Thoughts 
by Amor Towles, Penguin Books 2016, 462 pages
MOTIVATION for READING: Book Club!
“To what end, he wondered, had the Divine created the stars in heaven to fill a man with feelings of inspiration one day and insignificance the next?”
WHAT’s it ABOUT: Count Rostov, a member of Russian aristocracy, is designated a Non-Person, placed under house-arrest in 1928 and mostly forgotten by the Bolshevik powers that be. He adapts quite well to the decades and makes a new family of everyone he connects with.
“There’s a difference between being resigned to a situation and reconciled to it.”
THOUGHTS: One of my favorite things to do is to read reviews that vary from my personal reaction. Most reviews LOVE this story. However, a few readers found it ‘twee’. This word dismays me. I don’t quite have a definition set solid for what TWEE means. (Kind of like ska* music. I have NO IDEA.) If this was twee, it was smarter and more sharp-humor than I think of when something is called that descriptor. That could be my snobbery; Twee things aren’t smart, right?
I liked this story. I was caught up in how the Count was “making the best of it”. I was quite touched that he was all-in immediately to the surprise request of taking care of an 8 year old girl, “Sure, why not?” No protests, only a tiny touch of self-doubt or misunderstanding of what he (and the entire hotel staff, of course) was about to hide and handle.
And of course, she became a lovely accomplished young woman.
But what actually happens at the end? I’m not sure…
“The surest sign of wisdom is cheerfulness.? – Montaigne
I learned a lot or was given new things to think about on the history of Russia that was playing out on the streets outside of the hotel. It felt surreal, as do times now, actually. Is what is really going on in the US really happening?! How can the two sides’ perspective, the violence the anger the ‘fake news’ the accusations, be REAL?! Ugh, it is frightening and I wonder if we will survive to see the historical perspective on it in 20 years time.
RATING: I gave this 5 slices of pie. Because it was well written, I enjoyed it, I needed just this right now.
“I love your funny alphabet and those little pastries stuffed with meat.”
* Ska is unique because it really emphasizes the offbeats of the guitar; combines Jamaican drum sounds and jazz beats…
Care's Books and Pie 
I loved this book! If you enjoyed it, read Rules of Civility.
I will.
I liked this novel (reviewed it May 15, 2017), but my son, who has been to St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Siberia and is in a PhD program in Russian studies, thought it was “twee” although he politely didn’t use that word. He thinks the novel drastically over-simplifies the conflicts outside the hotel and cultivates a fantasy that anyone even rumored to be nobility would have survived. His main criticism, though, is that the author of the novel is “so American.”
Yea, I can see that.
And just like that, we agree.
5 times out of 10! 😀