Count Alexander
Rostow was a nobleman in the waning days of Tsar Nicolas II and the Romanov
family. Alexander was in Paris with his
sister when the revolution began. He
immediately returned home. In 1922 he
was hauled before “The Emergency Committee of the People’s Commissariat for
Internal Affairs.” The Count expected to
be shot, but some high party officials recognized him as “among the heroes of
the prerevolutionary cause. Thus, it is
the opinion of this committee that you should be returned to the hotel of which
you are so fond. But make no mistake:
should you ever set foot outside of the Metropol again, you will be shot.” (5). Despite this ominous beginning, about a third
of the novel is full of humor, jokes, literary references, and lots of pleasant
dining with gallons of wine and meetings some with old friends.
Alexander was
escorted from the trial venue to the hotel and his room. Towles writes, “On the third floor, the count
walked down the red-carpeted hallway toward his suite—an interconnected
bedroom, bath, dining room, and grand salon with eight-foot windows overlooking
the lindens of Theatre Square. And there
the rudeness of the day awaited” (10).
The Count was given a room in the attic of the hotel. Towles continues, “Among the furnishings
destined for his new quarters, the Count chose two high-back chairs, his
grandmother’s oriental coffee table, and a favorite set of porcelain plates”
(11). He hardly had room for a picture
of his sister, a leather case, and a few odds and ends.
While dining one
day, a young girl in a lemon yellow dress began staring at the Count, and
slowly she befriends Alexander. The two
become close friends, and they enjoy games and discussions. Nina raises the subject of what is a
princess. Towles writes, “‘I would be
ever so grateful, […] if you would share with me some of the rules of being a
princess.’ ‘The Rules? […] But, Nina,’
the Count said with a smile, ‘being a princess is not a game.’ Nina stared at
the Count with an expression of patience.
‘I am certain that you know what I mean.
Those things that are expected
of a princess” (49).
On one of their
adventures, Nina and Alexander sneak into the balcony during a conference to
listen to a meeting of a trade union.
Towles writes, “Here indeed, was a formidable sentence—one that was on
intimate terms with the comma, and that held the period in healthy
disregard. For its apparent purpose was
to catalogue without fear or hesitation every single virtue of the Union
including but not limited to its unwavering shoulders, its undaunted steps, the
clanging of its hammers in summer, the shoveling of its coal in the winter, and
the hopeful sound of its whistles in the night.
But in the concluding phrases of this impressive sentence, at the very
culmination as it were, was the observation that through their tireless
efforts, Railway Workers of Russia ‘facilitate communication and trade across
the provinces’” (68). Someone is in dire
need of an English teacher.
Amor Towles fantastic
and absorbing novel, A Gentleman in
Moscow is hard to lay aside. You
will not soon forget this story. 10
Stars
--Chiron, 6/23/18