I loved this book! Rules of Civility by Amor Towles was first published in 2011. It was Towles’s debut novel, which he followed up with A Gentleman in Moscow in 2016. Both books were on the New York Times bestseller list.
Two things first grabbed my attention to the book. The first was the Gatsby-like cover and the second was the title itself, Rules of Civility. First of all, who wouldn’t want to be the lady in white having drinks with the man in the tuxedo? The whole scene in a garden atmosphere captured me from the start. Plus, I knew from the way the characters were dressed and their hairstyles, that the book would be set in the past. I knew what the Rules of Civility were. I was a former fifth grade teacher, so I knew that George Washington had copied the Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation for a school assignment when he was 14-years-old. There are 110 rules, and they have been said to have made a huge impression on Washington and influenced the way he carried himself through life. As I read the book, it was those “rules of civility” that Towles was referring to, and he even included a copy of them in the Appendix.
The opening scene of the book is with the main character, Katey Kontent, at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1969 for the opening of the exhibit Many Are Called by Walter Evans. It was an exhibit of portraits taken by the artist in the 1930’s on the New York Subway with a hidden camera. (Walter Evans published these photos into a book in 1966 and it is still available today.). The Preface of the book is very important to the whole of the story. Katey sees two portraits of a man she knew in the 1930’s in the exhibit. Then the book flashes back to New Year’s Eve, 1937, when a chance meeting with someone changes Katey’s life. The book follows Katey through the entire year of 1938, which becomes the most pivotal one in her life.
To me, this book is a masterpiece. The setting of New York in 1938 is bustling with excitement. Katey is in her 20’s trying to navigate a job, friends, and a special man. But the way Towles develops the characters is genius.
Here are a few quotes from the book:
This was said to Katey from another character (trying not to spoil anything):
“Right from the first, I could see a calmness in you—that sort of inner tranquility that they write about in books, but that almost no one seems to possess. I was wondering to myself ‘how does she do that?’ And I figured it could only come from having no regrets—from having made choices with...such poise and purpose.”
And this one:
“If we only fell in love with people who were perfect for us, then there wouldn’t be so much to fuss about love in the first place.”
I listened to this book on audiobooks. The narrator, Rebecca Lowman, was perfect! I loved the book so much, I bought the Kindle version to re-read. If you haven’t read Rules of Civility yet, I highly recommend you do so!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Two things first grabbed my attention to the book. The first was the Gatsby-like cover and the second was the title itself, Rules of Civility. First of all, who wouldn’t want to be the lady in white having drinks with the man in the tuxedo? The whole scene in a garden atmosphere captured me from the start. Plus, I knew from the way the characters were dressed and their hairstyles, that the book would be set in the past. I knew what the Rules of Civility were. I was a former fifth grade teacher, so I knew that George Washington had copied the Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation for a school assignment when he was 14-years-old. There are 110 rules, and they have been said to have made a huge impression on Washington and influenced the way he carried himself through life. As I read the book, it was those “rules of civility” that Towles was referring to, and he even included a copy of them in the Appendix.
The opening scene of the book is with the main character, Katey Kontent, at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1969 for the opening of the exhibit Many Are Called by Walter Evans. It was an exhibit of portraits taken by the artist in the 1930’s on the New York Subway with a hidden camera. (Walter Evans published these photos into a book in 1966 and it is still available today.). The Preface of the book is very important to the whole of the story. Katey sees two portraits of a man she knew in the 1930’s in the exhibit. Then the book flashes back to New Year’s Eve, 1937, when a chance meeting with someone changes Katey’s life. The book follows Katey through the entire year of 1938, which becomes the most pivotal one in her life.
To me, this book is a masterpiece. The setting of New York in 1938 is bustling with excitement. Katey is in her 20’s trying to navigate a job, friends, and a special man. But the way Towles develops the characters is genius.
Here are a few quotes from the book:
This was said to Katey from another character (trying not to spoil anything):
“Right from the first, I could see a calmness in you—that sort of inner tranquility that they write about in books, but that almost no one seems to possess. I was wondering to myself ‘how does she do that?’ And I figured it could only come from having no regrets—from having made choices with...such poise and purpose.”
And this one:
“If we only fell in love with people who were perfect for us, then there wouldn’t be so much to fuss about love in the first place.”
I listened to this book on audiobooks. The narrator, Rebecca Lowman, was perfect! I loved the book so much, I bought the Kindle version to re-read. If you haven’t read Rules of Civility yet, I highly recommend you do so!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Loved this book also loved Gentleman in Moscow
ReplyDeleteI want to read A Gentleman in Moscow. I have the book!
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