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nickyxxx 's review for:
A Gentleman in Moscow
by Amor Towles
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.