About A Gentleman

I finished Amor Towles' novel, A Gentleman in Moscow, today. I would not consider it an easy read due to the amount of Russian history mentioned throughout the book, but, for me, it was twice the pleasure to research and learn about Russia, as I enjoyed the novel. I don't think, however, you have to understand Russian history to enjoy the humanity of the book,...but I'm more than a bit of a nerd, so....yeah. I also listened to the same classical music Count Rostov enjoys in the book. Like I said, nerd alert. 

As I mentioned in a previous post, Count Rostov is put under house-arrest in 1922 due to a poem he published which was considered rebellious against the government. Rostov is an intellect and a gentleman, and he must learn to make a new life for himself within the walls of a hotel. He is witty and charming and sincere. Rostov becomes friends with the employees of the hotel and with a young girl, Nina, whose father frequents the hotel. Rostov's life is not without challenges in his confinement, especially as the Russian government seems to constantly change its course, and its rules, as years pass. It is, in fact, the way he faces his challenges that makes him so endearing.

One of my favorite scenes in the book (one of many, I might add) is when a lovely lady friend mentions to Rostov that "everyone dreams of living in America" because of its 'conveniences' - such as dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, toasters, and the like. Count Rostov responds:

"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 all together. 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 to me most."

I know I will carry Count Rostov in my heart for a very long time. He is, most definitely, my kind of gentleman. 

In A Heartbeat

How many times have you wondered how easily your life could have taken a different course? Can you look into your past and remember one moment that changed everything? If you're like me, you can think of several small moments you didn't realize were big moments - life changing moments - at the time. The two books I've read this past week touch on life changing moments and characters who look back in their pasts to wonder, "What if...?"

The Life We Bury, by Allen Eskens, is a fiction novel about a young man, Joe Talbert, who decides to interview a convicted murderer that is dying of cancer. Joe's assignment, for his freshman English college class, is to interview someone and write a biographical paper on the person. It is through interviewing the convicted killer, and researching the murder case, that Joe begins questioning many things. When he finds that the convict was once a decorated war hero, he wonders what moment in the man's life turned him into the kind of man that would kill a fourteen-year-old girl.

There is more than one layer to this story and more than one character who questions what moments in their pasts changed the course of their lives forever. It is a good debut novel, and I found it to be a good weekend read. I felt parts of it were a bit predictable, but I enjoyed it.

The other book, which I am still reading, is A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I will go ahead and tell you, this book is not for your light reader. While it is an excellent novel, it is heavy with Russian history - something I'm not very familiar with - and its beauty lies in being able to describe how certain moments in life feel. Not the big moments, the small ones.

The premise of the novel is that a gentleman, convicted of being a rebel against the government of Russia in 1922 for writing a poem, is sentenced to live out his life in a hotel in Moscow. If he leaves the hotel, he will be shot on sight. While the gentleman lives out his sentence in the hotel, he also finds himself looking back at his life. He feels there are critical moments where he wishes he'd made a different choice. By witnessing the life he makes for himself at the hotel, the reader learns a great deal about Russia...and about humanity.

I'm intentionally taking my time with this one. I've grown very fond of the main character, Count Alexander Rostov, and the cast of characters he interacts with in his daily life at the hotel. I'm also fascinated with all the references made to historical events. I've been researching quite a bit. In other words, I'm not trying to rush through such a beautifully written historical fiction book. This one takes a little more effort, but I feel it's worth it.

Good for the brain. Good for the soul.

For me, it doesn't get any better than that.

Catching Up with Books

Books, Books, Books...

I've been reading a variety of books lately, so I thought I'd break them down into age groups. If you're not interested in middle school novels, skip to high school (because that is also an excellent adult read) and adult fiction areas below.

Middle School

First, I'd like to recommend Peg Kehret as a writer. I'm known to preach the merits of her books because they do well with the middle school crowd. Kehret is good at pulling readers into the action and shocking them pretty early on. I haven't read some of hers in awhile, so I decided to read Stolen Children. I wasn't disappointed. In fact, I was able to convince some other students to read it by simply reading the first two lines:

"Amy's babysitting course taught her basic first aid, bedtime tips, and how to change a diaper, but it did not cover what to do if two thugs with a gun showed up. She had to figure that out herself."

And if you think that's the only shocking thing in the book, it's obvious you've never read Peg Kehret. This writer knows how to hook a reader! This isn't a long novel, 165 pages with fairly large print, but it IS a good book. I'd recommend it for sixth graders and for reluctant seventh and eighth grade readers.


High School

Jennifer Donnelly is another great author I love. I admit, though, she broke my heart a little when she agreed to write a series of books for Disney. I'm sure the money was good (and I don't blame her), but reading about mermaids just isn't my cup of tea. Perhaps, that's why I decided to go back in time to one of her older novels I'd never read.

I chose to read A Gathering Light (titled A Northern Light in the U.S.) because it was from a time and place I knew nothing about. The setting is the early 1900's in the Adirondack Mountains. The story is a historical fiction at its finest and revolves around the real murder of a young lady staying at a hotel on holiday. Donnelly writes the story from the perspective of a mountain girl, Mattie, who works as a servant in the hotel. Mattie had served the young woman the night before her murder, when the woman gave Mattie some letters to burn. Once the hotel guest is found dead the next morning, Mattie doesn't know what she should do with the letters: Keep her promise and burn them? Read them and look for clues? Turn them over to the constable?

This book is definitely a page turner that begins with the gruesome scene of the dead girl and goes back in time as Mattie tells the reader what took place before. The book does an excellent job of portraying life for the people of that area during that time. Mattie is a likable character, wise beyond her years, and with more responsibilities than a young girl should have to be burdened with. There are many layers to this story, and all of them are intriguing.

Adult Fiction

I found a fascinating book titled Serena, by Ron Rash, at our library's book sale. I was attracted to the novel because the setting was the 1930s in North Carolina. I was born and raised in North Carolina, but I know nothing of what life was like there in the 1930s. I found out, after I read the book, Serena is also a movie (which I haven't seen yet).

There are many things I like about this novel, but I'd have to say I most enjoyed hating the villain. There's nothing quite like the pleasure of finding a character you can completely loathe. Too often, villains are given an excuse for being evil. Not this time.

The novel centers around a Boston business man, George Pemberton, who owns a logging company in the NC Mountains. Labor is cheap, conditions are harsh, and he's a jerk. George meets his match in his new bride, Serena, and he brings her back to the NC Mountains to help him run his business. The two share quite a passion, both physically and in a type of bloodlust for violence and hunting. It's almost like she's the female version of her husband, a perfect reflection of his own ego. And isn't that every man's dream? Perhaps.

I didn't like that Rash's book was compared, in reviews, to Steinbeck. I almost didn't read it because of that. I'm not a big fan of Steinbeck, though some of his novels are okay. If I had to compare this type of novel to anyone, it would be Daphne du Maurier. It is definitely, what I would consider, a gothic tale of intrigue and suspense.

My advice on this one? Don't read any spoilers, don't watch the movie,...just...read it. If you like good twists and evil villains and violence of varying degrees, this book fits the bill. I soaked it up in a day. It's very rare I get an entire day to read a book, but this one insisted on it.

Next, in my TBR stack was a debut novel...

The Hideaway by Lauren K. Denton was an easy, uncomplicated novel with a host of loveable characters. Sara lives in New Orleans, away from her eccentric grandmother, Mags. When Mags dies unexpectedly one day, Sara finds that she's inherited her grandmother's old, rundown bed-and-breakfast. Sara has been left specific instructions on what to do with the property before she decides to sell it or not. Sara finds many things at the old bed-and-breakfast, but she never expected to find...that she never actually knew her own grandmother.

This is a delightful read, but...it pretty much reads like a Lifetime Movie Network movie. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I'm just letting you know it fits in that category for me. I'm glad I read it, I always like to give debut novels a shot, but it's not my type of genre. It fits in more with readers who enjoy Nora Roberts.


Currently reading...

I'm enjoying a lovely autumn day today, as I read A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I started the novel a couple of days ago. I'll let you know my review on it next week.

Happy Autumn!