What Are You Reading

[MikeKardec]

Reading John Bentley's The Perilous Path, a novel about car racing in the late 1950s. Racing has never been a font of good plots for either fiction or film so we'll see how this turns out. So far the atmosphere, Nassau and NYC then moving to Europe is good.

Period detail is a bit odd because, like many at the time and earlier, Bentley dislikes to identify name brand specifications. Sometimes in crime novels this leads to an innocuous, "He gestured with the spike snouted automatic" leaving the reader to either accept the description or to figure that it's probably a Walther or Luger. In this case Bentley seems to have created a wilderness of absolutely convincing, yet fictional, sports and specialty car manufacturers. He was a automotive journalist and I guess he neither wanted to insult or endorse anyone. Some of the substitutions are relatively easy to decode, Panther is probably Jaguar, Milano is probably Alfa Romeo, Ostia is probably O.S.C.A. (a specialty manufacturer run by the Maserati Bros.), but there are fictional companies like Geyr that maybe Porsche or maybe not, and a few others. If anyone knows more about this stuff than I do and can identify these as actual cars then I'll take it all back ... but I think he's being intentionally obscure. Anyway, I'm about a fifth of the way in and so far it's pretty good though not a page turner. Car racing, to me, was very interesting and dramatic until the aerodynamic down force era of the early 1970s got started. Then it became homogenized, a good deal safer, lost it's romance, and the cars lost all similarity to street machines.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

Amor Towle's "A Gentleman in Moscow." What a fantastic story.

 

[Fading Fast]

Amor Towle's "A Gentleman in Moscow." What a fantastic story.

I love this book and tried as hard as I could to get FL members excited about it - as it has a FL vibe despite taking place in Russia post revolution - but I didn't have much (any) success. Below are the two comments I posted about the book back when I read it last year. My only add would be that the character of Nina is fantastic - I still find myself thinking back to her and her "adventures" with the Count. Talk about two people who needed each other coming together at just the right time.

Post 1
Just started "A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towels. So far, the premise is that, in 1922, a Russian Prince, a member of the former aristocracy, has been sentenced to house arrest in 1922 by the Bolsheviks which, since he was living in the Metropol Hotel, means he can never leave the hotel.

The theme seems to be the conflicts that arise by smashing together these two ideologies and outlooks - the Prince represents an old-world idea of character, fairness and decency that is real but out of step with the Soviet idea of character, fairness and decency. Right now, I'm only a short way in, but both are uncomfortably dancing around each other trying to find a way to coexist. All of this is used as a way to highlight the bigger issues taking place in the Soviet Union as it tries to steady itself and establish communism after the revolution of 1917.

The enjoyment, so far, comes from the watching the Prince navigate the tricky politics of all this while maintaining his standards of what being a gentleman means in a world that has no use for his standards. I'll report back when done.

Has anyone else read this one - it's gotten some pretty good press and was on the NYT list over the summer? One of our neighbors - a book publisher - says it's doing really well, especially with a lot of informal book clubs.

********************************************************************
Post 2
Finished it yesterday. An outstanding book. To add to the above, the book is more a character / life study than a plot-driven story. The joy comes from watching this former Czarist Russian aristocrat - a man of values, integrity, standards, honesty, kindness and decency - do, as he says one always has to, become master of his circumstances by adjusting what he can and mentally adjusting himself where he must.

As his life as a prisoner plays out in the hotel, life, itself, comes to him in many ways - former and new friends stop by, domestic and international politics weave in and out, life's periodic moments of poignancy, sadness, triumph and boredom all occur again and again. But driving it all is the former Count's value system - how a gentleman of the old school applies a code of honor from a bygone world to the absurdity of his house arrest in a brutish totalitarian state.

The story itself if wonderful and touching, but I don't want to give anything away - so I'll just close by saying the author has a gift for choosing the perfect small detail, snippet of conversation or moment of heightened tension to create a robust, rounded and engaging world of fully developed characters that, through their day-to-day living, show life's regular challenges and the extraordinary ones faced living in the USSR.

 

[Brian Sheridan]

I love this book and tried as hard as I could to get FL members excited about it - as it has a FL vibe despite taking place in Russia post revolution - but I didn't have much (any) success. Below are the two comments I posted about the book back when I read it last year. My only add would be that the character of Nina is fantastic - I still find myself thinking back to her and her "adventures" with the Count. Talk about two people who needed each other coming together at just the right time.

Post 1
Just started "A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towels. So far, the premise is that, in 1922, a Russian Prince, a member of the former aristocracy, has been sentenced to house arrest in 1922 by the Bolsheviks which, since he was living in the Metropol Hotel, means he can never leave the hotel.

The theme seems to be the conflicts that arise by smashing together these two ideologies and outlooks - the Prince represents an old-world idea of character, fairness and decency that is real but out of step with the Soviet idea of character, fairness and decency. Right now, I'm only a short way in, but both are uncomfortably dancing around each other trying to find a way to coexist. All of this is used as a way to highlight the bigger issues taking place in the Soviet Union as it tries to steady itself and establish communism after the revolution of 1917.

The enjoyment, so far, comes from the watching the Prince navigate the tricky politics of all this while maintaining his standards of what being a gentleman means in a world that has no use for his standards. I'll report back when done.

Has anyone else read this one - it's gotten some pretty good press and was on the NYT list over the summer? One of our neighbors - a book publisher - says it's doing really well, especially with a lot of informal book clubs.

********************************************************************
Post 2
Finished it yesterday. An outstanding book. To add to the above, the book is more a character / life study than a plot-driven story. The joy comes from watching this former Czarist Russian aristocrat - a man of values, integrity, standards, honesty, kindness and decency - do, as he says one always has to, become master of his circumstances by adjusting what he can and mentally adjusting himself where he must.

As his life as a prisoner plays out in the hotel, life, itself, comes to him in many ways - former and new friends stop by, domestic and international politics weave in and out, life's periodic moments of poignancy, sadness, triumph and boredom all occur again and again. But driving it all is the former Count's value system - how a gentleman of the old school applies a code of honor from a bygone world to the absurdity of his house arrest in a brutish totalitarian state.

The story itself if wonderful and touching, but I don't want to give anything away - so I'll just close by saying the author has a gift for choosing the perfect small detail, snippet of conversation or moment of heightened tension to create a robust, rounded and engaging world of fully developed characters that, through their day-to-day living, show life's regular challenges and the extraordinary ones faced living in the USSR.

The book stays with you after reading. Pieces float back into my mind during the day. It doesn't have traditional narrative plot but - once you are into it - it is riveting. I want to know how it end (I'm almost done with it) but yet I don't want it to end. The Count reminds me the ideas Victor Frankel writes about in "Man's Search for Meaning." Obviously, imprisonment in a luxury hotel is no where near the horror of a concentration camp but we are all prisoners of something within our minds.

 

[Fading Fast]

The book stays with you after reading. Pieces float back into my mind during the day. It doesn't have traditional narrative plot but - once you are into it - it is riveting. I want to know how it end (I'm almost done with it) but yet I don't want it to end. The Count reminds me the ideas Victor Frankel writes about in "Man's Search for Meaning." Obviously, imprisonment in a luxury hotel is no where near the horror of a concentration camp but we are all prisoners of something within our minds.

I could not agree more. I have found myself thinking back on the book many times and - no exaggeration - when faced with an awkward situation, thinking how would someone like The Count approach this?

I also think back on The Count's first meal with Nina - IMHO, one of the subtly funnier scenes I've read in a book in many years.

Also - and I won't give anything away - the end is fine (my neighbor, a book editor, and I debated about it), but as you noted, this is less of a plot-driven book / more of a character study and I felt the author felt he had to wind it up with some action and conclusions, but in truth, it could have done a quiet and elegant fade and been as effective.

I gave it to my girlfriend's father for Xmas (and to several other people who are readers at Xmas as well) and he and I talked about it more than almost any book we have in the twenty years I've known him. He suggested that if they ever make it into a movie, it would have to be done in black and white.

Now we need to get more Fedora Lounge members to read it.

 

[AmateisGal]

Finished reading City of Thieves by David Benioff. It's masterfully done. Set during the siege of Leningrad, two wildly different men -- a Russian soldier, Kolyo, who 'deserted' (but not really) from his unit, and 17-year-old kid, Lev, who was arrested for stealing a knife from a dead German paratrooper -- are sent by a Russian colonel to find 12 eggs to be used to make his daughter's wedding cake. In the city of Leningrad, this is no easy task. In fact, it's virtually impossible. The two start their journey in the city and what they encounter there is nothing short of horrifying: dead bodies stacked by the river, starving children, bombing raids, and even cannibals. When one of their friends claims to have a family member who has a farm outside of the city, they decide to walk there, even though it's the dead of winter and they have no food to keep them going. And from there, things get very interesting...

 

[AmateisGal]

The book stays with you after reading. Pieces float back into my mind during the day. It doesn't have traditional narrative plot but - once you are into it - it is riveting. I want to know how it end (I'm almost done with it) but yet I don't want it to end. The Count reminds me the ideas Victor Frankel writes about in "Man's Search for Meaning." Obviously, imprisonment in a luxury hotel is no where near the horror of a concentration camp but we are all prisoners of something within our minds.

I can't wait to read A Gentleman in Moscow. I am going to see if the library has it!

 

[Harp]

Another fling with Anton Myrer's Harvard '44 classic, The Last Convertible-academics, girls, football games, dancing to the Big Bands, and the Second World War.

 

[Fading Fast]

Another fling with Anton Myrer's Harvard '44 classic, The Last Convertible-academics, girls, football games, dancing to the Big Bands, and the Second World War.

Fedora Lounge in a book. I've read it twice and will probably read it again some time.

 

[AmateisGal]

Fedora Lounge in a book. I've read it twice and will probably read it again some time.

How did I not know this book existed? Well. It's now on my Goodreads list. Hoping my library will have it.

 

[AmateisGal]

How did I not know this book existed? Well. It's now on my Goodreads list. Hoping my library will have it.

Library didn't have it, so I ordered it for under $4 on Thriftbooks. Huzzah!

 

[Fading Fast]

Library didn't have it, so I ordered it for under $4 on Thriftbooks. Huzzah!

I'll be very surprised if you don't find it provided way more than $4 of enjoyment.

 

[Harp]

How did I not know this book existed? Well. It's now on my Goodreads list. Hoping my library will have it.

The Last Convertible was adapted to film as a 70s mini series. Not bad, and featured the late lovely Deborah Raffin.

 

[AmateisGal]

The Last Convertible was adapted to film as a 70s mini series. Not bad, and featured the late lovely Deborah Raffin.

Probably before my time as I was born in '75.

 

[Fading Fast]

The Last Convertible was adapted to film as a 70s mini series. Not bad, and featured the late lovely Deborah Raffin.

Hmm, I missed that one - will now keep an eye out for it.

 

[AmateisGal]

Reading Robert Leckie's A Helmet For My Pillow. I read E.B. Sledge's With the Old Breed a few years ago and had Leckie's on deck to read next, but didn't pick it up then (I can't remember why). I love Leckie's writing voice. Totally sucks you into the violent world of war.

 

[Tiki Tom]

So many books, so little time.
About "A Gentleman in Moscow": The proprietor of the local English bookshop practically begged me to read it. I'm a friend and did not take her recommendation lightly, but begged off due to the stack of unread/half-read books at my bedside that threatens to topple and crush me. No doubt I will buy it one day (in large part due to the recommendations here).

And you can add me to the list of people saying "how did I never hear about that?" regarding "The last convertible." Will keep an eye out for it.

Just Finished "Hotel Florida" about the Spanish Civil War... and from there have seamlessly moved into "Hemingway at war". The second book picks up exactly where the first one ended. Although from different authors with different styles, They could almost be sold as a box set. Enjoying them tremendously.

 

[Fading Fast]

So many books, so little time.
About "A Gentleman in Moscow": The proprietor of the local English bookshop practically begged me to read it. I'm a friend and did not take her recommendation lightly, but begged off due to the stack of unread/half-read books at my bedside that threatens to topple and crush me...

...No doubt I will buy it one day (in large part due to the recommendations here)....

 

[Fading Fast]

Into the last quarter of Wouk's "Hudson Hawk." The book took a dark turn into a fictionalized version of the McCarthy hearings which, effectively, allows Wouk to flush out his views in - as he always does - a thoughtful way that explores and shows respect for both sides of the argument. Also, being reasonably contemporary to the event, the book was written in '62, the views aren't filtered through our present day default positions and biases.

And yes, everyone is still smoking cigarettes, cigars or pipes every day, all the time, when they sleep, etc. I kid you not, he even wrote a part about a character who had stopped smoking who started smoking again. This nearly 800 page book would be, at least, 200 pages shorter if all smoking references were removed.

 

[Touchofevil]

I am waiting for it to drop in price on Amazon for my kindle/iPad/whatever else I will download it to. Your review sold it to me. So to speak.