I read so many posts saying how delightful it was, how witty, how sharp, or that people really got a feel of living in Russia during great historical moments. But honestly I thought it was just sort of wordy, benign and even a bit tedious, not particularly standout in its descriptions, nor that funny or unusual, and Towles just moves the plot along with one convenient happenstance after another.
And as for the insights about Russia, it was nothing new to anyone who knows even the slightest facts about Russian history! How much more atmospheric and punchy is something like “City of Thieves” (David Benioff), and how much sharper and observational is the movie “The Death of Stalin.”
I freely admit, I like thrillers and “noir” mysteries so perhaps this just wasn’t my style of book.
End of vent. Maybe it’s just me.
by ThaneOfCawdorrr
7 Comments
Hey, we differ in a big way, but you’re welcome to feel how you feel.
Yeah you’re the only one!
I thought it bland and boring, did not even finish.
I feel like it’s a book written for people who appreciate old Russian novels
I mean he was a gentleman… in Moscow
Honestly, I wasn’t thrilled about it either. I liked it alright but didn’t love it.
As someone who’s read a lot of Soviet history, I found the premise absolutely ludicrous. I did like Towles’s writing style, but I didn’t believe for a minute that the main character would have been allowed to live as he did. The Cheka would have shot him without a second thought. I think it would have made more sense if he was part of the large émigré exile population in Europe, many of whom never quite adjusted to living outside Russia.