineclub.com/post/a-gentleman-in-moscow-s-wine |archive-date=2021-10-05 }}</ref> |
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== Analysis == |
== Analysis == |
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Revision as of 03:53, 8 August 2023
.png) First edition cover | |
| Author | Amor Towles |
|---|---|
| Audio read by | Nicholas Guy Smith |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical fiction |
| Set in | Moscow during the Stalin era |
| Publisher | Viking |
Publication date | 6 September 2016 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 462 |
| ISBN | 978-0-670-02619-7 (hardcover) |
| 813/.6 | |
| LC Class | PS3620.O945 G46 2016 |
A Gentleman in Moscow is a 2016 novel by Amor Towles. It is his second novel, published five years after his New York Times best seller, Rules of Civility (2011).
Background
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.
As a young man, the Count was sent out of the country by his grandmother for wounding a cad in defense of his sister - events covered through flashbacks. Upon returning home from Paris after the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, the Count was arrested, beginning the narrative.
Each of the book's chapters is set according to a doubling then halving chronological structure. The first chapter is the day after the Count's arrest, the second is two days after, and subsequent chapters are set five days, ten days, three weeks, six weeks, three months, six months, one year, two years, four years, eight years, and sixteen years after the beginning of the narrative. At this point, the structure reverses, with the time between chapters progressively halving until the final day of the narrative.
Inspiration and plot
Towles's inspiration for the novel was his experience staying at luxury hotels, specifically, a hotel in Geneva, Switzerland, where some guests were permanent residents. He combined the idea of luxury hotels with his knowledge of Russia's long-time historical tradition of house arrest.[2]
The trial
The Count is charged as a social parasite before a Bolshevik tribunal, with the expectation that he will be found guilty and shot. He is unrepentant, and eloquently refuses to confess. Because of a revolutionary poem attributed to him, for which some senior Bolsheviks consider him one of the heroes of the struggle against the Tsarist regime, the Count is spared a death sentence. Instead, he is placed under house arrest for life at his current residence, the Hotel Metropol in central Moscow.
The hotel
A military guard escorts the Count back to the Hotel Metropol, where he is ordered to vacate his luxurious suite and move to the cramped servant's quarters on the sixth floor. As time goes on, the Count cultivates a social circle of friends from his youth as well as selected residents, staff, and customers of the Hotel and its restaurants. These include a one-eyed cat, a seamstress, a Russian chef, a French maître d'hotel and former circus juggler, a poet, an actress, an underemployed architect, an orchestra conductor, a prince, a former Red Army colonel, and an aide-de-camp of an American general.[3]
Due to his diminished circumstances and restricted freedom, the Count has time for self-reflection. He is a brilliant conversationalist, readily discussing diverse subjects such as evolution, philosophy, Impressionism, Russian writers and poetry, food, post-revolutionary Russian society, and Russia's contributions to the world.
An early acquaintance at the hotel is nine-year-old Nina Kulikova, the daughter of a widowed Ukrainian bureaucrat, who is fascinated by princesses.
Sofia
In 1938, an unexpected arrival changes the Count's circumstances. Nina Kulikova, now a married woman, visits the Count. She confides that her husband Leo was arrested and sentenced to five years of forced labor by the Gulag. Nina decides to follow her husband to Sevvostlag in Kolyma, a remote region of the Soviet Union bounded by the East Siberian Sea and the Arctic Ocean. She begs the Count to accept temporary custody of her young daughter Sofia, while she makes arrangements for the child to join her in Siberia to be near her father. This is the last time the Count sees Nina, so at the age of 49, he becomes Sofia's surrogate father.
Sofia is a quiet, highly intelligent child. Her potential manifests itself through various escapades, including games of hide-and-seek as a young girl and quickly navigating the hotel in order to surprise her father.
Later, Sofia takes piano lessons. She surprises the Count by playing a Chopin nocturne (Opus 9, number 2, in E-flat major) after only a few lessons. It is clear to both the piano teacher and the Count that Sofia is a musical prodigy.
Observations of life in the Soviet Union
The Count's experiences with the various forces of the Revolution, the Soviet state, and foreign guests provide opportunities for reflection on different historic moments through the Cold War. The Count's views are particularly affected by the experience of his childhood friend after being asked to censor one of Dostoevsky's writing, which culminates alongside Sofia's artistry in the climax of the book.
Food and drink
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
Towles's approach in A Gentleman in Moscow was described as a "gorgeous sleight of hand" by The New York Times:
What saves the book is the gorgeous sleight of hand that draws it to a satisfying end, and the way he chooses themes that run deeper than mere sociopolitical commentary: parental duty, friendship, romance, the call of home. Human beings, after all, 'deserve not only our consideration but our reconsideration' – even those from the leisured class. Who will save Rostov from the intrusions of the state if not the seamstresses, chefs, bartenders, and doormen? In the end, Towles's greatest narrative effect is not the moments of wonder and synchronicity but the free transformation of these peripheral workers, over decades, into confidants, equals, and, finally, friends. With them around, a life sentence in these gilded halls might make Rostov the luckiest man in Russia.[3]
Reception
Kirkus Reviews found the book to be "a great novel, a nonstop pleasure brimming with charm, personal wisdom, and philosophic insight. This book more than fulfills the promise of Towles' stylish debut, Rules of Civility."[5] NPR opined that "A Gentleman in Moscow is a novel that aims to charm ... and the result is winning, stylish ... Flair is always the goal – Towles never lets anyone merely say goodbye when they could bid adieu, never puts a period where an exclamation point or dramatic ellipsis could stand."[6] At Book Marks, a review aggregator website, the novel received a cumulative "Positive" rating based on 11 reviews: 3 "Rave", 5 "Positive", and 3 "Mixed".[7] Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall recommended the book to those in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.[8]
A Gentleman in Moscow was a finalist for the 2016 Kirkus Prize in Fiction & Literature.[9] It was also an International Dublin Literary Award nominee (2018 longlist).[10]
The audiobook, narrated by Nicholas Guy Smith,[11] was an AudioFile Magazine Earphones Award winner in 2016.[12]
Planned adaptation
In August 2017, it was reported that a limited series based on the book was in development at Entertainment One.[13]
In April 2018, it was announced that Kenneth Branagh would star as Count Rostov in the television series, and that Tom Harper would direct it.[14]
In August 2022, it was announced that Ewan McGregor had replaced Branagh in the role of Count Rostov, and that it will be released on Paramount+ internationally and Showtime in the US.[15][16]
References
- ^ A Gentleman in Moscow (2016), p. 18.
- ^ Neary, Lynn (2016-09-06). "Idea For 'Gentleman In Moscow' Came From Many Nights In Luxury Hotels". NPR.
- ^ a b Taylor, Craig (2016-09-23). "A Count Becomes a Waiter in a Novel of Soviet Supremacy". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
- ^ Daskal, Victoria (5 October 2021). "A Gentleman in Moscow's Wine". www.mummywineclub.com. Archived from the original on 2021-10-05. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
- ^ Kirkus Reviews (21 June 2016). "A Gentleman In Moscow". Kirkus Reviews Online. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
- ^ Quinn, Annalisa (2016-09-03). "'A Gentleman In Moscow' Is A Grand Hotel Adventure". npr.org. Retrieved 2019-06-30.
- ^ "Book Marks reviews of A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles". Book Marks. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
- ^ "The Duchess of Cornwall shares a reading list | Prince of Wales". www.princeofwales.gov.uk. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
- ^ Kirkus Reviews. "2016 Winners". Kirkus Reviews Online Online. Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
- ^ Dublin Literary Award. "The Nominees". International Dublin Literary Award. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
- ^ Rubins, Jennifer (27 March 2019). "A Gentleman in the Audiobook Studio: Nicholas Guy Smith on Narrating A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles". Penguin Random House Audio. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
- ^ "A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW by Amor Towles Read by Nicholas Guy Smith | Audiobook Review". AudioFile Magazine. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Vlessing, Etan (2018-04-03). "Kenneth Branagh to Star in TV Adaptation of 'A Gentleman in Moscow'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
- ^ Lin, Jennifer Marie. "A Gentleman in Moscow TV Series: What We Know". Archived from the original on 2020-02-06. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
- ^ Szalai, Georg (2022-08-25). "Ewan McGregor to Star in Drama Series 'A Gentleman in Moscow' for Paramount+ Internationally, Showtime in U.S." The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
Further reading
- Towles, Amor (2011). Rules of Civility. Waterville, ME: Thorndike Press. ISBN 978-1-4104-4324-3.