A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Rating: 10/10
Get the book on Amazon
Browse my book list
One Sentence Wrap-Up
Set in the early 1900 in Russia - a society on the cusp of radical change, a Russian gentleman on house arrest in a luxurious hotel for ~30 years, in which his reduced circumstance provide him a doorway into a much larger world of emotional discovery.
Summary Notes
I picked up this book at the end of 2020, during the global pandemic when everyone was spending an overwhelming amount of time locked up in their home. I, too, was getting frustrated with social distancing and the probability of catching the virus, which was further amplified by the fact that I was trapped in a small apartment with my overly anxious parents for ~90% of my time.
As the pandemic unfolded, the walls of our apartment seemed to collapse inwards; the ceiling seemed to fall lower and lower and everything became claustrophobic. It did not help that I was diving into Russian literature at the time, in which everything feels grey, grim and philosophical (by no means a criticism of Russian literature: I love it as it explores the human conditions in depth). I stumbled upon this book randomly, which caught my attention as it is on Russia with a positive spin, so I thought why not?
Surprisingly, it became my best comfort read in 2020, and my best book of 2020.
Narrated in the third person point of view, it often felt as though I am right next to Count Rostov as he experienced all the ups and downs in his life. Like any good mentor, he provided snippets of advices, often through his interpretations of events as he experienced them first hand, sprinkled with his insight. I particularly like the following passage, in which the Count's friend, a young girl named Nina, was looking out of the window and saw a woman in red arriving at the Bolshoi Theatre:
Nina cupped her palms against the glass and squinted. ‘If only I were there and she were here,’ she sighed. And there, thought the Count, was a suitable complaint for all mankind.
… as well as this passage, which came after Nina underestimated the Count's mathematical ability:
Now, when a man has been underestimated by a friend, he has some cause for taking offense— since it is our friends who should overestimate our capacities. They should have an exaggerated opinion of our moral fortitude, our aesthetic sensibilities, and our intellectual scope. Why, they should practically imagine us leaping through a window in the nick of time with the works of Shakespeare in one hand and a pistol in the other!
Throughout the book, we have a mentor reflecting upon his own experience and sharing his thoughts with us on the fly. As though we are taking a walk with a familiar and charming old friend and consulting with them on recent events, or life in general. I was reminded of what is important in life; of the essential quality of having a positive outlook on life such that you become a master of your own circumstance instead of the other way round. There are passages of wisdom in every chapter presented in an eloquent, delightful manner that you cannot help but soak them in and nod in agreement.
Key Lesson Learnt - Overcoming one's circumstances and living a fulfilling life
The Count had no choice over his circumstance, and was involuntarily locked up for over 30 years in one place. He could no longer live life as before, further reinforced by the fact that the outside world was changing rapidly. The social construct was disintegrating and he was exposed to a new world of comradeship; 'equality' (or supposedly so) and the handover of power to the common people, in which the effort of the people are emphasised instead of the old forms of manners and cultured ways of life.
The Count did consider ending his life as he thought there was no place for him in the new world. Instead, he took the more difficult step of changing himself while staying positive. Throughout his journey, he came to understand that it is our perceptions of events that colour how we see the world. Circumstance will not change just because you want it to change. Or in other words, the world does not revolve around us.
For the times do, in fact, change. They change relentlessly. Inevitably. Inventively.
As a result, he transformed himself from a privileged guest to the head waiter at the hotel's restaurant, leveraging his knowledge in table arrangement to exceed in his role. As he embraces change while keeping his constant cheerfulness, the universe sided with him and led him to find new meanings in life.
My key away is that we should make the best of what we have and the world will open up to us in unexpected ways, which could be camouflaged as an inconvenience to begin with.
Favourite Quotes
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.
For having fallen suddenly from grace, those in the Confederacy share a certain perspective. Knowing beauty, influence, frame and privilege to be borrowed rather than bestowed, they are not easily impressed. They are not quick to envy or take offense. They certainly do not scour the papers in search of their names. They remain committed to living among their peers, but they greet adulation with caution, ambition with sympathy, and condescension with an inward smile.
I'll tell you what is convenient,"…. "To sleep until noon and have someone bring you your breakfast on a tray. To cancel an appointment at the very last minute. To keep a carriage waiting at the door of one party, so that on a moment's notice it can whisk you away to another. To sidestep marriage in your youth and put off having children altogether. These are the greatest of conveniences, Anushka - and at one time, I had them all. But in the end, it has been the inconveniences that have mattered to me most.
The first was that if one did not master one's circumstances, one was bound to be mastered by them; and the second was Montaigne's maxim that the surest sign of wisdom is constant cheerfulness.
How humbly it bows its head as the emperor is dragged down the steps and tossed in the street, But then, having quietly bided its time, while helping the newly appointed leader on with his jacket, it compliments his appearance and suggests the wearing of a medal or two. Or, having served him at a formal dinner, it wonders aloud if a taller chair might not have been more fitting for a man with such responsibilities. The soldiers of the common man may toss the banners of the old regime on the victory pyre, but soon enough trumpets will blare and pomp will take its place at the side of the throne, having once again secured its dominion over history and kings.
All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
For after all, if attentiveness should be measured in minutes and discipline measured in hours, then indomitability must be measured in years. Or, if philosophical investigations are not to your taste, then let us simply agree that the wise man celebrates what he can.
Such that the events of an average day are as likely to transform who we are as a pinch of pepper is to transform a stew.
For as it turns out, one can revisit the past quite pleasantly, as long as one does so expecting nearly every aspect of it to have changed.
