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A review by kessler21
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
2.0
This book sounded so wonderful and the premise is wonderful. During the early 20th century in Russia, A "Gentleman" in manner and speech, is put under "house arrest" at a grand hotel.
I loved the gentleman aspect. However most of the story I didn't like.
This man is confined his whole life yet there is no introspection into his situation. There is very limited comments on the fact he is a prisoner in this hotel through the whole book. Despite being confined, he never seems to lose sense of the outside world. I understand he can pick up some from newspapers, tv, and other guests, but the outside world is changes at a very fast rate. Prisoners of the U.S. penal system experience culture shock after only a handful of years of confinement. I would have enjoyed the Gentleman experiencing technology changes as they come to the hotel.
Lastly, the narrator is peculiar in a way I found irksome. The narrator addresses the reader, asks the reader questions, yet he has not identity. It is just a normal narrator, separate from the events yet also intruding. There are normally 3 types of narration. Normal narration of the events separate from the story. A character that narrates the story that has and identity and personality of their own, interjecting commentary or making side notes. Then there is the combination used in comedy mostly. Think of George of the Jungle (movie) or Stranger than Fiction (movie). Well this is the last kind but without the comedy and its weird and irksome to me.
I regret I did not like this book and look forward to an author taking this premise and turning it into something more my style.
I loved the gentleman aspect. However most of the story I didn't like.
This man is confined his whole life yet there is no introspection into his situation. There is very limited comments on the fact he is a prisoner in this hotel through the whole book. Despite being confined, he never seems to lose sense of the outside world. I understand he can pick up some from newspapers, tv, and other guests, but the outside world is changes at a very fast rate. Prisoners of the U.S. penal system experience culture shock after only a handful of years of confinement. I would have enjoyed the Gentleman experiencing technology changes as they come to the hotel.
Lastly, the narrator is peculiar in a way I found irksome. The narrator addresses the reader, asks the reader questions, yet he has not identity. It is just a normal narrator, separate from the events yet also intruding. There are normally 3 types of narration. Normal narration of the events separate from the story. A character that narrates the story that has and identity and personality of their own, interjecting commentary or making side notes. Then there is the combination used in comedy mostly. Think of George of the Jungle (movie) or Stranger than Fiction (movie). Well this is the last kind but without the comedy and its weird and irksome to me.
I regret I did not like this book and look forward to an author taking this premise and turning it into something more my style.