A Gentleman in Moscow

A Novel

By: Amor Towles

Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith

Length: 17 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

The mega-bestseller with more than 2 million readers, soon to be a Showtime/Paramount series starring Ewan McGregor as Count Alexander Rostov

From the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Lincoln Highway and Rules of Civility, a beautifully transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel

In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery.

Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.

©2016 Amor Towles (P)2016 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"The novel buzzes with the energy of numerous adventures, love affairs, [and] twists of fate."—The Wall Street Journal

"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."—Fareed Zakaria, "Global Public Square," CNN

"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.”—Bill Gates

Memorable novel

I liked this novel quite a bit, and loved many parts of it. I can see why this is a favorite of so many readers. That said, it is not for everyone. This is the story of a count in czarist Russia who returns after the Russian revolution. The count is put under indefinite house arrest in a tiny room of a fancy Moscow hotel. He chooses to live with dignity under the circumstances. This novel covers the 30 or so years that follow. This is a long novel, and the first half moves at a glacial pace. I'm glad that many reviewers warned me that the start was a bit slow. That is an understatement. The second half picks up to a slow/moderate pace. Yet, even at its slowest, this book was engaging. The writing is so amazing (and the reader was great). I so enjoyed listening to each sentence. The main character came so alive to me. I felt like I was living his life in a way that is rare in novels. I have always had an interest in Russia and the Soviet Union, and so I enjoyed the setting. The novel really began to engage me when the count befriended a 9 year old girl who lived in the hotel. His relationship with another child many years later was the one that was the most moving. This novel captures the dying aristocracy of a changing era, a theme that captivated many in Downton Abbey. To me, this was refreshingly original. The slow pace was needed for this story, yet there were times when I wanted it to move forward. I, unlike most readers, did not love the ending, but no spoilers here. I recommend this novel to readers who appreciate great literature and have an interest in the place and era.

The Finest Book I've Read in Years

Everything one could want in a book - history, suspense, espionage, friendship, politics, food, love, philosophy, and class. The writing is almost as if it were meant to be read aloud/listened to, it's that beautiful. For example the window at the post office is described as "the glass which separates the written from the read."

This is a book I will urge all of my family and friends listen to. I plan on listening to it again which is an almost 'unheard' of thing for me to do.

Exquisitely beautiful

You might think that a book which takes place almost entirely inside a Moscow hotel over the course of 40+ years would have some dull moments. But this novel is about Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, who has been sentenced to house arrest at the posh Hotel Metropol, and it is charming, sophisticated, funny, philosophical, and heart-warming. It's a book perfectly suited to our times, a lovely foil to The Age of Vulgarity and Trump. Count Rostov, confronted by the cruelties of the Soviet state, chooses the humane path. He is a class act. He looks for, and finds, the best in people. We come to know a host of his friends and acquaintances: the hotel staff, the chef and manager of the spectacular restaurant, the hotel seamstress, the little girl who grows up in the hotel and befriends the Count, and the hotel's guests. It is a stately, witty and beautifully-written long stretch of a book, and it is superbly narrated by Nicholas Guy Smith. I didn't want it to end. Bravo to Amor Towles! I haven't read his first novel, but will certainly do so now, and I look forward to the rest of his career.

I cared about these people and savored the book

Every once in awhile I find a book that is so beautiful that its characters draw me in and become my friends. This is that book for me. Beautiful writing. Fun to listen to.

It was slow starting out. the first chapter was so slow that I at first regretted my purchase. I continued listening out of a desire to not waste my purchase.

By chapter one I was transported into the story. I savored it and felt like I was saying goodbye to great friends.

A Remarkably Good Story

When my mother first told me about “A Gentleman in Moscow,” she knew she had to describe it in such a way that I would be intrigued, as I read nonfiction roughly 90% of the time. She died without much warning a short time later, and “A Gentleman in Moscow” is the first book I was able to ”read” afterwards. It’s an amazing story filled with unforgettable characters, surprising story lines, and extraordinary descriptions of places and personalities. I’ve listened to it twice now, and have fallen in love with Nicola’s Guy Smith’s voice... it’s perfect!

What a pleasure

Beautifully written and performed. It is one of those rare books where every phrase is like a gift that one wants to savor slowly. It has been a long time since I have enjoyed a book so much.

marvelous book

this book was a joy from beginning to end. a learning experience on Russian history as well as a lesson on gracious survival under difficult circumstances. not only survival but survival with grace and gallantry. a lesson for us all to learn.

Absorbing created world

I am a huge fan of Towles' first novel, Rules of Civility, which slipped through the nights of 1930's New York City in a silvery evening gown. In fact, years after reading it, I don't remember the characters' names - but I remember the look and the scent of that stylish, silvery city, which was the main character in the book.

So I was right in line to download A Gentleman in Moscow as soon as it was ready. The novel starts in a tribunal in the early days of the USSR, with an unrepentant aristocrat, Count Alexander Rosthoff, who's too connected to assassinate but has no intention of embracing Bolshevism. So he is scheduled to house arrest in the historic and stunning grand dame hotel, the Metropol, for the rest of his life. There he passes over 30 years, as the USSR changes outside, guests come and go, elegant managers are replaced with Bolshevik operatives, and he is moved from a gilded suite surrounded by his own heirlooms to a 100 sf bare attic.

The early part of the book was challenging to me as I couldn't get a handle on the voice - at times effete, at times tragic, always aloof in charming reserve, like the Count himself. But the life of the hotel and the potential to live a rich, full life there eventually took over. The book gets significantly more interesting with the arrival of a young child about 2/3 of the way through, and like in his first novel, accelerates and becomes more twisty and mysterious towards the end of the novel, with a deeply satisfying finish.

Towles' great talent is his ability to bring the reader completely into the physical world he's created - possibly the best evocative scene creator I've read.

The audio version is well-produced with a reader who perfectly captures the Count's voice.

Beautiful

This is likely the most beautifully written book I will read this decade. The narrator was the perfect choice. The descriptions in this book are compelling and gorgeous.

Amazing book

This is one of my most favorite stories I have enjoyed in YEARS! A must read book, but I enjoyed the audio version immensely!