A Gentleman in Moscow - book club discussion, all welcome!

[ufcasey]

Today is the day for our tenth book club discussion! The book picked for this month was A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.

Just to help get you thinking, if you have a hard time figuring out what you want to say, there are some questions below that I found online. You definitely don't have to answer any of them!

Things to potentially consider:
1. Over the course of Book Two, why does the Count decide to throw himself from the roof of the Metropol? On the verge of doing so, why does the encounter with the old handyman lead him to change his plans?

2. At the opening of Book Five, the Count has already decided to get Sofia out of Russia. What occurs over the course of Book Four to lead him to this decision? Why does he choose to remain behind?

3. Near the novel’s conclusion, what is the significance of the inclusion of the movie, Casablanca?

4. Which best describes your overall feeling about A Gentleman In Moscow?

5. What did you think of the way the author used footnotes throughout the book? Did it distract you from the story or add to it?

6. The setting of A Gentleman in Moscow is set in Russia over a 32 year span, from post-revolutionary Russia, World War II, to the Stalinist era. Did you think the author was successful in giving a balance view the Count’s life and what was going on in Russia in that time?

7. Which secondary character stood out to you the most?


All thoughts and opinions are welcome!


Tagging people who might have read this book:
bex , doxies , CheeringCharm , frog , travella , rainbowchip

[bex]

I haven't finished it yet :-( I keep putting it down for other books lol. So expect me to pop back into this discussion in about a week ha.

[ufcasey]

Oct 25, 2017 8:11:41 GMT -5 bex said:

I haven't finished it yet :-( I keep putting it down for other books lol. So expect me to pop back into this discussion in about a week ha.

haha no problem! I just finished reading it at like midnight last night

[rainbowchip]

ufcasey I read your goodreads review about the slow start. The slow start is why I put it down. I just didn't have the mental wherewithal to read it right now. And it's due back to the library tomorrow.

So I've failed this month's book club.

[ufcasey]

Oct 25, 2017 9:53:46 GMT -5 rainbowchip said:

ufcasey I read your goodreads review about the slow start. The slow start is why I put it down. I just didn't have the mental wherewithal to read it right now. And it's due back to the library tomorrow.

So I've failed this month's book club.

Well, if it wasn't for the fact that I am sort of in charge of this whole book club thing I without a doubt would have DNF'd it myself. Easily. Because it took like, what, 200 pages before it finally captured my interest? I mean, the second half was much better, but I can't say it was worth going through that first half. So I fully support your failure LOL! Thanks for trying!

[ufcasey]

Ok so this book was absolutely boring to me for approximately the entire first half of the book. I was so close to just quiting and writing on here, "Sorry, I couldn't make myself do it, but here's some questions I found online in case you did read it and want to discuss this book." See? I had even drafted up my post on it. But guilt got the better of me and I powered through it and I'm somewhat glad I did. The second half of the book was much better, starting at when Anna and Sofia enter the picture. By the end, the various secondary characters really developed a sense of family and I wanted them all to succeed.

I'm still not entirely clear on why exactly the Count decided to spirit Sofia away. Maybe because of the whole forcing her into that one orchestra hundreds of miles away that almost happened? Either way, I was glad to see him finally make a plan to escape, even though it meant leaving his 'family' at the hotel behind.

When Sofia first arrived and he didn't know what to do with her - man, did that resonate with me. Because I would have absolutely no idea what to do with a 6 year old in a small room at a hotel with no toys, no pool to swim in, and not able to leave the hotel - for what is supposed to be several weeks. That sounds horrific to me and I have a 6 year old child myself! I can only imagine how an older, childless man with a 6 year old girl would feel about the situation - the book did this pretty spot on in my mind.

The politics and Bolshevik stuff and the poetry and discussion of Russian culture etc actually bored me a bit. At the same time I almost wish there was more because there is basically nothing in there about WWI or WWII, which I thought was odd. I did think it was interesting when they discussed about whether or not Russians were right to be so quick to replace/change things like street names and statues etc. It kind of made me think about the current events in our country of removing confederate statues and monuments.

The scenes with the Bishop made me chuckle. I can just imagine how I would want to strangle someone if daily they insisted on flipping through a weekly calendar starting from the front, one page at a time, until they got to the current week, even when it's December. I'm surprised he didn't pull a gun on him sooner LOL.

So as you can see, I did like this book and I did have lots of thoughts on it. But man, that first part. Snoozefest.

[CheeringCharm]

Oct 25, 2017 10:16:26 GMT -5 ufcasey said:

The politics and Bolshevik stuff and the poetry and discussion of Russian culture etc actually bored me a bit. At the same time I almost wish there was more because there is basically nothing in there about WWI or WWII, which I thought was odd. I did think it was interesting when they discussed about whether or not Russians were right to be so quick to replace/change things like street names and statues etc. It kind of made me think about the current events in our country of removing confederate statues and monuments.

I did read this book but it was a long time ago so the details aren't super fresh in my mind anymore. I loooooved this book though. I didn't think I would because of the subject matter and setting but I just found the main character and his outlook on life to be so delightful and endearing. He charmed the pants off me. Most of the secondary characters were quite appealing and enjoyable too. I really admired the Count's brio and zest for life even in such a tough situation. He made a go of it and managed to create a successful, rewarding life. I know it's fiction but it reminded me a lot of that phrase "bloom where you're planted" and the idea that quite a bit of your own happiness is determined by your perspective on your circumstances.

And I really enjoyed Sofia and the ending (I don't want to ruin it for anyone). He definitely left me wanting more.

It's definitely one of my all time favorites.


To your bolded, ufcasey , I agree and this book lead me to read Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy by Douglas Smith. It's really good - very well written and based on thorough  research if you're interested in this history but so so sad and hard to read at times. What the Bolsheviks did to these people was so horrible and tragic. It was basically state policy to persecute them and wipe them off the face of the earth. And the saddest part for me as the reader was that so many of them understood! They talked about this in their letters to each other and in interviews afterwards as refugees in other countries. They understood the peasants' animosity towards them and felt they deserved it in some way because of what their ancestors had done. Some of them even tried to become Bolsheviks and believed in the cause of socialism, not that that did them any good. So they basically went like lambs to the slaughter. But because they were rich and had occupied an advantaged position in society (and ultimately lost the war - to the victors go the spoils, including the opportunity to write history), it's not talked about currently as a type of genocide. It's not talked about currently at all really. Not in any modern European history textbook I've read (I studied history in college). Maybe a line or two dedicated to it but that's it.

[CheeringCharm]

Fwiw, I'm one of those people who did love the book but I agree it had a very slow start! If you're in the first chapter or two and dragging, keep with it because it gets better!

[doxies]

Oct 25, 2017 13:33:43 GMT -5 CheeringCharm said:

Oct 25, 2017 10:16:26 GMT -5 ufcasey said:

The politics and Bolshevik stuff and the poetry and discussion of Russian culture etc actually bored me a bit. At the same time I almost wish there was more because there is basically nothing in there about WWI or WWII, which I thought was odd. I did think it was interesting when they discussed about whether or not Russians were right to be so quick to replace/change things like street names and statues etc. It kind of made me think about the current events in our country of removing confederate statues and monuments.

I did read this book but it was a long time ago so the details aren't super fresh in my mind anymore. I loooooved this book though. I didn't think I would because of the subject matter and setting but I just found the main character and his outlook on life to be so delightful and endearing. He charmed the pants off me. Most of the secondary characters were quite appealing and enjoyable too. I really admired the Count's brio and zest for life even in such a tough situation. He made a go of it and managed to create a successful, rewarding life. I know it's fiction but it reminded me a lot of that phrase "bloom where you're planted" and the idea that quite a bit of your own happiness is determined by your perspective on your circumstances.

I love this review so much. I read it a while ago too, and it took me some time to get into it, but I enjoyed all the clever ways that he managed to make a terrible situation work. The friendships he forged in the hotel were so delightful, and I liked how you could see times changing as different things happened in the hotel. I loved the antics that they went through to get all the ingredients together to make the special dinner (I can't remember what it was, but I think it involved saffron or maybe an orange).

[travella]

I agree, this book was very slow in the beginning. I probably would have given up on it had it not been a book club book. In fact, the first half of the book bored me so badly that I don't recall much that happened. I found my eyes glossing over after only a few pages. However, at around 60% I finally got into the book and I really enjoyed it.

I was a little disappointed in the ending because I wanted a more powerful ending. The ending was ok, I was just a little underwhelmed.

[aurora]

Hmm, I didn't actually start it because it had a very long hold list and people were saying it was boring. Maybe I should reconsider, though!

[bex]

I'm chiming in late but I finally finished this book last week so wanted to share my thoughts.

I'm surprised so many found it boring. I found it beautifully written and fascinating.

I definitely finished the book wanting to read more about Russian history. I think the book definitely assumed that a reader had at least a minimal knowledge of Russia (from the revolution to Stalin) and obviously it was assumed that the reader knew Khrushchev became the leader. But I also think that the lack of background on Russia and what was happening at the time kind of reflected the Count's perspective. He's in this hotel, getting the news and hearing gossip, but all second hand, never experiencing it for himself - he was isolated and at the same time relatively protected. So much was changing outside the hotel doors and he was trying to smuggle saffron in, lol.

I did get a lot of characters confused so I just kind of went with it and figured it would all work out in the end. (in terms of who was who.)I think that was partly because I took some long breaks while reading it to read other books.

Casablanca was such an obvious inclusion though that I kind of rolled my eyes. They were leading up to it with the whole obsession with Bogart and then brought out the movie itself. Rick chooses to stay behind so that Ilsa can leave with Victor. That's not dissimilar from what the Count did. He got Sofia out. Yes he escaped the hotel but we don't know if he will ever leave Russia itself (I think its implied he will.) Even if he hadn't managed to escape like he did, he did not even try until Sofia was safe. Had it come out that she had escaped and he hadn't been able to, he probably would have been severely punished.

[Nonny]

I just finished this last night, so please forgive me for bumping a nearly year old thread. LOL! 

I agree that it started off kind of slowly, but I did really enjoy it overall.  I don't really know much at all about Russian history (I mean, I feel like US education is pretty lacking even in our own history, and we definitely didn't focus on the Russian Revolution at all), and I think that would have helped with setting some of the scenes in their proper historical context.

It's also been ~20 years since I've seen Casablanca, so I didn't get any of those references (although I did realize right after they tried to conscript Sofia into the Orchestra that he was going to get her out somehow).  I've also never read Anna Karenina, and I feel like that might have also offered some clues to what was going on - for example, I feel like there might be parallels between him wanting to throw himself off the roof and Anna Karenina throwing herself under a train, only fate stepping in and stopping the Count when it doesn't step in and stop Anna. I don't know. Just a theory.

Also, I know it's been a year since you all read this, but was the unnamed guy with the scar at the end the aristocrat who strung along his sister and that he shot (the guy that caused him to flee to Paris in the first place)?  ETA:  Never mind, reading through Goodreads I'm realizing that I'd forgotten the scar description was applied to Osip, and that apparently he quoted Casablanca at the end.