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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
“Should an old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? It sure seems that’s what life intends. After all it’s basically like a centrifuge that spins every few years casting proximate bodies in disparate directions.”
Firstly, this is my 2nd Towles novel and I am in love with his writing style. I love the setting of this book. I used to be really fond of 1930s American history so I really enjoyed the time period this book is written in.
In this book we Follow Katey, Eve, and Tinker through a year. In this year we are met with drastic changes and developments in all these characters lives.
This was an easy and light read. I wouldn’t say it’s the most exciting book I’ve ever read but it was a nice read. It illustrated how in life people come and go and relationships change. Along with how our life circumstances change and how we make choices daily that can sculpt and change our future.
I am in my late 20s and I would say this was a read I needed. It’s pretty relatable. I would also recommend someone in my age range read this book. Especially if you’re overwhelmed with how people come and go and all that has changed in a short amount of time.
Firstly, this is my 2nd Towles novel and I am in love with his writing style. I love the setting of this book. I used to be really fond of 1930s American history so I really enjoyed the time period this book is written in.
In this book we Follow Katey, Eve, and Tinker through a year. In this year we are met with drastic changes and developments in all these characters lives.
This was an easy and light read. I wouldn’t say it’s the most exciting book I’ve ever read but it was a nice read. It illustrated how in life people come and go and relationships change. Along with how our life circumstances change and how we make choices daily that can sculpt and change our future.
I am in my late 20s and I would say this was a read I needed. It’s pretty relatable. I would also recommend someone in my age range read this book. Especially if you’re overwhelmed with how people come and go and all that has changed in a short amount of time.
Enjoyment/Appreciation Level: Mid-range.
TL;DR:
This was simultaneously pretty compelling, but also dry. The drama of the plot felt a little too watered-down for me, but the writing was lovely.
Summary:
Set in New York City in 1938 this book tells the story of an impactful year in the life of an uncompromising twenty-five-year- old named Katey Kontent. Armed with little more than a formidable intellect, a bracing wit, and her own brand of cool nerve, Katey embarks on a journey from a Wall Street secretarial pool through the upper echelons of New York society in search of a brighter future.
The story opens on New Year's Eve in a Greenwich Village jazz bar, where Katey and her boardinghouse roommate Eve happen to meet Tinker Grey, a handsome banker with royal blue eyes and a ready smile. This chance encounter and its startling consequences cast Katey off her current course, but end up providing her unexpected access to the rarified offices of Conde Nast and a glittering new social circle. Befriended in turn by a shy, principled multimillionaire, an Upper East Side ne'er-do-well, and a single-minded widow who is ahead of her times, Katey has the chance to experience first hand the poise secured by wealth and station, but also the aspirations, envy, disloyalty, and desires that reside just below the surface. Even as she waits for circumstances to bring Tinker back into her orbit, she will learn how individual choices become the means by which life crystallizes loss.
Writing:
The writing was solid. Some really lovely, poignant lines. But also not an authorial voice that really struck my fancy.
Characters:
I liked the MC, Katey. But also, I didn't really feel particularly engaged with any of the characters. There was a level of detachment that I felt. And the relationships fell a little flat for me as well. The dynamic between Tinker and Katey in particular seemed like it was meant to be the big, special chemistry connection... and I sort of saw it... ? Kind of? But also kind of felt like it was shoe-horned in.
The way Katey interacted with most characters felt very... random? Not like real conversations people would have in these situations, I guess.
Plot/Pacing:
There was just kind of a lot of flitting around. Again, I felt a certain level of detachment from everything. But I was compelled to keep on reading and was intrigued to see how everything played out. The pacing worked well for me; it never felt like a slog, for me.
Themes:
Social climbing. Classism. Privilege.
TL;DR:
This was simultaneously pretty compelling, but also dry. The drama of the plot felt a little too watered-down for me, but the writing was lovely.
Summary:
Set in New York City in 1938 this book tells the story of an impactful year in the life of an uncompromising twenty-five-year- old named Katey Kontent. Armed with little more than a formidable intellect, a bracing wit, and her own brand of cool nerve, Katey embarks on a journey from a Wall Street secretarial pool through the upper echelons of New York society in search of a brighter future.
The story opens on New Year's Eve in a Greenwich Village jazz bar, where Katey and her boardinghouse roommate Eve happen to meet Tinker Grey, a handsome banker with royal blue eyes and a ready smile. This chance encounter and its startling consequences cast Katey off her current course, but end up providing her unexpected access to the rarified offices of Conde Nast and a glittering new social circle. Befriended in turn by a shy, principled multimillionaire, an Upper East Side ne'er-do-well, and a single-minded widow who is ahead of her times, Katey has the chance to experience first hand the poise secured by wealth and station, but also the aspirations, envy, disloyalty, and desires that reside just below the surface. Even as she waits for circumstances to bring Tinker back into her orbit, she will learn how individual choices become the means by which life crystallizes loss.
Writing:
The writing was solid. Some really lovely, poignant lines. But also not an authorial voice that really struck my fancy.
Characters:
I liked the MC, Katey. But also, I didn't really feel particularly engaged with any of the characters. There was a level of detachment that I felt. And the relationships fell a little flat for me as well. The dynamic between Tinker and Katey in particular seemed like it was meant to be the big, special chemistry connection... and I sort of saw it... ? Kind of? But also kind of felt like it was shoe-horned in.
The way Katey interacted with most characters felt very... random? Not like real conversations people would have in these situations, I guess.
Plot/Pacing:
There was just kind of a lot of flitting around. Again, I felt a certain level of detachment from everything. But I was compelled to keep on reading and was intrigued to see how everything played out. The pacing worked well for me; it never felt like a slog, for me.
Themes:
Social climbing. Classism. Privilege.
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I loved Gentleman in Moscow and was expecting a lot from this book, but nothing really happened. There was no plot and it felt like a series of events strung together without us getting to know the characters. By the end I was only reading to finish it and move on to something else
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The narrator is an amazing character with enviable wit and vitality. The supporting characters are also very interesting, but they tend to fade into the background when presented alongside Kate's inner monologue. The New York City that Towles conjures is at once cinematic and so real you feel you're there, or at least wish you were. This book offers nothing incredibly profound, and yet, the simplicity of its trajectory and concluding message do it credit. A great read.
Like Towles’s other novels, The Rules of Civility sparkles with clever observations neatly phrased. I preferred the plots of A Gentleman in Moscow and The Lincoln Highway to this one, but this protagonist was one of my favorites. If only we all could be so witty and self-assured. Excellent audiobook.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Could have used a few less random side characters and a bit more plot for me but loved the writing style and the main character.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes