Not So Ordinary

27 Ramadhan, 1441

I would never have thought of reading Amor Towles's A Gentleman in Moscow had it not been vigorously recommended to me about a year or so ago. I had next to no idea of what kind of novel it was supposed to be and happily have discovered that in many ways it defies categorisation. The closest I can get is Bertie Wooster meets the Russian Revolution, though Towles's humour is not quite of the out-and-out farcical variety - not yet, that is. But Towles's Count does have that Woosterish sense of simple decency and stylistically the novel appears to be aiming for the uncluttered elegance of Wodehouse.

Many years ago in a time of some stress I turned to Wodehouse for comfort reading and I can imagine some readers losing themselves in Towles's world for the same reason. (Mind you, I'm not even halfway through so I may find myself reversing, possibly regretting, all these very temporary judgments.)