- Book Review: A Gentleman In Moscow
- A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles: A One-Minute Book Review
- Is A Gentleman in Moscow really that good?
- A Book Review on A Gentleman in Moscow
- Amor Towles on New Novel A Gentleman in Moscow
- 679. Gills Book Club: A Gentleman In Moscow
- I Fell in Love with A Gentleman in Moscow | #BookTalk
Book Review: A Gentleman In Moscow
I typically do book reviews of,nonfiction but I recently read a,gentleman in Moscow and I found it so,inspirational that I just had to share,it a gentleman in Moscow is a story,about a Russian aristocrat named count,Alexander Elliot Rostov who at the,beginning of the novel is facing charges,for having written a revolutionary poem,back when he was in college because the,count has friends in high places,the Bolsheviks spare him from death and,instead his punishment is to be placed,under house arrest in the luxurious,Metropole Hotel where he lives for the,next thirty years now you might be,thinking that being forced to live in a,luxury hotel for the rest of your life,does not sound like much of a punishment,which is what I thought and that reading,a story that takes place entirely in one,location doesnt sound very interesting,which is also what I thought but thats,a testament to what a masterful,storyteller the author is he not only,makes his unlikely protagonist so,endearing and lovable but he vividly,brings to life the world within the,Metropole Hotel such that you never feel,bored or claustrophobic for me this was,one of the first lessons that the book,made me reflect upon this notion of what,captivity really means you and I might,not be under house arrest but how many,of us truly explore the world around us,rather than just floating through life,taking for granted the same things we,see every day the count thought he knew,every part of the hotel until he,befriends a young girl who gives him the,key that opens up the world around him,quite literally she gives them a key,that opens up every door in the hotel,from the basement to the rooftop this,book reminded me of the simple super,power that we all possess which is the,power of observation,your world no matter where you are and,how small it is is only limited by your,curiosity and your imagination also,woven into these beautifully written,passages are these poignant reminders of,what it means to have dignity and what,it means to be a gentleman or a gentle,person really the counts may be of a,higher class but it is abundantly clear,that having manners integrity loyalty,and speaking and acting intentionally,have nothing to do with class and,everything to do with your innate,character in a way this book reminded me,of the comedy / drama life is beautiful,the author takes serious subject matter,in this case the turbulent times after,the Bolshevik Revolution and he infuses,these universal truths about life but in,a way thats not cheesy and hes not,like hitting you over the head with the,moral of the story because above,everything else its just a great story,there are heroes villains memorable,supporting characters adventure history,suspense and even a love story its just,that good I can make a dozen more videos,on different aspects of this book that I,found inspiring but if I had to sum it,up when I finished reading the last page,I felt like I had finished a delicious,satisfying meal,I felt content happy and ready to take a,nap and when I woke up from that nap I,was ready to live my life a little,differently which i think is a sign of a,really inspirational book so if you were,in need of a great summer read and you,want to feel inspired I highly recommend,that you check out a gentleman in LA,ow
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles: A One-Minute Book Review
hey book club dan here from one man book,club guys i am really excited to share,with you,a review for the single most recommended,book to me in all of 2020 everyone,wanted me to read this book,and i did and here it is a gentleman in,moscow by amar tolls,if you go out there and look on,goodreads or amazon you are going to,find a ton,of really great reviews lots and lots of,recommendations on this book,guys i hate to disappoint you sorry,everyone,but this book is boring,whoa sorry that was me ducking flying,tomatoes,but okay okay listen uh its only boring,for the first,55 or 60 of the book the back half,of the book i found all of those things,i was expecting to find but,man dang it it sure took a sweet time,getting to,there like everyone else i was glad to,be,captured by the unflappably unflappably,elegant wonderfully charming and,endlessly,quotable star of this story count rustov,his positivity was inspiring,particularly in this post-2020 era of,being asked over and over again to make,a lemonade out of lemons,his quote that was said a couple times,in the book,a man must master his circumstances or,otherwise be mastered,by them will likely find its way onto my,as yet unpublished greatest hits album,of book quotes,i was impressed again and again with the,clever ways such a tumultuous time in,russian and really,in world history was delicately,incorporated,to teach history without giving a,history lesson,i really did i loved it and i saw i,understand the adoration,but it remains the book is about a man,trapped in a hotel for 30 years,its boring yet brilliant in the way,that castaway with tom hanks was boring,yet brilliant,this is a nearly 500 page novel that,doesnt go many places and for the first,250 pages,honestly it felt a little bit like a,chore the monologues,the drawn out flashbacks the pages of,philosophy,i wanted to love it i wanted to be,pulled through i wanted to be gripped,but it dragged for me,then suddenly hallelujah a new character,is introduced right around 50,that gives the count another place for,his mind to go,just like that the story gets going the,relationships suddenly get meaningful,theres conflict that has to be,navigated and,finally there was something to root for,the count,now had a reason to wake up in the,morning besides his endless optimism,and i had a reason to finish the story,and ill tell you what,it finished very very strong,no content concerns at all but i do see,only the most ambitious of teenagers,enjoying,this book ill say best for 16 and up,happy reading everyone
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Is A Gentleman in Moscow really that good?
– Hello, and welcome to Korbys Book Club,,where I tell you about books that Ive read,that I think you might enjoy.,♪ She was a book nerd. ♪,♪ She had blonde hair. ♪,The book clubs been going on for a couple years now,,long enough that Im starting to get,some of the recommendations fans of the show have sent me.,Anytime you suggest a book, I add it,to an ever expanding list of wordy delights.,Who knows what alchemy leads me to read one book,and not the other, but whatever the impulse,,its what led me to this one.,”A Gentleman in Moscow” was written,by Amor Towles and published in 2016 to rave reviews.,It was on the New York Times Best Seller list,for more than 40 weeks and received wide critical praise,and made several best books of the year lists.,Set in Moscow, the story begins in 1917,when the hero, Count Rostov, is arrested,in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution,and charged as a social parasite.,Hes charmingly unrepentant,,and perhaps because of a certain poem,hes attributed to have written, is spared execution.,Instead, hes condemned to house arrest,in the hotel where hes been living, the Metropol,,in the heart of downtown Moscow.,A cultivated person, Rostov adopts the advice,of his late grandfather,that a man must master his circumstances,or be mastered by them.,Lest the main theme of the novel be lost on ye, dear reader,,this passage is recalled and repeated throughout the book,and it would not be too much to say,that the protagonists chief appeal lay in his embrace,and acceptance of his would-be diminished circumstances.,There he is, a former count living in an attic,,still reading his Pushkin, still getting weekly haircuts,,still engaging in the ritualized pleasures,of civilized life -,The late morning coffee, the evening snifter of brandy,,the spot of conversation over tea.,A story set in a world-famous hotel,provides plenty of opportunity,for new characters to appear and withdraw.,Time and again, Count Rostov comes,up against some trial, small or large -,be it a derisive and jealous coworker,,an intrusion from a suspicious authority,,or the sudden appearance of a child dependent -,and by combination of wit, sympathy, and charm,,he makes the circumstance his own.,Im going to use the word “charm” again,because thats what this story turns on,and what shines brightest in it.,Rostov is a man of the world,,almost always composed, deferential, exquisitely polite,,and fundamentally warmhearted,,even toward his detractors.,The narrative language is itself,an extension of the Counts own voice, which is to say,it feels almost like a long story,told across the table at dinner.,Each of the characters is presented,,with one exception, in a sympathetic light,and in that way, theres something,of Tolstoy in Towless own tale.,Now Im going to say something critical.,Unlike Tolstoy, the characters in “A Gentleman in Moscow”,often fall short of the truly three-dimensional.,This is going to be unpopular because people love this book.,But theres something stage-like in the whole story,,maybe even Disney-ish.,Traditional Russian novels are great,because they dare to look where lesser minds dont.,The Russian writer pokes its characters,until they do something stupid or ugly,and then forgives them.,Its that probing for the depths of human weakness,which causes such a strong identification,between the reader and, say, Tolstoys Anna Karenina,or Dostoevskys Raskolnikov.,The very American author who wrote “A Gentleman in Moscow”,is content to keep the uglier side,of human nature out of sight.,The action always occurs in a flattering light,,the dialogue is never not witty,,but like any clever repartee, the language masks,as much as it reveals.,That said, “A Gentleman in Moscow” is a heartwarming story,told with beautiful language and populated with charming,,if slightly sentimental characters.,A lot of people really love this book.,I liked it, maybe you should read it.,Thats all the time we have for Korbys Book Club.,Let me know what I should check out next.,Take a second to hit the Subscribe button and remember,,music keeps you young, but reading keeps you sharp.,See you next time.,♪ She was a book nerd. ♪,♪ She had blonde hair with paperback in her back pocket. ♪
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A Book Review on A Gentleman in Moscow
hi everyone helen blunden here,at activate learn on twitter it is time,for another book review,and this time around you see me here,ive just come back from my morning walk,through a bit of lippy on thought im,just going to do the book review,as is so here i am with my covert hair,under lockdown still in melbourne now,this time around this book has been,really interesting,for me ive been thinking about it a lot,especially,as here in melbourne we are in lockdown,and as i was reading this book i was,also thinking a lot about julian assange,but thats another matter lets go on,with talking about the book,now as you can see i havent got the,book in my hands,i bought it as a kindle book and i,should have bought it as a physical book,because its a book that i would love to,have,on my shelf and i would love to read it,again not that i cant read it on,kindle but you know i want the physical,book sometimes,so the book is amore tolls,a gentleman in moscow now its not a new,book,its been around for some years and its,been on the best seller list and in fact,i would hazard a guess that youve,probably already heard about it,or have heard that theyre already also,making a,series out of it which is going to be,very interesting and that im going to,be looking out for,so what is the book about the book is,about one of the last i guess remaining,people of tsarist,russia his account hes an aristocrat,and his name,is count ila rich alexander rostov i,think i got that right,uh anyway he writes this poem and this,poem,is considered by the bolsheviks,the bolsheviks as being in sight well it,can incite the public,to to action of some sort and they,didnt want that,they didnt want poetry or words,actually stir,up the populace at this time so rather,than putting me to jail,they put him into the metropole hotel,under house arrest and they basically,said youre not to leave,or else we will kill you and so this,whole story,is about his life 32 years,in the metropole hotel now when you,think about metropolitan hotel think,about a hotel in your city that is very,opulent that is a sign,of say a century past of times past,of richer more wonderful,times this was the metropole its kind,of like the ritz of moscow,and the hotel itself,seemed to be like a character in the,book it was,to me i felt it was personified a time,and a place,that was of a history long,past and its within and surrounded,by a world that is constantly changing,and in a city,and a country that was uh becoming an,overcame,with the communist ideals so i kind of,think of it like,black and white with a burst of color,and wonder,and opportunity in the middle of the,metropole hotel,and so the count lives in this so he,dines,hes hes a very aristocratic person,hes well,versed in education history music,russian art literature he speaks well,hes always interested in his,surroundings,hes always interested to learn more,about,uh the people that come and visit and,the people who stay at the hotel,and here you could see hes a man of,punctuality and,hes got his routine set up,so that every day is pretty much the,same,but hes able to kind of,make do with his situation now the book,itself is also about the characters that,come,into his life at the start of the book,he tries to commit suicide i think he,realizes the enormous,i guess pressure of staying in a very,small room,um but he also creates a little secret,room which is wonderful,and he tries to commit suicide because,he doesnt see,him getting out of the situation any,time soon,but hes saved by a friend of his now,throughout the,um the book we also are introduced to,a couple of young girls and this is one,of the other aspects of the book,that i loved about the intergenerational,relationship of,the count with these young girls the,first girl was,nina and nina was this precocious,nine-year-old she was the daughter,of a russian official and she was bored,because her father would leave her for,hours at a time but she found ways to,amuse herself,and so they strike up a friendship and,she gives the count,this key card this this card kind of,like well not maybe a key card it could,be just a key i dont know,anyway this an axis and all access pass,to all levels of the hotel to all parts,of the hotel that are considered secret,or,not seen by the public and they go on an,exploratory journey so,they discover new rooms they discover,the basement they discover places,and people that they hadnt seen before,now this,opens up the counts eyes all of a,sudden where,the four walls were closing in on him he,finally realized that,hes within a whole microcosm of a world,and its up to him to kind of find the,adventures and find the people the,characters the history,and the things to do within these four,walls and he certainly finds it with,that pass,which certainly helps him throughout,his adventures now nina grows up,and she gets married and she has a child,of her own and she becomes one of these,communist,officials and at one stage we see her,come back to the hotel with her young,daughter sophia,because she needs to go and find her,husband who has been taken,by the um the russian officials probably,in siberia somewhere,and she tells uh the count to look after,young sophia and that shell be back to,to uh to take her but we dont see nina,anymore and in actual fact young sofia,is completely different from her mother,and she puts i guess,the spanner in the works because the,count is very,punctual is very routine orientated hes,got a schedule,and all of a sudden hes got this young,kid who has to he has to deal with,and uh people around the hotel the other,waiters the other,the people that he befriends are always,giving him advice,and they also take her under under their,wing as well so that she becomes part of,the family,and uh we find out that young sophia has,a talent as she grows,shes an excellent pianist and she gets,invited to,uh to actually play the piano,in paris but she cant um,well she can leave the hotel but,unfortunately the count,cant and so theres a storyline there,which i wont um,divulge because that is the main,storyline,but throughout this whole book theres a,whole heap of themes now,the first thing that i would say is the,hotel itself which is a microcosm of a,time past,in a world that is constantly changing,and,i keep thinking of that revolving door,to the metropole hotel,and in the revolving door people come,through that actually bring,a little bit of the outside in and tell,the count,what is happening with regards to the,life,outside so he lives in a a bubble,and as people come into the hotel we get,snippets,of history happening throughout,uh throughout the the story and indeed,all the chapters,are pretty much the years that have gone,by,so thats we get the story about russian,history although we dont get it fully,its not,oppressive in any way um in in actual,fact its really interesting to get,these glimpses,of how russian history had happened the,um the different ways that the officials,would meet,at the metropole hotel and the hierarchy,of of their meetings was very,interesting to read,so thats uh one theme another theme i,got about,um being able to kind of make your world,bigger than it is now as i sat back here,i mean,im in lockdown here uh melbourne has,been in lockdown for a very long time,and were at a point where were really,frustrated with the i guess the strict,conditions,we have a curfew we cant go out,of our homes past eight oclock sorry,nine oclock now,till early in the morning all our,cafes and restaurants are shuts except,theyre shut except for takeaway,we can only go outside our home,for two hours and even those two hours,are not consecutive,uh were constrained within five,kilometers of our home so,as i was reading this book i was,thinking about my own situation and i,thought,where i thought the five kilometers was,actually quite limiting for me,if i could take a lesson out of this,book from the count,and actually consider what are the,things within my five kilometers tha
Amor Towles on New Novel A Gentleman in Moscow
so were at the Russian Tea Room which,we thought would be a very apt setting,to discuss your new novel a gentlemen in,Moscow which takes place in entirety in,a Russian Hotel perfect spot were going,to Irish huh why Russia in I guess it,was 2009 when I was traveling for,business I was in the investment field,for 20 years and I was in a hotel in,Geneva for the 10th time and I thought,to myself as I looked around the lobby,and even recognized some people in the,lobby,what would be like you got to live in,this place this is a nice hotel but if,we had to really live here for the rest,of your life and as I went upstairs I,thought you know yeah thats right what,its an idea for a book guy has to live,in a hotel when I wrote that idea down I,thought to myself it it shouldnt be by,choice this character who Ive started,to invent he should have to live in a,hotel by force and that immediately made,me think of Russia where house arrest,has existed for centuries and I had seen,the Metropole in 1998 when I was in,Moscow I have walked through the hotel I,knew it was right there almost across,the street from the Kremlin and around,the corner from the secret police this,Grand Hotel with a lot of Russian,history and so I write on the first day,thought you know thats where this story,is going to take place the notion is,that in in 1922 in the book opens at a,Bolshevik tribunal where this 30-year,old,aristocrat Alexander Rostov is being,interviewed and it comes out in the,course of this brief transcript that he,wrote a poem as a younger man that was,popular with the revolutionary,generation you know they saw it as kind,of a call to arms so as theyre,interviewing him they know that they,cant condemn him to death because he,has some friends in high places but it,becomes clear in the course of the,conversation that hes an unrepentant,aristocrat and the the tribunal views,him therefore as a danger to society in,essences you were to get out and you,know share his views so as a compromise,they tell him you can go back to the,Metropole Hotel where youve been,staying and if you ever come out of the,hotel again you know,you will be shot and the book of that,opens with him being marched out of the,Kremlin across Red Square and through,the doors of this historic hotel where,he and you the reader spend the next you,know thirty years and thats a I think,if in many ways one of the biggest,challenges of the book for me my job is,is to fill that building with enough,life and a personality that once youre,inside that you dont feel,claustrophobic within the space that it,sort of grows around you and becomes a,bigger and bigger environment in which,to have life unfold while the count is,living in the hotel all of this change,all of these sort of scary new politics,are taking place outside the doors and,you sort of bring those things in a,light touch yes we know that theyre,going on but its not the main event of,the story can you tell me a little bit,about constructing its one that is one,of the great challenges of this,particular work to say well Im writing,a book about Russia from you know the,almost the entire Stalinist era in which,you have you know the famines and the,upheaval and then you have purges and,you have the Second World War I mean it,was a very very challenging difficult,time for Russia and for the Russian,populace without question so its a very,delicate balance and on the one hand you,have the count whos trapped in the,hotel it was a very optimistic figure,and but there is a separate voice in the,book its almost like a secondary,narrator who is you get the sense its,kind of outside the hotel who is,witnessing that the challenges of the,common Russian with a much more acute,and cynical eye and and that voice,begins to appear initially in the form,of footnotes you know sort of,elaborating on something which the count,has observed or or critiquing it or or,or countering it to some degree and as,the story goes on that voice grows a,little bit stronger you hear a little,bit more of whats happening outside the,hotel and as you get to know the other,characters in the book they may leave,the hotel so you can kind of begin to,follow them a little bit of an terms of,their experience outside aside from an,interest in manners and moral,what else is similar between your first,novel Rules of Civility and a gentleman,in Moscow oh its different yeah at some,level one of the reasons I think I chose,that project is because it contrasts in,so many ways with rules to civility well,civility and central character is a 25,year old woman of a working-class,background whos trying to climb the,ranks socially you know here its a you,know a man you know going from the ages,of 30 and 60 whos coming from a,sophisticated background and you know if,facing privation one you you have kind,of the run of Manhattan you know the,other youre youre really trapped,inside of a building for the most part,you know one takes place over twelve,months the other takes place over 30,years John Moscow does and I think,finally Rules of Civility because it,really is about some of that moment in,life 25 where youre reinventing or,youre inventing yourself for the first,time there are no children or parents in,that book virtually but this book is,very different its very much about,generational relationships and you see,the interaction of those different ages,in contrast to each other and and how,that plays out over the 30-year period,you
679. Gills Book Club: A Gentleman In Moscow
hello this episode is sponsored by,lukes english podcast premium,uh with lukes english podcast i have,two podcasts in fact,theres the free episodes which feature,monologues conversations with guests or,specific topics,thats where you get to listen to,natural english on a regular basis,presented to you for you then the,premium episodes are all about language,often i take samples from three episodes,then i break them down for target,language which i teach to you,help you remember and pronounce,correctly so the double whammy,is to listen to lukes english podcast,and also to be a premium subscriber,to get the maximum benefit from my work,to get,started with lukes english podcast,premium go to teacherluke dot co dot uk,premium info for more info,[Music],youre listening to lukes english,podcast for more information,visit teacherloop.co.uk,[Music],hello and welcome to jills book club on,lukes english podcast this is the,second,jills book club episode and this is,where i talk to my mum,jill thompson about books that shes,enjoyed,my mum loves books shes a voracious,reader a member of a book club,with her friends and she works in a,second hand book shop,she gets through loads of books so this,is naturally a topic that we can explore,together on the podcast,so how does this work how does jills,book club work well basically,we pick a book a few months in advance,give people a chance to read it,and if you remember i dont know how,many months ago now probably something,like,february maybe march i told everyone,which book would be next so we put we,pick a book,a few months in advance give people a,chance to read it,then talk about it on the podcast,including some of the main plot points,and there are no spoilers dont worry,characters context,and details and youre thinking to,yourself wait luke do i need to read the,book,do you have to read the book too well no,you dont dont worry you dont have to,read the book if thats what you were,wondering youre thinking,your finger was hovering over the stop,button,youre thinking i havent listened to,the book no but its okay,its all right uh you dont really need,to,to read the book you can but you dont,really need to,we will explain the main plot points,without giving away any spoilers,but we should explain things fairly,clearly so its still possible to,understand and enjoy the episode,even if you havent read the book but,you can read the book if you like of,course or you could get the audiobook,version so you could read the book first,then listen to this or you could listen,to this first,then read the book or just listen to,this without reading the book at all or,just read the book without listening to,this,which um well i hope you listen to this,anyway,so any combination you could you know,listen then read read then listen or,just listen,and just enjoy hearing my mum talking,about this book,the characters the story and so on there,might also be some nice vocabulary,coming up which you can notice as we go,along,as usual check the episode page on my,website to see,some vocabulary notes and transcripts,for other episodes ive done in the past,with advice on reading books to improve,your english,check the episode archive you might be,you know wondering about that,what do i have to say about reading,books and learning english theres a,couple of episodes in the archive,uh have a look in there,i said earlier this year then that,the book wed be talking about in the,next episode of jills book club,is called a gentleman in moscow by,amore tolls and so thats the main topic,of conversation here,this little summary from wikipedia goes,like this,a gentleman in moscow is a 2016,novel by amortols its his second novel,following the release of the new york,times best-selling novel,rules of civility the novel concerns,count,alexander ilitch rostov a man ordered by,a bolshevik tribunal,to spend the rest of his life in a,luxury hotel,in the heart of moscow okay so thats a,little summary of the book well be,talking about,uh theres a little bit of small talk at,the beginning but then we get stuck into,the book properly,ill talk to you again on the other side,of this conversation but now,lets listen to my mum talking about her,latest book,recommendation,[Music],[Applause],this is jills book club on lukes,english podcast,hello mum how are you hello luke im,fine how are you,im fine thank you so here we are this,is,jills book club number two yeah the,first one was,ages ago now i cant remember when it,was its before,lockdown i think i think it was before,the lockdown,um and so anyway here we are were back,again were going to talk about uh,a book that you like uh hows the,lockdown been for you anyway,but its been fun lockdown has been fine,because we were just,in our house in our garden and were,both very happy being in our house and,in our garden,and we didnt miss going out much and it,was absolutely fine really,the worst thing of course is not being,able to see friends and family but,um you know you and i and the rest of,the family had zoom meetings most weeks,and,almost every day really at one point um,so that was good,uh but really lockdown itself wasnt too,bad its,now i find it more difficult now things,are beginning to open up a bit,um its very complicated it is,and one doesnt feel entirely safe and,one doesnt know what to believe thats,a big problem,yes uh you know all that sort of thing,did you read more during the lockdown,well it was interesting because,that was my first thought because ive,got a huge tbr pile thats a,to be read because working in a bookshop,im always finding books that,i think oh yes i meant to read that or,oh that looks interesting so im always,buying books,and never have time to read them or at,least i can only read one,you know when ive got six to read i can,only read one,um so i thought oh good im ill i wont,have anything else to do i can get stuck,into that tbr,pile but i found i couldnt read,it was most bizarre my brain was sort of,flitting around all over the place and,feeling slightly anxious i suppose and i,couldnt concentrate at all it was,really,bizarre didnt like it at all but i,managed to break it by,um reading short stories instead of,embarking on a novel or a,biography or whatever i read a book of,short stories and that helped get me,back into it,and one and after that i was able to,read okay thank goodness for that,do you not i mean i you know that im a,very bad reader,well you dont have the time do you yeah,thats the thing,thats thats the thing if i i would,love to be able to just sit in a chair,all day and just read is it would just,be wonderful absolute bliss,yeah but um i mean there are moments in,the day when i could be reading and i,do other things like in the evening i,could read and stuff but um,but i dont so and im just thinking you,know what is it that prevents me from,doing it when i i find that i sit there,i read i find it so relaxing,that inevitably yeah i put the book down,on my chest and i close my eyes because,its so nice and then i fall asleep or,something,i guess im like my dad in that way yeah,you are,but also theres this sense that when,im first of all when im choosing books,i can never choose its impossible to,choose,and then i feel quite intimidated at the,beginning,do you ever get that feeling of like a,bit overwhelmed by the challenge of,having to read all this book and its,like youve got to struggle to to get to,know the characters and,uh does it not take you a while to get,into books sometimes do you ever feel a,bit like oh i cant do this,um i i im never really terribly,intimidated it sometimes takes me longer,to get into some books than others but,everybody,has that um experience um but no i dont,think im intimidated,particularly um a book you should read,is um the year of reading dangerously by,andy miller,um you know hes one of the back listed,presenters,the year right now the podcast that i,listen to i do the year of reading days,years reading dangerously because,because,he was in
I Fell in Love with A Gentleman in Moscow | #BookTalk
hey guys welcome to todays book talk I,am so excited to be talking about a,gentleman in Moscow today I absolutely,adored this book I give it 5 stars it,was beautiful from start to finish,and I absolutely adored it as always the,beginning of book talks are spoiler free,so Im just going to give you a quick,sort of synopsis and review of the book,and then I will give you a little,warning before I get into the actual,spoilers of the book so the main premise,of a gentleman in Moscow is this man the,count he ends up getting sentenced to a,lifetime of house arrest in the,Metropole Hotel which is a famous hotel,in Russia where hes been living and,essentially they say look if you ever,leave this building were gonna shoot,you I think you are stuck here for the,rest of your life obviously being like,part of the royalty kind of thing,hes luckily lucky to even be alive but,its a really fascinating story you,follow him through about 30 plus or so,years of his life of him living in this,hotel and I just thought this entire,book was an absolutely incredible,experience I love the side characters I,loved the way that he thought about,things and the way that he sort of,dissected things and his like inner,thoughts and things I just I loved like,I said I loved pretty much every aspect,of this book so something that I started,doing is I will put notes in the back of,pretty much every book that I read Ill,slap in a whole bunch of sticky notes,and I usually do a pros and cons list,and then I have like a place where like,quotes and characters and things like,that and I make a lot of notes while Im,reading I didnt write down every single,quote in the back of the book this time,because I kind of just there were so,many things to quote in this book I just,started slapping in flags and I will go,back and finish making my notes at the,back afterwards with all of the tabs,that I threw in there so as I was saying,I slap all these stickies in the back,and I usually start with a pros and cons,list and that is kind of what Im going,to get into right now and again these,will be spoiler free still,but the thing with the pros and cons,list that I found with this book were a,lot of the poor that a lot of the pros,could potentially be cons in the room,for the wrong reader for someone who,just doesnt like this style of writing,I guess so essentially I loved it from,the beginning but it is like it has this,sort of quirky sophisticated if you,could put those words together its,quirky and the way that the count thinks,is a little bit quirky but hes also so,like refined and sophisticated and sweet,its its a very interesting balance I,found but also I could see with the,wrong reader or not the wrong reader but,with a reader who doesnt like this sort,of thing I could see them seeing the,book as kind of a pretentious sort of,thing to me it didnt hit that way at,all I thought it was incredibly,beautiful but I could see how that was,not be everyones cup of tea and then,the next thing that I had here was that,I was kind of getting JM Barrie Markus,Zusak sort of vibes so if you liked all,the light you cannot see and if you,liked The Book Thief or even bridge of,clay or Peter Pan,if you liked those quirky elements and,the sort of over written nature and the,tangents and the long explanations and,like the inner thoughts you like that,kind of stuff then youll probably adore,this book but I can again also see why,that wouldnt resonate well with every,single reader like I know cuz I actually,looked on Goodreads and I know theres a,decent handful of people who dont like,that style of writing and then the last,thing that I did write down because,honestly I could write prose for days,most of the notes are just good things,about the book anyway but it does have a,very intelligent child character and Im,doing spoiler free so Im just gonna,leave it at that for now but I feel like,some people dont like intelligent,children I feel like sometimes people,think well theyre written too,intelligent for their age or something,like that I loved it it reminded me of,so from in every nursery not in every,morning from my grandmother sends her,regards and apologizes right the,character in this book reminded me of,Elsa from that book and I loved that,book and I loved for a jerk Bachman and,I loved anything that makes me think of,that I could go on for ages and ages and,ages about all the things that I loved,about this book so if it sounds,interesting at all to you I would say,pick it up you cant go wrong it is such,a beautiful story and I absolutely,adored it I was literally hooked from,the very very beginning when I was,chuckling hes in this court hearing,about like what to do with him but,because hed written this poem um years,before they werent as harsh with their,punishments on him as they normally,would have been with someone who like,socialized with royalty and whatnot so,at one point in the interview they asked,him why did you write the poem and he,said it demanded to be written,I simply happened to be sitting at the,particular desk on the particular,morning when it chose to make its,demands and that like that quote in,itself just kind of made me chuckle and,that was like in the very beginning of,the book I just had a good feeling about,how this was gonna go and I just thought,it was fantastic anyway I am gonna get,into the spoilers now because I really,dont think theres anything more I can,say spoiler-free so Im just gonna get,into like all my favorite parts of the,book and you guys know how I do this so,if youve read the book stick around and,lets have a conversation down in the,comment section so as I said this story,is gorgeous its so well done its so,well written I loved the characters I,loved the dynamic I loved the count I I,adored his personality I thought he was,so incredibly sweet and I thought that,this book was so incredibly quotable,like there were just so many tabs so,many things like in the beginning um,when they first sentence him to his,house arrest and he gets sent to the,hotel and he thinks that hes going to,be living out his,in the same set of rooms that he always,has with a sweet is that we call it a,sweet he goes back home to his suite,only to find out that he cant stay in,that part of the hotel anymore and of,course there had to be something to make,the situation worse as like more of a,punishment and so they said pretty much,like take what you can fit and you have,to move into this teeny tiny little room,upstairs like far away from everybody,else in the hotel so he gets downgraded,and its it I found it really,interesting because like if you were to,think about if out happened to you how,sad it is to lose things and so I loved,how his perspective like his thought,process he kind of went through you know,a little bit of nostalgia looking at all,of these heirlooms that he had around,him and all these things he starts,talking about his grandmother so it goes,back in time and the count is sort of,telling this story about how hes,playing a game with this boy and he lost,and the count didnt take it well and,his grandmother says theres nothing,Pleasant to be said about losing and the,obe Lensky boy is a pill but Sasha my,dear why on earth would you give him the,satisfaction and the count sort of went,into this whole experience of having to,change where he was living in change his,station and all this stuff as like why,give them the satisfaction of letting,them see that like hes hurting or,letting them see that hes disappointed,and he kind of just like took the bright,side of things and then hes going,through and hes looking at all of his,different like little possessions and,heirlooms and all these things and then,at the end of this long thing he just,says but of course the thing is just a,thing and so I thought that was really,interesting because a lot of times like,everybody does this we get caught up,with stuff and sometimes like say,someone breaks something of ours or,wrecks something like say the