But, I do think that if Rostov was caught he would have been happy that he was able to get his "daughter" out, that he was re-united with his love, and that he was able to breathe the fresh air of the country while looking at the apple blossoms once more. So they must have agreed to meet. When she was 17 years old, she was lucky to be invited to participate in a goodwill concert, which was to take place in Paris. Last Reviewed on June 19, 2019, by eNotes Editorial. There are so many questions that remain answered at this point, and we shall attempt to address some of them. A beautiful reminder that a rich life is made of so much more than one's circumstances, and that purpose is often found in the most unexpected places. A Gentleman in Moscow gave me a new perspective on the era, even though it’s fictional. The Metropol Hotel, a five-star establishment, does actually exist, located exactly like where it is described in the novel, opposite the Bolshoi Theatre, and if this were a way of promoting the hotel, it was cleverly done. For an enhanced browsing experience, get the IMDb app on your smartphone or tablet. You don’t have to be a Russophile to enjoy the book, but if you are, it’s essential reading. The novel "A Gentleman in Moscow" provides us with a rich slice of Russian history. I appreciated everyone's comments after reading these, his remaining in the Soviet Union makes perfect sense. I loved the book. I was a beautiful ending, and nothing else was needed to complete the book. To me, it was all about the Ferris wheel of life. The sentence is handed down by a Bolshevik tribunal because the Count had written a poem in 1913 with revolutionary undertones. Finally, Sophia grew up as a girl of good character and became the source of Count's joy and purpose. book. The bees and their special honey and the hidden gold in the bureau etc. The above explanation of the ending of the novel addresses some of these questions to help the reader understand the story better. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles Windmill Books, Random House, 2016 _____ Every so often a peripatetic reader such as myself comes across a book that stays in mind long after the finish, one to which you surreptitiously return, guiltily knowing you are not reducing the waiting bedside pile by dipping again into one already read. They also have … The Count gave Sophia a chance for a life outside Russia, which is something that he didn't want to give up even if it meant living without anything except the willowy woman near his childhood home. I agree with Laura. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. I am rereading A Gentleman in Moscow, this time for my book club so I happened upon your article. "A Gentleman in Moscow is the utterly entertaining second novel from the author of Rules of Civility. It has been interesting reading the different interpretations given here. Anna was the one who was always described as willowy. Pasha = bellhop Amor Towles opens the novel on 21 June 1922, with the Count being tried in front of the Emergency Committee of the … And as she got older, she performed on stage which would not have been seen by as many. I believe that with her talent, he realized that , in his situation, and also with Russia being what it was, that he would not be able to see her much and she was his daughter. He may have planned to go to Helsinki, but he knew the bishop had seen the travel book on Finland so felt he would be caught. It allows the reader the opportunity to examine the world through different eyes. Above: Photos of the actual Metropol Hotel and surroundings. 59 characters in A Gentleman From Moscow are listed along with character descriptions. I felt convinced that they would remain hidden as a couple as Anna had previously cast an invisibility spell over the count. As an added bonus, the man who fled back to--not from--Russia and was saved from suicide by honey and the thoughts of the fruit trees near his home got to experience them with his beloved Anna. After all- when she is hurt- he doesn't hesitate to leave the hotel. I thought maybe the willowy character was his sister. He gave the Americans what they wanted, so they will keep their end of the bargain and get them to safety in New York. inti-revista.org News ☛ ⭐A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW⭐ is one of the New York Times Best Selling novels. I was also confused by the ending. In reference to transcripts, I think it worked because despite the serious nature of the trial it showcases the Count’s clever nature which sets the tone for his end journey. But alone, it would be a loss too great for sensitive Sofia to bear. Still, I'm not sure how I feel about he ending. Like the thrice read story of Anna Karenina, they may be throwing themselves on the railroad tracks by staying in Russia but they are being true to the Russian tapestry. And now I am more torn with my thoughts for the end. Book: A Gentleman in Moscow Author: Amor Towles Edition: Hardcover . From the moment the Count passes through the hotel’s revolving doors, the narrative begins opening steadily outward. Yes, we're all a bit confused about the aftermath of the Afterword: is the Count ever to be re-united with Sofia? The Count must adjust not only to his new circumstances in a small room in the hotel’s belfry but also to the knowledge that … Rick does not get on the plane with Ilsa, he stays behind and "fights the good fight," even though that choice was personally, tremendously difficult for him. A Gentleman in Moscow Quotes. But you would never know it. I hate to write this but, in my opinion, with the way this book ends, Count Rostov is likely to die very soon either by suicide or from KGB torture in Lubyanka prison and all his friends in the Hotel Metropol, his girlfriend and Sofia’s piano instructor are likely to end up in Lubyanka also. Relieved to know it wasn't just me. His second novel, A Gentleman in Moscow, published in 2016, was also a New York Times bestseller and was named as one of the best books of 2016 by the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Francisco Chronicle, and NPR. He came back, because Russia was his home. She was left under Count's care when her mother Nina left to search for her husband, who had been taken by the regime. The Count thanks Viktor for coming, and then they see a scuffle between two fruit sellers on the other side of the café. As the Kremlin officer who is "charged with keeping track of certain men of interest" - he is the Kremlin officer at the end who says "round up the usual suspects" - a huge nod to Casablanca and a smirk. By the end of the book, I felt like the Count was an old friend. He loved her so much that he wanted, like her mother Nina before her, for Sofia to be free to follow her own course in the world. It is Anna he meets with in the end. It was worth the gamble to see that Sofia was not controlled and that he could see her grow and her life. concepts. He. Amor Towles. And that he set Sophia free by plotting her disappearance so that she needn't return to Russia. The fact that he escaped from the Metropol, finally, and could be back in his beloved countryside was the perfect way to wrap up this beautiful novel. READ ALSO: Margaret Ogola: Google celebrates renowned Kenyan novelist, Image: instagram.com, @vintagevivianneSource: UGC. Fyodor = fruit seller. Sophia is not like the Tzar or Ivan's child, condemned or being cradled as a dead child - Sophia … Over the course of the last twenty years, this husband and wife team has been systematically translating the works of Russia’s golden age including those by Gogol, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Chekhov. Welcome back. We slowly turn away from who we are gaining height on the wheel, then every move is a step to get back to what we worked hard to leave. I simply loved this book. Ever to see Paris again? If A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW stirs or renews your interest in Russian literature, I recommend the translations of Pevear & Volokhonsky. I was a beautiful ending, and nothing else was needed to complete the book. But you can’t resist. He had refused to spy, but he did it for her. View production, box office, & company info Get More From IMDb. But, in the end, he wanted to go back to his old stomping grounds...where the apple trees were blooming. She was waiting for Count at the family estate after he escaped from the hotel. Best ending ever -- the Count remains with his true (sentimental) loves after setting his young dearest free. Anyone might be quick to think that Count had an unfulfilling life while in the Metropol Hotel. One of his friends in the hotel, Nina, brought her daughter Sofia to him after being sent by the Russian regime to accomplish some hard labor in Sevvostlag following the arrest of her husband. A Gentleman in Moscow is the 30-year saga of the Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, who is placed under house arrest inside the Metropol Hotel in Moscow in 1922 when the Bolsheviks spare him from death or Siberia because of his 1913 revolutionary poem written in university. Same as a writer puts an entire life, an entire world under a book’s cover so that you can share a few exciting hours or … Image: instagram.com, @whenthedaymetnightSource: UGC. I can't see that he would have had Sofia make the escape if he didn't plan on, at least, trying to meet up with her. I just finished the book and am searching for answers. 20 of the best book quotes from A Gentleman in Moscow #1 “In the end, a parent’s responsibility could not be more simple: To bring a child safely into adulthood so that she could have a chance to experience a life of purpose and, God willing, contentment.” author. Lea: Apparently, all Rostov was trying to do was get his "daughter" out of Russia and get himself free to stay in Russia with his girlfriend, the actress. A Gentleman in Moscow immerses us in another elegantly drawn era with the story of Count Alexander Rostov. I kept seeing all the rave reviews and wondered if we all read the same ending. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, … Is it possible that Rostov used the bullet in the second dueling gun to kill himself, and the last scene was a fantasy of his return, with the two little kids being himself and his sister when they were young? A Gentleman in Moscow. Reading a well-written novel tantalizes the imagination, boosts your vocabulary, and broadens the horizon. We aren't told how he traveled. Pavel = doorman. parenting … I loved the ending. READ ALSO: You should be married and with kids if you read any of these high school set-books. Am so glad I found this thread as having loved the book the ending threw me (and annoyed me a bit). She Loves his Best Friend. That he met up with Anna and presumably they were happy together living the rest of their days in a place that could be more like the old Russia of his youth, was unexpected and genius. Anna rekindled her love for Count whenever she visited the Metropol. Over the course of the last 20 years, this husband and wife team has been systematically translating the works of Russia’s golden age, including those by Gogol, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Chekhov. However, the ending of this novel leaves most of the readers in suspense because there are so many unanswered questions. Sofia. I think early 20 th century Russian history is super interesting, so I’ve read a bunch of books about Lenin and Stalin. They also have translated The Master & … He helped Sophia defect. Someone would recognize her with him. They finally made their way out. Over the next two hundred pages detailed descriptions accumulate of people, rooms, objects, memories, and … But he also felt terrible guilt at encouraging her to wish to be "caged up" like him. Essentially, A Gentleman in Moscow takes the shape of a diamond on its side. Rostov getting out of Russia would be too "romantic" an ending, I think. Personally, I like that Sofia kept the necklace Anna gave her- suggesting a stronger relationship between the two than described in chapter, and an imagined reunion of this delightfully eclectic “family” in Paris. No one is going to look for him. He needed to set her free from being tethered to him. We needn't worry too much about him. If you have ever read this novel, then one of the questions that come through your mind as the story comes to a close is "who is that willowy woman with the graying hair that appears at the end?" Alas, why not end your tour with “A Gentleman in Moscow” cocktail? He is an old man, and he and Anna will simply concoct some semi-plausible cover story under which he will live out his days, but not cooped up in a tiny room. Maybe Towles was trying to avoid a fairy tale ending. Sophia is not like the Tzar or Ivan's child, condemned or being cradled as a dead child - Sophia is not his biological child but a child of Russia connecting again the relationship between Russia and Paris - while he and Anna gradually fade into oblivion and are willing to "destroy that which we have created". We are all invited to carry these wonderful characters to a last chapter of our own, based on the tapestry of details the author has sewn into the lining of the book. You don't. It couldn’t be his sister. When the whole switch on the train happened I was in shock. He does not want her to end up like Katarina. After meeting up with Anna and seeing his former home, now ruined, they somehow get of of Russia. Image: instagram.com, @emilys_librarySource: UGC. I wish I could answer your question, Cavour, but I read the book approx. His work has been translated into more than thirty-five languages. Just finished the book.. which I enjoyed enormously... but.. it's very 'old fashioned' ... for Rostov to be such a 'goody two shoes' gets a bit grating.. to have no cynicism or malice makes him unbelievable. Published in 2016, A Gentleman in Moscow, by American author Amor Towles, is the story of Count Alexander Rostov, a Russian nobleman who, after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, is sentenced to lifelong imprisonment in Moscow’s Metropol Hotel. I am so disappointed. The presence of the "willowy" Anna does add an element that suggests their love is likely doomed, but in such a small town, and a ruin, maybe not. Her other life seemed pretty good too. At least I wasn't confused about the "willowy" woman at the tavern! Below is a screenshot of the cover image of A Gentleman in Moscow PDF: He is deeply disturbed by her departure and ruminates many nights for a long time. Exceptional storytelling brings a changing Moscow inside the walls of one building. The suicidal idea was changed by the hotel's handyman, Abram, who shared with him about the honey that the bees that he kept on the roof had made. I want him to leave. Rostov loved Russia. And the KGB man was willing to let him go. I thought the ending perfect. A Gentleman in Moscow is like a quipping, suavely charming dinner companion that you are also a little relieved to escape at the end of the … But it certainly is reasonable for us to wish he could be reuni. Count Rostov staying in Russia at his own peril as we read the bit in Book Three, his discussion with Mishka - when he ponders and even asks Osip if the Russian character is to kill its own progeny - and so the progeny killed would be his being a gentleman which dies with him. I appreciate the challenge this ending presents! Well, yes. The woman he meets is definitely Anna, as she was described as willowy throughout the novel. He simply couldn't ask Sophia to live life "on the run" with him so he risked it all knowing that as a parent there comes a time when the little ones must leave the nest in order to survive, and with that knowledge and Anna he would be content with the rest of his life. Given that the Count was ‘Russian to his core’ and had returned home to his roots in the first place he wouldn’t leave his homeland. He also still has the Finnish passport. Count took the full responsibility to bring Sophia up with the aid of the hotel staff who were his close friends. So glad to see other's initial impression was confusion about the ending. Anna will have connections. So no one probably even looked for him or Anna! After this occasion, Count changed his thoughts and befriended the employees in the hotel such as Marina, the hotel's seamstress who taught him to sew, and Anna, the famous actress in Russia. Various readers of the same novel claim that they were inspired to read it more than once. His best friend wrote the poem which condemned him to the hotel. If you are the kind of person who loves expanding your intellect, then the novel "A Gentleman in Moscow" is a must-read. The novel A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles tells the story of Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, a Russian aristocrat sentenced to house arrest for his association with a poem with revolutionary overtones. We could believe no one was looking for Anna because she came and went all the time so it wasn't unusual. It is his second novel, published five years after his New York Times best seller, Rules of Civility (2011). The novel leaves the reader in. https://www.tuko.co.ke/312185-a-gentleman-moscow-explained.html He is very witty and clever which drastically conflicts with his dry interrogators. Also, would she have been persuaded to leave if he wasn't coming. He had no papers; he was on death sentence if he left the hotel. I don't think the Bishop will ever find the count because the Bishop thinks the count is all about surface aspects of wealth and fame so he would assume The Count will be in some world capital living large. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. ago, so I don't remember about the passports, but good question. More important to free his. I don't think he'd risk leaving her alone in the world. This means, among other things, that when he describes the “willowy woman” at the end of A Gentleman in Moscow… I was like 'But she was like a DAUGHTER!!'. Having that missing connection leaves a certain melancholy note to an otherwise perfectly satisfying finish. If A Gentleman in Moscow stirs or renews your interest in Russian literature, I recommend the translations of Pevear & Volokhonsky. His Best Friend takes her back because he will always love her. On June 21, 1922, Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov is sentenced to a life of house arrest in Moscow’s Metropol Hotel. As the novel comes to an end, Count began making plans on how to escape from the hotel together with Sofia. Such a novel takes us away from our existence and places us in another person's skin. Also the Count has built up a powerful associates in Osip, who would protect him. And, he made the best of it in the Metropol...what an adaptive individual! A Gentleman in Moscow is wonderful from beginning to end. On June 21, 1954, Viktor Stepanovich leaves his apartment just before midnight in order to keep his appointment, takes a bus to St. Petersburg Station, and waits in a café. But it certainly is reasonable for us to wish he could be reunited with Sophia. READ ALSO: Top 6 best books by Stephen King, Image: instagram.com, @littlehousegreySource: UGC. A Gentleman in Moscow is epic in its ambition, enthralling in its storytelling, entertaining in its humour and eloquent in its prose. He could have stayed in Paris when the revolution broke out, yet he chose to return home. Towles made it clear on his FB page that the actress had repeatedly been referred to as "willowy." a SPOILER-FREE overview of Amor Towles' hit second novel, "A Gentleman in Moscow!" Rostov did some very ungentlemanly things at the end which were totally out of character. I thought it was the only ending that it could have been! Katarina is his reason for getting Sofia out or Russia. Sophia is the daughter of Nina, who worked as the hotel seamstress in the Metropol Hotel. I loved the quirky characters with all their wit and charm. He had to send info with her so she could be protected by the Americans. I don't want to say goodbye to the world and people that Towles has created, so I won't. I think that uncertainty is part of the beauty of the ending. 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