Author Topic: Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~  (Read 39404 times)

PatH

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #120 on: February 18, 2018, 06:40:18 PM »



JOIN US AS WE DISCUSS


A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW

BY AMOR TOWLES.



During February and March, we will be filling cold, gray days by reading A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles in the Senior Learn Book Club.  Our pre-discussion will begin on February 7.  Let's introduce ourselves, and then perhaps talk about what we know of the goings-on in Russia in the early 20th century and our impressions of the Russian people. Those of us who grew up in the 50s and 60s could share how we learned of the Russians and the feelings we had about all of this.  This will also be a place for questions about the discussion, the assigned reading schedule and about each other.  Let's save discussion of the text until February 12 when we begin the actual discussion.


                           Discussion Schedule for A Gentleman in Moscow

February 12     Book 1

February 21.    Book 2


The author's website www.amortowles.com is a wonderful place to get to know the Amor Towles. He has a lot of supplementary information about the book.  There is even a delightful video, which you will want to watch.



Discussion Leader:  MKaren

PatH

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #121 on: February 18, 2018, 06:41:25 PM »
What will become of our Count? In his confined space. A spiritual odyssey? A life of vision and ecstasy, like St. Catherine of Sienna.? I believe he is too philosophical for that. He finds additional space in the second room, whose dimensions are limited, the author tells us, only by the dimensions of his mind. And he does have his memories. The railway workers' assembly hall is the former grand ballroom where he used to meet the aristocracy. Listening to the gossiping, cursing old women in the company of Nina is worth the split pants, not so?
What will become of the Count?  I think the snipping off of his mustaches is the start of a process.  He is going to be divested of much of the trappings of his identity as an aristocrat, leaving him to figure out who he really is.  He either will have to examine his inner self, come to terms with it, or decide who or what he wants to be now.

I haven't read ahead, have no clues as to whether I'm right or how this is going to play out, but I'm eager to find out.

BarbStAubrey

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #122 on: February 18, 2018, 07:27:49 PM »
Karen for my part I wish we had one more day before we go on - I only finished Book One last night and I sure would like another day for it to sit and think on before we move ahead - and then to have time to at least start Book Two tomorrow evening so I have something to share on Tuesday. We've also read a couple of post from folks who still have not been able to get their hands on the book - if I am in a minority, please go ahead but if others would like another day please could we consider it... I think to read ahead for the story that is gripping and capturing us with superb writing is one thing but to give it the kind of thinking and relating to what is under the surface that these discussions have provided I just need a bit more time to mull... thanks...
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

PatH

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #123 on: February 18, 2018, 07:42:12 PM »
I could use another day too, am in the same place as Barb,  but whatever anyone wants.

Jonathan

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #124 on: February 18, 2018, 10:55:48 PM »
Barb, I like your observation about 'superb' writing. Some of it I find quite lyrical. It would be easy to listen to. Many passages are little prose poems. He has a delightful alliterative style. The book is a piece of art. 'Mulling' this one is rewarding. Somehow, I feel the style is Russian. Has it been translated into Russian? Is it being read in Russia.

I do believe I need another day myself, before continuing into Book 2. Your right, of course, Pat, about the 'change' in the Count beginning with the loss of his moustaches. I must go back. I've forgotten if Nina likes him better with or without the moustaches. Such lyrical names: Nina Kulikova, Anna Urbanova. The cat seems to have several names. Kutuzov, in his latest appearance. Wasn't that a prominent Russian military man? In War and Peace?

The Grand Ballroom must have been where he caught the attention of the Tsarina, as mentioned in the trial transcript. Now working men argue linguistic, socialistic resolutions there.

A most interesting book. With others to follow, since all forty vignettes in this book begin with the letter A. I have the feeling he may want to work his way through the alphabet.  Already I have him winning a Nobel.

bellamarie

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #125 on: February 19, 2018, 12:21:41 AM »
Yes, I agree, I would also like one more day on Book One.  There is just so much to take in.  I'm not certain as far as the scheduling is concerned, I feel like 100 pages per assigned week seems a bit much to read and discuss.  I'm sure we will all figure it out as we go.

Yes, good catch Jonathan, I thought I was seeing things when he referred to the cat first on pg 102, as Herr Drosselmeyer, and then later on pg 111 during the dog/cat chase he calls the one-eyed cat Kutuzov and mentions "Kutuzov__who like his namesake had the advantage of familiar terrain__" 

General Mikhail Kutuzov: one-eyed defender of Moscow.
General Mikhail Kutuzov was a charismatic Russian general, most remembered for his defense of Moscow against Napoleon. He was in and out of favor with the emperor, Alexander I, but in times of crisis, on more than one occasion he was called back to lead the Russian Forces. From the standpoint of ophthalmology, it is of interest that while fighting the Turks, Kutuzov sustained two separate severe head wounds that ultimately led to loss of sight in his right eye. A portrait of General Kutuzov hangs in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, Kutuzov's birthplace. In the portrait Kutuzov is standing with his left side facing forward, presumably to hide his disfigured right eye. He lost the Battle of Austerlitz against Napoleon and at best gained a draw at the Battle of Borodino. Nevertheless, the latter battle was the beginning of the end for Napoleon's Grand Armée. They entered a deserted Moscow, part of Kutuzov's scorched earth policy that left no food or housing for the enemy, and with the Russian winter rapidly approaching, Napoleon began his long retreat from Russia. As with the German army, the harsh winter claimed many casualties while Kutuzov added to the French misery by harassing the retreating army from the rear. Of 450,000 French soldiers, only 10,000 returned to France.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10941592

In my prior post Herr Drosselmeyer, was the Godfather/uncle to Clara in The Nutcracker.



“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

Mkaren557

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #126 on: February 19, 2018, 08:50:43 AM »
Of course, we will slow down.  Thank you so much for letting me know AND let's read just book two for the next week.  We will decide about book three when we see how we do on book two. So, let's start discussing 2 on Wednesday, Feb 21.  I hope others will gain access to book and will join the mulling, savoring, and sharing of this story.  Towles describes the structure of the novel as diamond shaped: it moves from a point (the Count entering the hotel) and widens out with more characters, images, and twists.  Then about halfway through the text begins to narrow to the resolution.  We are clearly still expanding. Thje one image that I love is the window in the Count's attic room.  At first the Count describes it as the size of a chessboard, then an invitation, then a postage stamp. Before Nina the Counts world was getting smaller and smaller.
"In the time Nina had been in the hotel, the walls had not grown inward, they had grown outward, expanding in scope and intricacy" Around and About page 57.

rosemarykaye

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #127 on: February 19, 2018, 10:33:37 AM »
I was interested to read Barb's account of running about on a ship unnoticed, as I could not otherwise have believed that Nina could have had such a free rein in the hotel. As we have mentioned before, this aspect is slightly reminiscent of Eloise at Christmas - she lives in a fabulous hotel in New York with her nanny, (while her mother is sunning herself on the French Riviera) and has all kinds of largely unsupervised adventures. The Eloise books are no more set in the present than Towles' story.

Nowadays no child would be left alone for 5 minutes before someone took them to the receptionist or something. I think this is true for all of us, not just children - recently I went into a chain chemist here in Edinburgh, and just stood a moment thinking about what i wanted to buy. The assistant immediately came rushing up to me with the standard 'Can I help you?' - I said no thank you, I am just thinking what I want to get - she was most taken aback and continued to watch me like a hawk, presumably in case I was either mad, about to pass out on the floor, or a shoplifter. You cannot now just 'be' - you have to have a purpose and get on with it, at least in cities. The one indoor place where you can still wander more or less at will is, of course, the public library. I do it often. Otherwise, indoors or outdoors, people in cities (and I am one of them) are very suspicious of anyone who isn't rushing about looking busy.

The book also puts me in mind of The Grand Budapest Hotel - they both have a slightly surreal air.

Rosemary

bellamarie

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #128 on: February 19, 2018, 11:33:50 AM »
Karen, that sounds perfect reading Book Two for the next week and holding off on Book Three.  I feel I can relax a bit and savor this magnificent writing!

When I read the window was the size of a "postage stamp" I tried to imagine being inside a room with no windows or one as small as that.  I remember one time my hubby and I were going out of town for a week-end getaway.  We entered our hotel room and immediately I felt claustrophobic because it had no windows.  I called to the front desk and asked for another room with windows.  Luckily, they had one with a full glass sliding door that opened up onto a deck near the pool.  The Count seems to be a person who can make do with any circumstance.  I suppose this helps us understand him a bit more:

pg 103  The young Count's self-mastery did not stem from a precocious administration of military regimentation, nor a priggish adherence to household rules.  By the time he was ten, it was perfectly clear that the Count was neither priggish nor regimental (as a phalanx of educators, caretakers, and constables could attest).  No, if the Count mastered discipline of marching past the closed drawing-room doors, it was because experience had taught him that this was the best means of ensuing the splendor of the season.

He not only sees manners and discipline as refined and necessary, thinking back to him teaching Nina it was important to say, please and thank you, but he also makes the best of any situation, and finds the fun in it.  Kind of like when his mustache was clipped off, well what more could he do than simply accept it for what it was.  I like the Count more and more, he is far from your usual stereo typed aristocrat, who would seem stuffy and snobby.  If anything, he knows he is of aristocracy, and yet he makes even the seamstress feel as if she were on his same level.  It's no wonder everyone seems drawn to him, and likes him so much.

“if a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them.”
― Amor Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow

Rosemary,  Yes, in a review I was reading, drat if I can find it again, although I saved the quote:  And he even finds himself acting as the father to a young girl whom Towles has called his “Eloise of the Metropol." 

Indeed, today any child that is roaming by him/her self with no adult nearby would immediately be approached and inquired as to where their parent is.  We are in a world of child abduction and trafficking, it is unthinkable to allow a child to roam around a ship or hotel, let alone allow a nine year old little girl have lunch with a perfect male stranger, or scurry around secret doors with him.  Interesting how Towles could date back to the times where this was not only acceptable, but no concern or fear for the child back then, compared to today, although this book was only written in the past few years.

“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

BarbStAubrey

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #129 on: February 19, 2018, 12:42:10 PM »
thank you thank you Karen - there is tons on every page of this book - back this evening - appointments today...
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

bellamarie

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #130 on: February 19, 2018, 02:49:42 PM »
Jonathan
Quote
With others to follow, since all forty vignettes in this book begin with the letter A. I have the feeling he may want to work his way through the alphabet. 

Nothing gets by you does it Jonathan?  I love it when there is really no real explanation to why an author does what they do. 

From the interview I previously posted a link to:   What’s with All the Chapter Titles?

As you’ve probably noted, all of the book’s chapters are titled with words beginning in A. Why is that so?

To be perfectly honest, I don’t have a good answer. Early in the drafting of the novel, I had the instinct that I should follow the rule, and I trusted that instinct. One reader has suggested that it was my own version of playing “Zut”; another has suggested it was a tribute to the first letters in the names Alexander and Amor; a third has suggested it was because the book is about new beginnings. All of these answers strike me as excellent!
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

Jonathan

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #131 on: February 19, 2018, 04:55:43 PM »
Along with many other fine things one could say about this book...is how picturesque it is. Your quote, Bellamarie, describing the young Count's self-mastery, on page 103, sent me back to the book. I reread it along with the preceding paragraph and suddenly I was staring at the photograph on the wall in front of me. I'm very proud of it. I took it myself, in London, when I stuck my camera into his face. With his shiny, plumed helmet and red coat', and 'the unflinching stare of a Buckingham Palace guard.'

I thanked him for the fine picture, but nothing could make him bat an eye.

bellamarie

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #132 on: February 19, 2018, 05:31:12 PM »
Picturesque indeed Jonathan!  Reading about the opening of the drawing room doors on Christmas Eve, had me mesmerized, imagining it as a child:

pg 103  For on Christmas Eve, when his father finally gave the signal and he and Helena were allowed to pull the doors apart__there was the twelve-foot spruce lit up from trunk to tip and garlands hanging from every shelf.  there were the bowls of oranges from Seville and the brightly colored candies from Vienna.  And hidden somewhere under the tree was the unexpected gift__be it a wooden sword with which to defend the ramparts, or a lantern with which to explore a mummy's tomb.  Such is the magic of Christmas in childhood, thought the Count a little wistfully, that a single gift can provide one with endless hours of adventure while not even requiring one to leave one's house.

This is poetry in motion for me.  It takes you back to the days as a child, anticipating that very moment you creep down the stairs while your parents are still asleep on Christmas morning, peeking at the one gift you are hoping Santa has left for you, that you spend endless hours playing make believe with, days after the holiday has come and gone.  One gift is usually all I ever got as a child on Christmas morning, and it was a doll I would give a name to, and cherish like a treasure of gold.  To this very day I collect dolls, which continue to give me such joy!
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

PatH

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #133 on: February 19, 2018, 08:41:20 PM »
So the cat is called different names, appropriate to whatever it's doing at the moment.  Bellamarie, thanks for the information on General Kutuzov.  Yes, Jonathan, he is a big figure in War and Peace.  Tolstoy admires him tremendously, and makes him represent true Russian military tactics, superior to all other generals.  I wasn't totally convinced.

Jonathan, Nina thought the Count looked better without his mustaches,

Jonathan

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #134 on: February 19, 2018, 10:22:18 PM »
Thanks, Bellamarie and Pat, for the information on General Kutuzov. What a curious way to bring this historical figure into his book. A one-eyed cat! I can't remember when I've been so entertained by a new, new for me, writing or narrative style. Yes, I do. It was when I was young and started to read my newly acquired book by Rabelais, which I had just purchased at the Strand in NYC. I had a place on W47th, and walking the 35 blocks seemed like an adventure. On the way I stopped at the old Pennsylvania Station, went in, sat down, and started reading my new/old book. Looking up I found everyone near staring at me. I realized I had been guffawing over what I was reading.

Ahead are the street sweepers, sweeping up the casualties of a society regenerating itself. A footnote in this author's history!

Wasn't that old Penn Station an architectural gem.

Jonathan

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #135 on: February 19, 2018, 10:39:25 PM »
Here it is!! I still have it.The very Horrendous Life of the Great Gargantua Father of Pantagruel, Set down of Yore by Monsieur Alcofribas, Abstractor of Quintessance Inside I inscribed my experience, with: "Pennsylvania Station, 1959". What a lot of laughs. If you don't hear from me for a few days, you can easily imagine what's keeping me occupied.

bellamarie

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #136 on: February 19, 2018, 10:56:02 PM »
Jonathan, please don't get so involved you leave us for too long, we look forward to your input.  Penn Station, now that would be a fun place to people watch.

PatH., Yes, he does change the cat's name, depending on it's activities.   From a loving Godfather giving Clara a Christmas present in the Nutcracker, just before he opens his gift from Nina, to a General in Russia, as the cat has the two dogs in complete chaos chasing after him.  It was a howl- a- bah- loo!!!  (just a little play on words)
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

BarbStAubrey

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #137 on: February 20, 2018, 11:20:26 AM »
Love it about the cat - oh and yes, Christmas eve - as  child we had on a small scale something along the same lines - the front room that was not heated was closed off - mysterious boxes would arrive that we were told contained the little men, elves and if we went near we would have sand thrown in our eyes - and during the night before falling asleep we would hear sounds like the whirring of a sewing machine or a hammer - on Christmas morning our stockings were on our bedpost that always included an orange and a Lebkuchen with a decal of sorts that showed an old fashioned skinny St. Nickolas - kept us busy and our tummy's fed till Mamma and Daddy came for us - the door to the room was opened and yes, the tree ablaze - our dolls had new clothes and one year there was a new doll crib, another a new doll highchair - we never did put it together this was all that whirring and hammering - there was always, again handmade new Pjs along with a new toothbrush - but that same wondrous uplift of lights, color, scent, with ornaments that some from the tree of my mother, father and grandmother and always the stable under the tree - it was all there. 

I will be back later- getting tires today after a full day yesterday of showing property and grocery shopping - I am so glad for the extra couple of days.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

bellamarie

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #138 on: February 20, 2018, 11:31:35 AM »
Barb, you sound like you had the idyllic childhood, something I could only have wished for!  It's no wonder you still have the heart of a child today.  Whirring and hammering...... oh my, I would wonder if the elves had come straight down from the North Pole to set up shop in your front room.  How wonderful these memories must be for you.

It's raining here in Ohio, and I am headed for my third week at the dentist.  I guess this has shown me to not let my fears keep me away so long in the future. 
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

Jonathan

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #139 on: February 20, 2018, 12:40:16 PM »
Or being watched. Don't we all love watching others. And now, all the characters in this book. Aren't they an entertaining lot? Why The Bishop? The waiter. Is he called that because he resembles a chess piece, or has he found a new occupation, or purpose, in the new society? Or the willowy one who thinks she can handle a Count as well as her two dogs? Dogs, whose breeding matches that of the Count. At least, the Count recognizes it but will not take warning.

bellamarie

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #140 on: February 20, 2018, 02:22:56 PM »
I could be a professional people watcher if there were such an occupation, I am so curious of people so much so, I have become addicted to all the reality TV shows, and yes, before you ask, one of my secret dirty pleasures is Keeping Up With the Kardashians.  Don't judge!  Today's world is a world of selfies, tweets, snap chats, instagrams, and for the older folks Facebook posting.  We have become a world of voyeurism.  I suppose that is part of why I love reading, especially non fiction novels.  I get to get a glimpse into the lives of other fascinating people from centuries ago, up to the modern world, and in some cases, not as fascinating as they would like us to think they are.  Ah so.... it shows me just how boring my life is.  But to be honest, I prefer boring, over the rest. 
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

BarbStAubrey

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #141 on: February 20, 2018, 03:22:41 PM »
Oh great - you have all thought of my next project - just waiting for nicer weather - I need to get better at using a camera given to me a few years ago that allows me to take a digital photo and upload it - What I want to do is combine using it with people watching - I thought of going to several places in town where I can easily observe what happens and lay a fresh rose either at the curb or on a cafe table or in the park on a picnic table and see what folks do who spot the rose and take their photo. Will they pick it up - toss it - smell it - keep it - look around as if to see where it came from - lay it back down - kick it off the curb...

Waiting for my tires to be replaced had a chance to go back to the beginning of our story - amazing how I thought this or that came before a certain scene and was befuddled when the way the story unfolds was not as I remembered. I completely missed his "passing the young girl with the penchant for yellow who was reading a magazine in her favorite lobby chair," Right there on the second page of Book One she was mentioned.

So much was describing his sister that I am wondering how she will be included as the story moves on. 

And yes the Desk that was passed to him by his godfather Grand Duke Demidov - the godfather was for real...

"The Demidov family (Russian: Деми́довы) also Demidoff, was a prominent Russian noble family during the 18th and 19th centuries. Originating in the city of Tula in the 17th century, the Demidovs found success through metal products, and were entered into the European nobility by Peter the Great. Their descendants became among the most influential merchants and earliest industrialists in the Russian Empire, and at their peak were predicted to be the second-richest family in Russia, behind only the Russian Imperial Family. The Demidov family lost its fortune after the February Revolution of 1917, but continues to exist under the rendering Demidoff."

I also thought it interesting that a painter's name contained two of the names used by Towles - Makovsky Konstantin Zhukovsky - Russian painter (1839-1915) Konstantin the old Greek money lender and Zhukovsky the sir name for Emile the chef.  A pair of the artist's paintings I thought send off vibes of the pomp and circumstances in the Count's exotic and colorful lifestyle before the Revolution.

The transfer of the Holy Carpet in Cairo ( from Cairo to Macca ) in 1876  and  The Arrival of the Holy Carpet in Cairo ( from Macca to Cairo ) - 1876

Although the painting nor the artist is named in our story, somehow the work seems to fit and I cannot but wonder if the name of both the Old Greek and the Chef was a nod to the artist who created this work in Paris, at the order of the Russian crown prince, future Emperor Alexander III.

About the painting, the special unique nature of the tradition along with excellence that was celebrated reminds me of how the Count is portrayed - giving us a glimpse of all that was pre-revolution wonderful, encased in a tiny space like a small Fabergé egg.

"The painting refers to an ancient Muslim tradition. The holy carpet of kiswah, a relic for all Muslims, is used to cover the most sacred shrine of Islam, the Ka’bah in Mecca. Every year the best Egyptian masters wove and embroidered a holy carpet to be transferred to Mecca. The carpet was placed into a special reliquary called mahmal that was fixed on a camel’s back. The train walked around the streets of Cairo surrounded by pilgrims and believers and then left for Mecca. In the end of hadj the pilgrims received small parts of the carpet and brought them home to different parts of the world. Upon return the pilgrim were usually met by festive crowds of Cairo citizens. The meeting ritual celebrated the return of the pilgrims and the mahmal that was considered sacred. "
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Mkaren557

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #142 on: February 21, 2018, 09:46:21 AM »
Thank you Barb, Jonathan, Bellamarie, and Pat for all the information you have added to the discussion.  You all have enriched the discussion immensley.  Book one ends with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come with the warning that the Count's Christmas sense of "well being" will turn in four years to the Count "climbing to the roof and standing on its parapet in order to throw himself into the street below."

As book two opens it is June 21, 1923, one year that the Count has been confined to the Metropol.  We all have more "people-watching" to do and we will be watching more people.  Has the Count changed in the last year?  Has the hotel changed?  In fact is the rapid change going on outside the Metropol reflected inside?  All in good time.

PatH

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #143 on: February 21, 2018, 10:52:38 AM »
 Pages 13-14: the Count's grandmother is reproving him for crying and losing self-control when defeated in a game: "There is nothing pleasant to be said about losing, and the Obolensky boy is a pill.  But, Sasha, my dear, why on earth would you give him the satisfaction?"

 Page 23, quoting Montaigne: "The commonest way of softening the hearts of those we have offended, when, vengeance in hand, they hold us at their mercy, is by submission to move them to commiseration and pity.  However, audacity and steadfastness--entirely contrary means--have sometimes served to produce the same effect..."

 Bellamarie: "pg 103  'The young Count's self-mastery did not stem from a precocious administration of military regimentation, nor a priggish adherence to household rules.  By the time he was ten, it was perfectly clear that the Count was neither priggish nor regimental (as a phalanx of educators, caretakers, and constables could attest).  No, if the Count mastered discipline of marching past the closed drawing-room doors, it was because experience had taught him that this was the best means of ensuing the splendor of the season.'"

 We get plenty of pointers about the way the Count reacts to his arrest, trial, and confinement.

bellamarie

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #144 on: February 21, 2018, 11:09:48 AM »
Good Morning!  So today we begin Book Two, and I am already finding it to be as intriguing, and fun as Book One.  Talk about a page turner, how does one not leap to the next book when the last sentences in Book One leaves you with this:

But had the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come suddenly roused the Count to give him a glimpse of the future, he would have seen that his sense of well-being had been premature.  For less than four years later, after another careful accounting of the twice-tolling clock's twelve chimes, Alexander Ilyich Rostov would be climbing to the roof of the Metropol Hotel in his finest jacket and gamely approaching its parapet in order to throw himself into the street below.

 I didn't know what to think after reading this because from all my senses in getting to know the Count, I do not see him as a man of suicide.  So my mind started wondering, why would he throw himself off the rooftop into the street? 

PatH., we were posting at the same time, and your points of how the Count was taught to react to life situations strengthens my feelings he is not a man of escaping life, in death of his own making.  Or would he decide his own destiny, if he were being presented with a situation of such magnitude?  Hmmm... he sure didn't cave at the trial, knowing he could have been put to a firing squad. I guess I will have to continue reading to find my answers.


Book Two opens with the Count meeting the willowy actress Anna Urbanova and her two ill behaved dogs of perfect breeding.  Kutuzov the one-eyed cat has given the two borzois dogs a bit of a stir as cats seem to do.  The Count is able to command the dogs with just a couple of G major whistles, and they come and heel at his feet.  I had to laugh at the dialect the Count and the willow have:

pg112  "Thank you," she said (with a smile presumed to launch armadas).  "I'm afraid that they are quite ill bred."  "On the contrary," replied the Count, "they appear to be of perfectly bred."  The willow made a second effort at her smile.  "What I meant to say is that they are ill behaved."  "Yes, perhaps ill behaved; but that is a matter of handling not breeding."  "Handling does seem to have a way of eclipsing breeding." she said acerbically.  "And for that very reason, I should think that even some of the best bred dogs belong on the shortest leashes."  "An understandable conclusion," replied the Count.  "But I should think the best-bred dogs belong in the surest of hands."

Are they still speaking of dogs, or people?  I guess only time will tell.
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

Jonathan

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #145 on: February 21, 2018, 12:43:38 PM »
Clever 'watching' everybody. And it's not just the people. Keep your eye on the cat and dogs, as well.

I have a book on my shelf: The Moscow Puzzles, a compendium of 359 puzzling recreations. Our book, I've decided, will make it 360, and will stand next to it, after the discussion.

Of course, I agree. Gentlemen don't commit suicide. Unless it's a matter of challenging someone to a duel because the buttons on his jacket don't get the respect they deserve. So, is our book about the making and undoing of a gentlman? What does it take?

Christmas is the best time for achieving self-discipline! The immediate reward? Ensuring the splendor of the season. More likely, it's another opportunity for the author to add one more alliterative jewel to his collection. Have you noticed how many there are? Charming.

Is it the author who speaks in the footnote on page 100:

'...we Russians like to make use of honorifics, patronymics, and an array of diminuitives - such that a single character in one of our novels may be referred to in four different ways in as many pages.'

Haha. It certainly gives a puzzle a whole new dimension.

BarbStAubrey

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #146 on: February 21, 2018, 02:49:47 PM »
Another quote from de Montaigne Pat, that shows what you have picked up - added to my question, how is he grieving all this loss -

I had to refresh with a look into the 5 stages of Grief and thought - oh he is so disciplined he is just riding over what I thought was the initial feelings of Grief and simply handling all of it with the discipline learned from his grandmother.

Denial - he sure did not seem to be denying anything
Anger - maybe but again such the Gentleman there I thought were no outward signs
Bargaining - he had no chips, no way to bargain with God or the Proletariat
Depression - as soon as he catches himself letting down a proper front he bucks up so I saw no sign of Depression - and finally
Acceptance - which is where I thought he was with his situation. 

Until I re-read the defining behavior for each and there it was - the Count living out his Grief. I read that the 5 stages are not necessarily experienced one at a time following each other - and the grieving can go back and forth with these various reactions after you've experienced them the first, second or many times, even after the final, Acceptance.

Denial description includes, "As you accept the reality of the loss and start to ask yourself questions, you are unknowingly beginning the healing process. You are becoming stronger, and the denial is beginning to fade. But as you proceed, all the feelings you were denying begin to surface." 

Looking at the Count he has a lot of memories of living his social and organized day. At first he did rustle himself to his surroundings, going tit for tat with friar's lantern  and their minion soldiers alike - the Count acting as a man of renown till the first morning  - "in the shapeless moments before the return to consciousness" then quickly goes into his Anger mode "savored the taste of the day to come."

Reading the description for Anger, it was written for the Count - "Anger is a necessary stage of the healing process. Be willing to feel your anger, even though it may seem endless. The more you truly feel it, the more it will begin to dissipate and the more you will heal.

There are many other emotions under the anger and you will get to them in time, but anger is the emotion we are most used to managing. The truth is that anger has no limits. It can extend not only to your friends, the doctors, your family, yourself and your loved one who died, but also to God. You may ask, “Where is God in this? Underneath anger is pain, your pain.

It is natural to feel deserted and abandoned, but we live in a society that fears anger. Anger is strength and it can be an anchor, giving temporary structure to the nothingness of loss. At first grief feels like being lost at sea: no connection to anything. Then you get angry at someone... maybe a person who isn’t around, maybe a person who is different... Suddenly you have a structure – – your anger toward them.

The anger becomes a bridge over the open sea, a connection from you to them. It is something to hold onto; and a connection made from the strength of anger feels better than nothing.We usually know more about suppressing anger than feeling it. The anger is just another indication of the intensity of your love."


Finally here it is Pat, adding to your quotes this one also from de Montaigne - I thought it also nailed it... "The most usual way of appeasing the indignation of such as we have any way offended, when we see them in possession of the power of revenge, and find that we absolutely lie at their mercy, is by submission, to move them to commiseration and pity; and yet bravery, constancy, and resolution, however quite contrary means, have sometimes served to produce the same effect."

Then re-reading and noting over and over, the Anger was there - He took the brandy after he noticed the smug soldiers eyeing the bottles - he walks briskly and makes decisions when ever the chance allows, to even bounding up the stairs bringing him closer to his confinement. With bravado he says, "All the books", "All of them", said to impress unfortunatly the un-impressable. Later, he is dismissive of the declarations constructed during the Assembly and minimizing the meeting to his learning a few synonyms and antonyms - minimizing is a form of aggression which is Anger.
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

BarbStAubrey

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #147 on: February 21, 2018, 02:56:52 PM »
Starting Book Two he enjoys every minute of the uproar created by the 'hotel' cat and the visiting dogs - the Count appears in command with a sense of ownership of not only of his room(s) but the lobby, restaurants, the entire hotel - but of course - we know he has the keys to the entire building and has visited every nook and cranny as well, he knows personally the staff.

Thought - describing the cat seems to reflect the emotional status of the Count - when we first meet the cat he was a silvery shadow similar to the Count in his ageing years, reduced to living quarters that were a shadow of his former rooms - the cat appears as a puff of smoke and the Count not much more. He must remake himself into substance that is more than the decaying gasses of the past that describe the cat, a will-o'-the wisp, (gases from decaying plants in marshy areas also called friar's lantern) However, most important to cat and man, "...let nothing within the hotel's wall escape his notice,"  and further following the cat's good hard look... the Count after completing his own survey...The crowded confusion of furniture gave the Count's little Domain the look of...

Compared to the dogs with their "silver" coats, "raised to give chase in the cold" now, the cat is a "slender shadow" that jumps from behind - the cat taking higher ground to measure his foe - just as the Proletariat assumes they have the Count out in the cold the Count has been assessing the lay of things taking advantage of what his circumstances has to offer then, like the cat copying the work of a renowned Russian General, both cat and the Count can cause a flurry, or in the case of the Count stop a flurry, head back toward the staircase and disappear around the corner.   

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Jonathan

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #148 on: February 21, 2018, 05:33:47 PM »
Brilliant, Barb!!! Your posts are a lesson in reading.

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #149 on: February 22, 2018, 12:30:24 AM »
Good grief - thanks for the compliment Jonathan but please - it is just my usual obsession with finding some understanding, that I am convinced are in myths and symbols, so that life will finally make sense - plus, making connections is the way I think - can't help it -

Since a kid I see every issue in life, every film, every piece of music and every book as a schematic of colored lines against a black void.  Sharing I'm just following the lines and the connections, often at right angles and then, the understory, like the understory of trees in a forest, I see the next level of colored lines reaching up, down, horizontal and so forth - Thanks to Sister Imelda, 4th grade, who told us every sentence is only a question answered by the next sentence therefore, my seeing connecting colored lines was justified as my head has a continuous dialogue of questions, without words, strung together with an answer making a connection that becomes another system of lines/questions.   

Here on Senior Learn I can share the connections as I see them where as, most folks including family simply roll their eyes. The biggest problem is trying to explain, put words to the connections and how they are further connected --- I often laugh at myself trying so hard to speak these colored lines and connections. This book is a wonder opening my head to building scaffolding that grows and grows in all directions. As Towles says, rooms within rooms...

OK - Random reading - found on line Proust Remembrance of Things Past - years ago I read Swan's Way but the other 6 out of 7 books I had not read - After thinking on the losses the Count was experiencing and his continuous remembering the past I opened up Proust's book to Time Regained and within chapter II, M. de Charlus during the war, his opinions, his pleasures came across this which sits well with the Count's, sting of envy when Mishka, with pleasure, re-tells the story of his romantic skirmish. The Count remembers roles reversed and realizes, reversed or not, he will no longer dine with 60 and there will be no more late night esoteric discussion in basement cafe's with an impressionable young student at his side - Mishka and other new faces will continue without him. Life will renew and go on... Regardless the splendor of the menu the Count dines alone and is becoming passé.

Proust says,"The ladies in the new hats were young women come one hardly knew whence, who had become the flower of fashion, some during the last six months, others during the last two years, others again during the last four. These differences were as important for them as, when I made my first appearance in society, were those between two families like the Guermantes and the Rochefoucaulds with three or four centuries of ancient lineage.

The lady who had known the Guermantes since 1914 considered another who had been introduced to them in 1916 a parvenue, gave her the nod of a dowager duchess while inspecting her through her lorgnon, and avowed with a significant gesture that no one in society knew whether the lady was even married. "All this is rather sickening," concluded the lady of 1914, who would have liked the cycle of the newly-admitted to end with herself.

These newcomers whom young men considered decidedly elderly and whom certain old men who had not been exclusively in the best society, seemed to recognize as not being so new as all that, did something more than offer society the diversions of political conversation and music in suitable intimacy; it had to be they who supplied such diversions for, so that things should seem new, whether they are so or not, in art or in medicine as in society, new names are necessary (in certain respects they were very new indeed).

Thus Mme. Verdurin went to Venice during the war and like those who want at any cost to avoid sorrow and sentiment, when she said it was "épatant", what she admired was not Venice nor St. Mark's nor the palaces, all that had given, me delight and which she cheapened, but the effect of the search-lights in the sky, searchlights about which she gave information supported by figures. (Thus from age to age a sort of realism is reborn out of reaction against the art which has been admired till then.)"


I put the breaks in to make this section from Proust easier to read.

And on the next level, "(Thus from age to age a sort of realism is reborn out of reaction against the art which has been admired till then.)" easily translates to the wider story of Russian History, as the Proletariat is the realism reborn out of reaction against the art which had been admired by the Count and the old Tsarist regime.

So now a new character - we will discover, along with the Count, if the willowy actress Anna Urbanova is a 'child' reborn or, a 'child' who admire the art which had been admired. Will she, like the girl who prefers yellow, find the child within the Count?

 
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Jonathan

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #150 on: February 22, 2018, 12:33:53 PM »
Will she, Anna,  the fisherman's daughter, now occupying the grandest suite in  the Metropol, like the girl who prefers yellow, find the child within the Count?

But isn't it the Count who must  wonder about Anna's childish behaviour, in dropping her clothes, her finery, on the floor, and then out the window? If she had left them there, wouldn't the sweepers have been surprised? To pick up such lovely things, along with the other thrown-away stuff like 'newspapers, journals, and pamphlets: the catechisms and hymnals, histories and memoirs; the contracts, deeds, and titles; the treaties and constitutions and all Ten Commandments.' (p114)

Is it the child in Anna, or is it her own personal revolutionary fervour?

bellamarie

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #151 on: February 22, 2018, 12:47:26 PM »
Barb
Quote
Regardless the splendor of the menu the Count dines alone and is becoming passé.


Oh but do not discount him out just yet. I mean who would have ever seen the willow's aggressiveness coming?  Surly not him, nor I!

pg 117  As Audrius returned to his work, the Count unfolded the piece of paper, which bore the following request in a willowy script:

                                                     Please allow me a second chance
                                                               at a first impression
                                                                     in suite 208


When the Count knocked on the door of suite 208, it was opened by an older woman who regarded him with impatience.  "Yes?"  "I am Alexander Postov. . ."  "You're expected.  Come in, Miss Urbanova will be in a moment."

As I read this I had to stop and pause..... I thought, why does this have a familiar ring to it?  Ah, yes, in a commercial of the book  of Fifty Shades of Grey.


Jonathan,   
Quote
But isn't it the Count who must  wonder about Anna's childish behaviour, in dropping her clothes, her finery, on the floor, and then out the window?

The Count, much like Anatasia was not quite prepared for such childish behaviors from the willow, or Christian Grey. My response in both accounts was the same, whoa.... a bit aggressive if I do say so myself.  But, why did the Count and Anatasia allow themselves to be seduced by people they did not even know?  This says much about them, if I do say so.

Barb, I'm not on the same thought process as you with the inner child concept.   I'm not so sure the willow is looking for any child in our Count.  As for little Nina, I felt she was just seeing him more as a friend/father figure.  But I do like your
Quote
"obsession with finding some understanding, that I am convinced are in myths and symbols, so that life will finally make sense - plus, making connections is the way I think - can't help it -
  You always bring so many dimensions to our discussions.

Anna toys with the Count as they are eating:

pg. 121  Take the simple of Anna Urbanova's voice.  In the context of the lobby, where the actress was struggling to rein in her hounds, the hoarseness of the voice had given the impression of an imperious young lady prone to shouting.  Very well.  But here in her suite 208 in the company of charred lemons, French wine, and memories of the sea, her voice was revealed as that of a woman whose profession rarely allowed her the chance for repose, never mind the enjoyment of the decent meal. 

The Count speaks of his childhood growing up in the world capital of the apple.  Anna asks,  "I take it you ate your fair share of apples."  He responds,  " Actually, there was one apple tree we did not eat. . ."  The actress raised one of her bedeviling eyebrows.  "Which?"  "According to local lore, hidden deep within the forest was a tree with apples as black as coal__and if you could find this tree and eat of its fruit, you could start your life anew."  "So would you the actress asked?"  "Would I what?"  "If you found that apple hidden in the forest, would you take a bite?" "There's some allure to the idea of a fresh start; but how could I relinquish my memories of home, of my sister, of my school years."  The Count gestured to the table.  "How could I relinquish my memory of this?"  And Anna Urbanova, having put her napkin on her plate and pushed back her chair, came round the table, took the Count by the collar, and kissed him on the mouth. 

It's almost a bit humiliating the next morning when they awake and she says: 

pg. 123 "As you go, be sure to draw the curtains."  and then the sentence,  After all, as the Count himself had observed just hours before: the best-bred dogs belong in the surest hands.

Hmmm..... has he seen himself as one of her best-bred dogs in the light of day?  Why did Anna decide to seduce him, then dismiss him?  Was this her way of showing him who was in charge, after he humiliated her in the lobby, when he was able to whistle her dogs to heel at his feet, and then point out to her that they are ill- behaved due to their owner?  Certainly food for thought.  The apple is known as the forbidden fruit, nice little addition to the meal for conversation, leading up to the seduction.  Eve tempted Adam and he fell from grace with God.  Anna tempted the Count, and he too fell for it.  I would have expected more insight from the Count.

pg 122  As a young man, the Count had prided himself on being one step ahead.  The timely appearance, the apt expression, the anticipation of a need, to the Count these had been the very hallmarks of the well-bred man. 

So, I have to ask myself.....who is actually seducing who?
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

Mkaren557

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #152 on: February 22, 2018, 01:22:22 PM »
I think that being under house arrest for a year without the companionship of a woman might make the Count vulnerable to a seduction by a woman who interests him.  I wonder more about why Anna wanted to seduce the Count?  What are you thinking this all says about the Count, Bellamarie? 

bellamarie

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #153 on: February 22, 2018, 01:43:42 PM »
I am only up to pg. 129 Addendum, so I need to see if there is more with the willowy actress, before I can conclude the "whys" of their behaviors that night.  I realize his vulnerability as a man, and he has just had a conversation with Mishka, who has revealed he is dating a particular woman.  The Count is feeling a bit low, and lonely, but he keeps referring to best-bred, and well-bred.  It's obvious both Anna and the Count found each other attractive, they both yielded their powers and egos, he with the dogs, she with him.  I wonder if the Count keeps falling back on his memories because he feels like more and more of the man he was/is could be changing before his own eyes, due to being cooped up in this hotel, not being able to come and go as he pleases.   
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

Jonathan

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #154 on: February 23, 2018, 12:04:19 PM »
'...because he feels like more and more of the man he was/is could be changing before his own eyes, due to being cooped up in this hotel, not being able to come and go as he pleases.'

I like that obsevation, Bellamarie. What is the revolution doing to his world? And now what has driven him to contemplate suicide? Surely not Nina's experimenting with falling objects. A wannabe princess at nine, now, at thirteen, a budding scientist. Obviously a lot of things are preying on his mind. He longs to be down at the family estate. Street names in Moscow are being changed. A civilization is being thrown out the window. But worst of all is being offered the choice of white or red wine in the elegant dining room, served by an unqualified waiter who's place is in the bar, not the dining room. This in a place with the best wine cellar in the world. And then being shown that all the thousands of bottles have had their labels removed, reducing them all to either red or white. His world has crumbled. But he has the ability to bounce back. A fascinating tale. But he is still being treated deferentially.





bellamarie

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #155 on: February 23, 2018, 03:21:16 PM »
Oh dear Jonathan, I haven't gotten there yet, but imagine how he feels about all wines with no labels, just red or white.  I mean that would be like a woman going into Neiman Marcus, Barney's or Harrods all her years buying the best labels in clothing, and then one day walking in to find no brand name labels any longer.  Heavens for bid, some women would never walk back into those stores.  People of their status rely on the best of the best, knowing exactly what goes with what, whether it's food, alcohol, liqueur, cars or clothing. They have been raised from childhood that this is important to who their identity is. I agree, he has the ability to bounce back.
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?”
__Anthony Trollope, The Warden

BarbStAubrey

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #156 on: February 23, 2018, 04:53:34 PM »
Bits and pieces of history...

After the Russian Revolution of 1917 the French wine-savvy professionals fled Russia - Wine was drunk in Russia only by the aristocracy before the 1917 Revolution. But all this changed under Stalin, who believed wine had to be affordable for every Soviet citizen.

"All around me I see treason, cowardice and deceit," wrote Nicholas---an accurate perception to the hysteria of refugees in Odessa and Baku when the phantom regimes of the Whites collapsed, the last act of the bejeweled, uniformed upper crust was one of abject retreat. The St. Vitus dance of St. Petersburg society continued even as the Red Guard marched on the Winter Palace; Theosophists, religious charlatans and ballerinas were the darlings of the day. The Grand Duke Paul fretted about the security of his wine cellar more than security of the state.

How the Bolsheviks took the Winter Palace --- Thursday 27 December 1917 - guardian.co.uk

...The troops guarding the arsenal joined hands with the Bolsheviks, who got possession of all the artillery and ammunition and enormous stocks of rifles. Every regiment or company of soldiers in the city had passed a resolution supporting the Bolsheviks,...

...Some of the old servants of the Palace, who had formerly served the Tsar and were well acquainted with the vast building, volunteered to serve as guides.

...The Palace was pillaged and devastated from top to bottom by the Bolshevik armed mob, as though by a horde of barbarians. All the State papers were destroyed. Priceless pictures were ripped from their frames by bayonets. Several hundred carefully packed boxes of rare plate and china, which Kerensky had exerted himself to preserve, were broken open and the contents smashed or carried off. The library of Alexander III, the doors of which we had locked and sealed, and which we never entered, was forced open and ransacked, books and manuscripts burnt and destroyed. ...the Tsaritsa's salon, like all other rooms, was thrown into chaos. The colossal crystal lustre, with its artfully concealed music, was smashed to atoms. Desks, pictures, ornaments - everything was destroyed. I will refrain from describing the hideous scenes which took place in the wine-cellars

More than twenty-five hundred bottles of expensive wine were consumed, pilfered, or destroyed, and the cellar itself was ruined...

In the book "Vodka Politics: Alcohol, Autocracy, and the Secret History of the Russian State" By Mark Lawrence Schrad described is the destruction of the wine in Petrograd..."The men who wanted that wine were so mad for it that even machine guns would not keep them back. So the comrade in charge turned the machine guns on the bottles and destroyed them." described the journalist Anna Louise Strong. "The wine rose to the hips of his hip-boots so so that he was wading in it. He used to be a drinker himself before he became a Communist and it hurt him to see that good wine destroyed. But it was necessary to preserve order in Petrograd."

The order went out, "Any stocks of wine discovered were to be blown up with dynamite 2 hours after the warning. REMEMBER THERE WILL BE NO OTHER WARNING BEFORE THE EXPLOSION"


And so with all of that, it is amazing that the Hotel still had a cellar of wine that the Count had enjoyed during his first year or so of 'house' arrest, regardless the loss now of knowing more than if the wine was red or white.

Interesting - the literary 'shadow' ID is even in the wine - the Revolution was fought between the Reds and the Whites. I'm remembering as children we were taught the good guys were the white Russians - I did not know what that meant and envisioned people painted white or wearing all white clothes with those fur hats we saw also being white - I decided in my head that they were dressed in white so they could blend into the snow. Oh dear the imagination of a 6 year old... ;)
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

Mkaren557

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #157 on: February 23, 2018, 06:36:57 PM »
Barb, that is wonderful info about the wine and the Revolution.    I think that Towles wrote in the history of the hotel that the Bolsheviks wanted to keep the Metropol so that the foreigners who were coming would think that Russia was in good hands.  Probably that is why the wine cellar survived.
In a little town near where I grew up in Maine, there were quite a few white Russians.  They fled the Bolshevivs and Russia.  Some were patients of my father.  They always bought him farm produce to pay.  They and their descendents still farm their lands.  I heard last summer thaat the originals were all gone.  Some of the kids went to school with me.  They were very American by then.

Jonathan

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #158 on: February 23, 2018, 09:40:17 PM »
Thanks for all the 'history' Barb. How interesting.Especially the role that wine played in the revolution. No doubt the leaders and agitators shouted to their followers: 'Help yourselves'. A sure-fire way to 'rally the troops'. Why was the Metropol wine-cellar spared? It was far away in Moscow . The action was in St Petersburg, the seat of government, the Winter Palace, and the Tsar's court.

I grew up hearing stories about Red and White, so the story of the wine was read with the others in mind. There are other things with double meanings. A very clever book. One man's revolution.

BarbStAubrey

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Re: A Gentleman in Moscow~Amor Towles~Winter-Spring Book Club Online~
« Reply #159 on: February 23, 2018, 11:33:25 PM »
I love it - someone has a sense of humor - the music chosen to show off these two playful Russian Wolf Hounds otherwise known as Borzois  :D  ;D  :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMq8DDACgfw

Actually after seeing what they look like I was a bit disappointed thinking of something along the lines of a greyhound. Which now I have a different impression of Anna - attractive and willowy but not near as sophisticated as the woman a greyhound would accompany.  Looks like I did not copy the Count and withhold my first impression.

Interesting question - in favor of a fresh start could you relinquish your memories of home, or family or your school years?
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe