Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - A Gentleman in Moscow

Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

31 reviews

phoehems's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

There are many things about this book that I love. I love the writing style: it's so immersive I could probably draw a map of the Metropol. I love the characters, especially the relationships between them: the Triumvirate, the Count and Nina, the Count and Sofia, the Count and Mishka (I think that's his name. It's his bestie) and the Count and the Bishop have some of the most intense moments. Even the Count and the man on the roof! I love the story:

A man, house arrest in a hotel, rebuilds his life. Makes lifelong friends in Andrey, Emile and the others. Has a special relationship with a then-nine year old, who then gives him the chance to be a father. Raises a beautifully rounded daughter who goes on to fulfil her dreams. And in the end, the house arrest is broken and the book ends with the Count going back to his childhood town, going to the pub and seeing the 'willowy woman' in the corner, who in no doubt is his daughter.

It's just beautiful.

Content Warnings

domreadsb00ks's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

When Count Rostov is put in front of the Bolshevik court after the October Revolution, accused of being an unrepentant aristocrat, it is only a revolutionary poem that he wrote in his youth that saves him. Instead of being shot, he is sentenced to a life of house arrest. A terrible fate - except it is to be carried out in the luxury hotel that has been his home for a long while already.
This book spans decades. And I truly mean it; when we first meet Rostov he is a young man in the prime of his life; when the book closes he is much, much older. This timespan, with well-paced chapters each focussing on a different year, allows us to truly witness his character transformation, not only in the physical sense, but within his mind, his thoughts.
The writing is beautiful, the world imagined perfectly. Subtlety is key for Towles, and you only truly grasp what you have read at the close of the book. All the characters are real people, fleshed out and woth personalities that actually matter to the plot, as do their conversations with Rostov and eachother.
Overall, it is a slow-burner, which makes for a reflective read, exploring human nature and the beauty of chance encounters. The reader is rewarded at the end of the book though with a

spectacular

end.

Content Warnings

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

...where do i even start? i had an inkling this would be good, yet it ventured in unexpected directions and still exceeded my quite lofty expectatons. idk how to describe this book w/ suitable adjectives, all i know is my heart feels full from reading it. a gentleman in moscow was filled w/ tender moments and vignettes, wise rumination of the theme of time, scenes that were as uncommon as they were singularly charming and heartwarming, and it managed to be evocative w/o ever being melodramatic or resorting to emotional manipulation.

this book showed what stories are abt, what life is abt. i particularly enjoyed the writing--it was as subtly poetic and witty as its main character--and the touching depiction of friendship and found family. my only gripes would be the fact that the middle felt like a blur given its lack of any major or dramatic plot points, and i wish there were scenes during the war yrs; not for any trauma porn, but it wouldve gone quite a long way in showing how different (or not) life in the metropol was in that period, for as much as the count was physically limited under house arrest, he was nevertheless cocooned w/in the comforts of one of moscow's best hotels. regardless, this was a great--if even rare--read that i cant wait to reread while seeking for some comfort in the yrs to come.

Content Warnings

keishag's review

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Content Warnings

leoniefnk's review

Go to review page

relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Content Warnings

fray_myst's review

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov has been sentenced into exile in his own country, in Moscow at the Metropol Hotel. For writing a poem that has revolutionary sentiments. Here, we witness 30 years of history through the eyes of the count, visitors, colleagues and friends that visit the Metropol. From the fall of the aristocracy to the 1950s. It's almost a story about nothing.

A Gentleman of Moscow has that almost meandering, dreamlike storytelling where the paragraphs seem to go off on a tangent about some some subject or the other. With some real life Russian historic events woven into and around the narrative. It stumbled a bit in pacing around the 3/4th mark of the book, as the events suddenly turned glacial. Though every bit crucial to what was to come.

The overarching theme is "adaptability". How these characters live and find a way to navigate Russia that is both familiar and unknown. The count's godfather himself once told a young Alexander, in a lifetime ago: if a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them.

Content Warnings

gloomi_sundai's review

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

it took me so long to read cuz i went weeks even months without reading so i cannot give an honest review but i did throughly enjoy it and i think i will love it more when i reread it in ten years

Content Warnings