There are many books you like and there are book you fall in love with. This is one of those book. Over last 3 weeks – this book was the best thing which could happen to me. Plot has a parallel to our COVID situation because of which we are locked in our house for more than 2 years.
A gentleman we are talking about is Count
Rostov also fondly known an Mishka who was put on house arrest in Metropol
Hotel for 30 years. The whole story is based in a real & existing hotel in
Moscow. It is one of the oldest Hotels in Russia which is still standing, and
you can go and stay there.
What worked for the book is of course Russia –
I have not come across a fiction which is based on Russia. So, it was enlightening
experience to touch and feel the country through Count’s eye. Right from pre-Stalin
days to end of WW II. The good, the funny and ugly aspect of Russia. The foot notes
where the author gives an historical significance or narrates an incident of
significance sets the fictional incident in a real world.
Second of course is our Gentleman – Through various
incidents and relationships in book the author establishes this beautiful
character who is almost perfect but also flawed in many ways. It’s almost like
peeling an onion – with every chapter you find something different about Count.
In a
very subtle way the book tells us about what the values and principles of a gentleman
/ a good human being should be? Long after I closed the book, I recalled the
incidents which brought the relationship the Count had with the Chef or the
watchman or his adopted daughter and actress. It’s written in a very lyrical
way so that you can visualize a scene. In my mental picture Sherlock Holmes
came to my mind – the B&W TV series which I grew up with. The discipline of
dressing well, being true to your vocation, principled etc.
You can Google & read the principle – here
are 2 Liked the most
“For what matters in life is not whether
we receive a round of applause: what matters is whether we have the courage to venture
forth despite the uncertainty of acclaim”
“If a man does not master his
circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them”.
After you read the books, start here:
https://www.amortowles.com/
The author’s site has the music / pictures of the hotel / Q&A on why did he
write book? / what translations can you read.
I could visualize the hotel better after reading
this interesting blog
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