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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
Beautiful writing, and wonderful character development.
Too slow for my taste. I appreciated some of the adventures the count went on, but felt like the book was going nowhere. Found myself skipping full lines and sections near the end before I called it quits.
DNF I just couldn’t get into it and I was too bored.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
AGIM tells the story of Count Alexander Rostov, convicted to spend his life in the Metropol hotel in Moscow. I’ve had this book on my shelves for a while now, yet I never got to it. Now, I regret not picking it up sooner.
I’ve had to gnaw myself a way through my fair share of garbage lately. Settings that were too chaotic and irrelevant, characters that just weren’t realistic in any way, and rushed storylines without resolutions.
Oh boy, I can’t believe just how much AGIM differs from those books. It’s not just better than books that deserve only a I’ll wipe my ass with this garbage - it is actually amazing. And I haven’t said that in a while.
I am almost ashamed to say I wasn’t expecting much of a book with just one setting… But boy, was I wrong. With a vast array of characters, the Count never leads a boring life, which is only emphasized by his exploration of the secret nooks and crannies of the hotel, taken by the hand by a nine-year-old who seemed determined to befriend him. Now, I usually struggle with large amounts of characters since only few authors manage to bring them to life throughout their books, and they just... get mixed up in my head. But not in AGIM; I was so glad to see that all major characters were vividly described, and had their own quirks and flaws.
I won’t lie, AGIM was not easy to get through, mostly since it expects a very skilled reader in terms of the English language. It definitely took me some chapters to get used to it. But then, as I advanced, it became clear just how fitting the fancy use of words was for the main character. And at that point, the entire book became even more wonderful and charming and just lovely.
And then there was this brilliant snippet that really stood out to me and made me put the book down, and let the words sit in my mind for a while.
”After all, what can a first impression tell us about someone we’ve just met for a minute in the lobby of a hotel? For that matter, what can a first impression tell us about anyone? […] By their very nature, human beings are so capricious, so complex, so delightfully contradictory, that they deserve not only our consideration, but our reconsideration—and our unwavering determination to withhold our opinion until we have engaged with them in every possible setting at every possible hour.”
My words won’t do any of the book justice, so I’ll just urge you to read it and marvel at the piece of art that Amor Towles has brought forth.
I’ve had to gnaw myself a way through my fair share of garbage lately. Settings that were too chaotic and irrelevant, characters that just weren’t realistic in any way, and rushed storylines without resolutions.
Oh boy, I can’t believe just how much AGIM differs from those books. It’s not just better than books that deserve only a I’ll wipe my ass with this garbage - it is actually amazing. And I haven’t said that in a while.
I am almost ashamed to say I wasn’t expecting much of a book with just one setting… But boy, was I wrong. With a vast array of characters, the Count never leads a boring life, which is only emphasized by his exploration of the secret nooks and crannies of the hotel, taken by the hand by a nine-year-old who seemed determined to befriend him. Now, I usually struggle with large amounts of characters since only few authors manage to bring them to life throughout their books, and they just... get mixed up in my head. But not in AGIM; I was so glad to see that all major characters were vividly described, and had their own quirks and flaws.
I won’t lie, AGIM was not easy to get through, mostly since it expects a very skilled reader in terms of the English language. It definitely took me some chapters to get used to it. But then, as I advanced, it became clear just how fitting the fancy use of words was for the main character. And at that point, the entire book became even more wonderful and charming and just lovely.
And then there was this brilliant snippet that really stood out to me and made me put the book down, and let the words sit in my mind for a while.
”After all, what can a first impression tell us about someone we’ve just met for a minute in the lobby of a hotel? For that matter, what can a first impression tell us about anyone? […] By their very nature, human beings are so capricious, so complex, so delightfully contradictory, that they deserve not only our consideration, but our reconsideration—and our unwavering determination to withhold our opinion until we have engaged with them in every possible setting at every possible hour.”
My words won’t do any of the book justice, so I’ll just urge you to read it and marvel at the piece of art that Amor Towles has brought forth.
Words that come to mind are 'delightful' and 'charming,' but those seem light to convey what is a truly lovely book which captures such a range of human experience within the microcosm of the Metropol.
A character study of a novel. This is the tale of both 30 years of Russian history and of Count Alexander Rostov. In 1922 Moscow (five years after the Russian Revolution, four years after Czar Alexander and his family are executed), the Count is sentenced to exile within the Hotel Metropol for his writing.
This book was as charming, warmhearted, and stylish as the Count, but at times a bit too whimsical for my taste. It is a mix of The Grand Budapest Hotel (Monsieur Gustave H. is every bit as elegant and gentle as Count Alexander) and Eloise. Count Alexander exhibits every positive trait of the aristocracy: he is urbane, witty, charming, elegant, generous, honourable, cultured, and with a distinct sense of noblesse oblige. He appreciates beauty, luxury, and elegance. Count Alexander’s nemesis, the Bishop, exhibits every negative trait of the Soviets: he is sneaky, jealous, grasping, petty, and bureaucratic. He wants everything stripped down and destroyed, so he can always feel superior. The Bishop, of course, thrives in Soviet Russia, rising up the ranks of the Hotel Metropol through cronyism, not talent. The Count, of course, technically goes down in the world – from aristocrat to waiter. Of course, the Bishop is clearly always unhappy while the Count can find joy all around him. The book spans thirty years, ending in 1952 with the Count’s Casablanca-inspired caper to escape hotel confinement.
Not much happens in those 30 years. The Count develops a friendship with the Eloise-inspired young Nina, a clever and spunky brat, and later her child. There’s also the Count’s sadness and shock over the loss of beauty in favour of “equality” (i.e., the Bishop decides to remove every single wine label so that one cannot know which wine is which, years after becoming angered that the Count corrected his suggested wine pairing). The Count briefly considers & plans his own suicide in 1923, but ends up not going through with it. He has a quiet romance with an actress. He becomes a waiter (the head waiter!). He befriends the other staff, and hotel guests (including a Soviet bureaucrat and an American spy). And…that’s about it.
It's slice-of-life spread out over 450 pages. Most of the horror of the Soviet period is glossed over. It happens, but life within the Metropol is mostly safe and cozy. There are turns of phrase and humor which is very cleverly done. The Count is a complex and interesting character (I thought Nina was a complete spoiled brat). There were moments of actual tenseness and excitement and energy. But most of it was a gentle, thoughtful portrayal of a noble man in trying times.
This book was as charming, warmhearted, and stylish as the Count, but at times a bit too whimsical for my taste. It is a mix of The Grand Budapest Hotel (Monsieur Gustave H. is every bit as elegant and gentle as Count Alexander) and Eloise. Count Alexander exhibits every positive trait of the aristocracy: he is urbane, witty, charming, elegant, generous, honourable, cultured, and with a distinct sense of noblesse oblige. He appreciates beauty, luxury, and elegance. Count Alexander’s nemesis, the Bishop, exhibits every negative trait of the Soviets: he is sneaky, jealous, grasping, petty, and bureaucratic. He wants everything stripped down and destroyed, so he can always feel superior. The Bishop, of course, thrives in Soviet Russia, rising up the ranks of the Hotel Metropol through cronyism, not talent. The Count, of course, technically goes down in the world – from aristocrat to waiter. Of course, the Bishop is clearly always unhappy while the Count can find joy all around him. The book spans thirty years, ending in 1952 with the Count’s Casablanca-inspired caper to escape hotel confinement.
Not much happens in those 30 years. The Count develops a friendship with the Eloise-inspired young Nina, a clever and spunky brat, and later her child. There’s also the Count’s sadness and shock over the loss of beauty in favour of “equality” (i.e., the Bishop decides to remove every single wine label so that one cannot know which wine is which, years after becoming angered that the Count corrected his suggested wine pairing). The Count briefly considers & plans his own suicide in 1923, but ends up not going through with it. He has a quiet romance with an actress. He becomes a waiter (the head waiter!). He befriends the other staff, and hotel guests (including a Soviet bureaucrat and an American spy). And…that’s about it.
It's slice-of-life spread out over 450 pages. Most of the horror of the Soviet period is glossed over. It happens, but life within the Metropol is mostly safe and cozy. There are turns of phrase and humor which is very cleverly done. The Count is a complex and interesting character (I thought Nina was a complete spoiled brat). There were moments of actual tenseness and excitement and energy. But most of it was a gentle, thoughtful portrayal of a noble man in trying times.
It was difficult rating this book. For the first 100 pages or so, I wasn't sure where the book was going. Then I realized, that's the point. It's not about where the book is going, it's about what the book is illustrating: the journey that gets you to where you are. It's warm, heartfelt, and incredibly witty. Towles did an amazing job developing the main characters, I think I have fallen in love with The Count.
Some of my favorite lines:
"What can a first impression tell us about anyone? Why, no more than a chord can tell us about Beethoven, or a brushstroke about Botticelli. By their very nature, human beings are so capricious, so complex, so delightfully contradictory, that they deserve not only our consideration, but our reconsideration—and our unwavering determination to withhold our opinion until we have engaged with them in every possible setting at every possible hour."
"If patience wasn’t so easily tested, then it would hardly be a virtue."
"Life does not proceed by leaps and bounds. It unfolds. At any given moment, it is the manifestation of a thousand transitions."
"No matter how much time passes, those we have loved never slip away from us entirely."
Some of my favorite lines:
"What can a first impression tell us about anyone? Why, no more than a chord can tell us about Beethoven, or a brushstroke about Botticelli. By their very nature, human beings are so capricious, so complex, so delightfully contradictory, that they deserve not only our consideration, but our reconsideration—and our unwavering determination to withhold our opinion until we have engaged with them in every possible setting at every possible hour."
"If patience wasn’t so easily tested, then it would hardly be a virtue."
"Life does not proceed by leaps and bounds. It unfolds. At any given moment, it is the manifestation of a thousand transitions."
"No matter how much time passes, those we have loved never slip away from us entirely."
challenging
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated