Review: A Gentleman in Moscow

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I do not even know where to begin in reviewing this book.
The book follows a man named Alexander through the years that he is under house arrest at the Metropol Hotel for being an aristocrat during the time of the Russian Revolution. From the very beginning I loved this charming man. He might be guilty of being self-absorbed, but he is a man who loves deeply, and is extremely loyal to those he calls friend. Because of this he inspires the same loyalty in others.
I guess the greatest compliment that I can give this book, is that as I was reading I was wishing that my borrowed copy was my own so that I could highlight and tag the many passages that grabbed me. In sitting down to write this review I wanted to be able to look back and insert quotations that I loved, yet since I could not mark the book and had no post-its on my vacation I find it very difficult to find them now. I can assure you that a copy of this book will be purchased and it will be reread so that I can find those passages again and many more and mark and tag to my heart's content.
I believe it is a mark of a great book, that when you finish, you miss the character as if he was a friend or loved one that no longer walked this plane. I find myself missing Sasha and his quirky family and feeling homesick for the Metropol.
When I was in high school the mother of a friend of mine told me that once a year she takes off a day from her family and rereads her favorite book. It isn't something I have thought about much since then. I reread books often, but setting aside a day to reread one particular book is not something I have ever done. I can see that happening with this book, taking a day to visit with Sasha and the family he makes.

And if the ending is not as satisfying as I might have liked it to be, at least I can enjoy the ambiguous nature of the ending to imagine it with the ending I want it to be.

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