After reading this novel, I tried to pick up other popular books and read them. But in comparison to this one, the writing, pacing, and stories of these other books just seemed so bad.
Long before actually reading this novel, the title of it intrigued me and I adored the cover. I decided I would read it one day simply for these reasons. (Yes, many times I choose books simply because of their titles and covers!)
Years go by, and I finally decide to read this book in November of 2022.
Here's why it took me a while to finally pick it up and read it: I am not interested in novels set during the WWII era (and there seem to be a plethora of them these days). However, it was starting to feel like all the books I was reading up to this point were like the same novel so I picked this one up hoping for something a little different. That is exactly what I got.
Towards the beginning of the novel I was already hooked. The main character, the Count, ends up having to purge some belongings and he muses about the importance we place on our stuff:
…we come to hold our dearest possessions more closely than we hold our friends. We carry them from place to place, often at considerable expense and inconvenience; we dust and polish their surfaces and reprimand children for playing too roughly in their vicinity – all while, allowing memories to invest them with greater and greater importance. (pg. 14)
"Yes!" I thought, "what truth!" He then goes on to discuss small living quarters and how small spaces connect with a sense of adventure:
“It attested to a precision of purpose and the promise of adventure. For such would have been the quarters of Captain Nemo when he journeyed twenty thousand leagues beneath the sea. And wouldn’t any young boy with the slightest gumption gladly trade a hundred nights in a palace for one aboard the Nautilus? (pg. 15)
It brought to mind all my real life adventures traveling and living or staying in small spaces with few possessions. Adventure indeed! The novel reflected this and it delighted me. There was such truth here and from this point on I was hooked.
About a third of the way in the novel I started to worry that this book was going to be one of those wonderful novels with a deeply sad ending. Sometimes real life is tough enough without your fictional reading material dragging you through emotional depths as well. It was at this point that I seriously considered not finishing the novel. This is how much I loved the characters of the novel that I couldn't bear for it to end badly. The main character was so wonderful, though, and the book so well written, I decided to keep going despite what may happen.
I was about halfway through this novel when voting day rolled around. You know what happens on this day – long lines! What is best way to spend over two hours standing in line? Reading a book, of course! A Gentleman in Moscow was the book I read while waiting in a seemingly endless line to fulfil my civic duty.
At one point I looked up and noticed that, out of all these people, I was the only one reading an actual physical book. It used to be normal to see people reading physical books while waiting in line but these days most people are scrolling on their phones. Perhaps someone was reading a novel on their phone…(Not the same though, IMHO) Fortunately for me, reading A Gentleman in Moscow while waiting in line made the time fly by.
I won’t give you any spoilers, but I will tell you that I did love the ending of this novel. Whether it was happy or sad, I will not reveal. I will say it was one of those novels that you wished had not ended. It is beautifully written with a main character you will adore and other characters that will delight you. Although fiction, it it truthful in so many ways that resonate.
Seriously, if you haven’t read this book yet, then do yourself a favor and get on it already! You can check it out from your local library or purchase a copy of your very own.
Update:
They recently made a TV mini-series based on this book but I cannot bring myself to watch it! 🤣 I just want to remember the characters and places as my imagination rendered them, not as the TV industry creates them.
Once I see the tv or movie of a book, those actors and actresses and settings become my image for the characters and places. Then somehow, it loses a little bit of the magic.
