This was a fascinating read. Clever, clever, clever writing!
Towles is a master of words and character and plot development. I was left with a great respect and compassion for this very believable, realistic man named Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov. He was a member of a prominent Russian family, firmly embedded in the aristocracy of the old pre-revolution Russia. The Count strikes me as similar to the TV series' Inspector Hercule Poirot, if only in appearance and demeanor.
We are fully instructed in the nuances of the child's family through numerous remembrances and reflections of stories from his past.
As far as the plot goes, the story begins when in 1917 The Count is arrested on a return from living as a young man in Paris. He is identified as a Significant Person. He could have been executed, but having a anti-Tsarist poem attributed (incorrectly) to him, he was placed under house arrest. And so the Count spends the next forty years of his life living in The Hotel Metropol, working as a waiter, and working with the same staff members for years, learning to win them as friends and win their trust.
The Count's adventures explore and illustrate what it means for a man of privilege who is now faced with upheavals of his beloved country and its government. How can he reconsider his existence? How can he continue to live with dignity and to care for people in his orbit? The Count's upbringing as an upper-class gentleman has imbued him with a sense of generosity, good faith, politeness and the necessity of giving attention to the utmost detail pertaining to human behavior and preference.
His work as a waiter in the Hotel Metropol's top dining room provides the anchor point for an ongoing adventure through the rapidly changing political and cultural life during Russia in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. An immensely satisfying ending, with several laugh-out-loud moments along the way.
