October 2019 – Charles J Li

October 25, 2019

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

I’m drawn to historical fiction and since A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles is one of the few historical books on the discount bookshelf, I naturally picked it up hoping for a good read as I learn a few things about Russia. Granted, my Russian friend and coworker, Yuriy, quickly pointed out to me that I should not look to learn about Russia from a fictional book especially when it’s not written by someone with a Russian background. That, of course, did not stop me from asking him to clarify some of my newfound “knowledge” about Russia afterward.

A Gentleman in Moscow is a historical fiction that narrates the life of Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov. The story takes place after the Russia Revolution where the Count is sentenced to spend his life under house arrest at Moscow’s Metropol Hotel for writing a counter-revolutionary poem. The story then follows the Count to see how he’s able to navigate the different challenges one can have being confined to one location.

Moscow’s Metropol Hotel is a real historic hotel known for being the largest extant Moscow hotel built before the Russian Revolution. The hotel was designed to be a cultural center with facilities such as a theatre and indoor stadiums. It was one of the most luxurious hotels at the beginning of the 20th century and often attracted wealthy and governmental figures.

Even though there might not be a better hotel one would want to get sentenced to house arrest at the time, a story centered on a protagonist’s life at a hotel for over 30 years can easily turn out to be dull. This story, however, works due to the character development of Count Rostov.

The Count is a know it all and the ultimate gentleman. He’s extremely well mannered and at the same time witty. He always knows what’s the best dish to order and the best wine to go with it. As he’s trying to master his newfound predicament, a little girl aged around 7, Nina, befriended him at his table during dinner one night. Nina would then explore the hotel with the Count and later bring him one of the most profound moments of his life.

Amor Towles is an American investment professional turned novelist best known for his novels, Rules of Civility and A Gentleman in Moscow. You can tell from his novel how descriptive and detail-oriented he is. He says the Count “reviewed the menu in reverse order as was his habit, having learned from experience that giving consideration to appetizers before entrees can only lead to regret.” This is just an example of how masterful Amor Towles is at using descriptions to help us understand and connect with the characters.

I find Amor Towles’s writing style as a contrast to Stephen King’s. Whereas Stephen King writes with a more concise style, Amor Towles is more descriptive with his words. Often times I find myself immersed in how Amor Towles is able to describe certain mundane details to enrich our connections with the characters but at times I also found certain details unnecessarily elaborated. All in all, this is a book that I enjoyed reading which I learned something out of.

Have you read this book? And is there any book you would recommend? I’ll love to hear your thoughts. 🙂

I’m currently reading Bad Blood by John Carreyrou.

October 9, 2019

On Writing by Stephen King

My reading list was comprised of books recommended by friends, coworkers, and well-known CEOs online. I began to find that the books I read oftentimes end up having similar themes, so this time I decided to try something new. I went on Twitter and provided my book recommendations while at the same time requested people to provide me with theirs as well.

Here’s a list of books suggested to me via Twitter (thanks to Crystal):

Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer
The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll
Sometimes the Magic Works by Terry Brooks
On Writing by Stephen King

Not only did I never hear about any of these books before, but I also have never thought about reading some of these topics. This is exactly what I wanted. Even though I write blog posts occasionally but it never occurred to me to read books on writing. Having read On Writing by Stephen King I plan to put more focus on my writing.

Stephen King, a well-known author most known for his work in horror fiction, has more than 350 million copies of his books sold. Many films, which include The Green Mile which I have frequently watched in the past, were based on his books.

On Writing by Stephen King details how Stephen became the writer he is today followed by a few of his writing tips. Stephen has a way of writing that transitions story in an engaging yet concise manner. I would be reading about how Stephen is dealing with numerous publisher rejections to how Stephen found success with his first published novel, Carrie, in the span of my 30 minutes commute.

In regards to his writing tips, it is nothing new that you won’t find in a writing/grammar book. However, as someone who’s not a prolific writer, I do find some of it useful. There’s one advice in particular which I have already started applying in my previous blog post:

In expository pose, paragraphs can (and should) be neat and utilitarian. The ideal expository graf contains a topic sentence followed by others which explain or amplify the first.

…
Topic-sentence-followed-by-support-and-description insists that the writer organize his/her thoughts, and it also provides good insurance against wandering away from topic.

I’m still working on it but I find this simple advice very useful. Previously when I write, I break out to a new paragraph with no clear structure. Sometimes it can seem like I’m just spitting out words as it comes to my mind. But since reading On Writing, I spend more time thinking about how I should structure my paragraphs which helps me organize my thoughts.

Upon reading his advice, I immediately flipped back and started to see if Stephen practices what he preaches which he does. Each paragraph has a main point it’s trying to convey through its topic sentence supported by the remaining sentences. If a point only has two sentences then so be it. There’s no need to unnecessarily expand a paragraph longer than it’s needed to convey your message across.

Stephen King also provides a few more writing tips such as “the adverb is not your friend” and “one of the cardinal rules of good fiction is to never tell us a thing if you can show us” that you can learn more about in his book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and got some insights on the career path of a writer and some of the challenges that come with it. If you are someone interested in a writing career or someone who wants to learn more about writing, then I’ll recommend this book to you.

Have you read this book? And is there any book you would recommend? I’ll love to hear your thoughts. 🙂

I’m currently reading Bad Blood by John Carreyrou.