I came to A Gentleman in Moscow with all the
misgivings I usually have for modern fiction, but was pleasantly surprised with
this beautifully told story. Count Alexander Rostov is a political
prisoner in Russia during the first half of the 20th century. His “prison” is
the Metropol hotel in Moscow where he lives in a tiny attic room. In spite of
his limitations, he develops many rich friendships (one with an actress who
becomes his mistress, but thankfully their liaisons are never detailed).
The gentle philosophizing was a
delight:
I’ll tell you what is convenient,” he
said after a moment. “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 most to me. (p. 352)
When the Count was a young man, he
prided himself on the fact that he was unmoved by the ticking of the clock…. There
were those of his acquaintance who brought a new sense of urgency to their
slightest endeavor. They timed the consumption of their breakfast, the walk to
their office, and the hanging of their hat on its hook with as much precision
as if they were preparing for a military campaign. They answered the phone on
the first ring, scanned the headlines, limited their conversations to whatever was
most germane, and generally spent their days in pursuit of the second hand. God
bless them. For his part, the Count had opted for the life of the purposely
unrushed. (p. 390)
In addition to the literary references (from Anna Karenina to Robinson Crusoe to Dante to Odysseus
to the Count of Monte Cristo to Don Quixote!) and the good writing, the
story is compelling. How do you thrive and continue to make a difference in other
people’s lives when confined to a small space? The conclusions that Towles
makes are simply astonishing.
