A Gentleman in Moscow (Amor Towles) - A Picture Painted with Words

 A Gentleman in Moscow is aptly titled for a story that revolves around a Former Gentleman and his life in the shadow of the Kremlin. A man forced to live in an attic in the luxury hotel, bereft of all the trappings of luxury and sophistication he was brought up with, Count Alexander Rostov, in the new Stalin era scheme of things, finds himself without his estate. By a fortuitous turn of events, he escapes death but is sentenced to house arrest for life in the Metropol, the finest of Moscow's hotels, of which he was a star guest in the good old days. From the luxurious suite he was accustomed to, he finds himself in an attic with not even enough space to stand to his full height. We spend with him his years where he jostles with the philosophies of life, the fairness and unfairness of existence and matters of pure chance. While outside the walls of the hotel, his beloved Moscow and indeed all of Russia change in landscape, form and function, inside the hotel his life takes on different hues. He is a friend, a lover and a father. He is also the Head waiter at Metropol (after rising through the ranks) and tutor to a high ranking Soviet official.

This book is a must read for those of us who still love prose and pictures painted with words, rather than movies adapted from books (though this is very very adaptable to a motion picture, I must say). After a long time, I found myself laughing and chuckling while reading, especially conversations between the Count and his 10 year old friend Nina.

'Systematic in all matters of importance, Nina ate her ice cream one flavour at a time, moving from the lightest to the darkest in shade. This, having already dispatched her French vanilla, she was now moving to a scoop of lemon, which perfectly matched her dress.'

'It is the mark of a fine chess player to tip over his own king when he sees that defeat in inevitable, no matter how many moves remain in the game. Thus the count enquired: "How was you hors d'oeuvre'?'

The observant reader will also enjoy the philosophical notings in the book and particularly enjoy the Count's take on life. Sample this:
' The designs of men are notoriously subservient to happenstance, hesitation and haste; but had the count been given the power to engineer an optimal course of events, he could not have done a better job than Fate was doing on its own.'

The only regret is that I read the Kindle version and not the paperback - this is one of those books you must read and feel in your hands.