Challenge Corner discussion

On the last night of 1937, twenty-five-year-old Katey Kontent is in a second-rate Greenwich Village jazz bar with her boardinghouse roommate stretching three dollars as far as it will go when Tinker Grey, a handsome banker with royal blue eyes and a tempered smile, happens to sit at the neighboring table. This chance encounter and its startling consequences propel Katey on a yearlong journey from a Wall Street secretarial pool toward the upper echelons of New York society and the executive suites of Condé Nast—rarefied environs where she will have little to rely upon other than a bracing wit and her own brand of cool nerve.

Wooed in turn by a shy, principled multi-millionaire, and an irrepressible Upper East Side ne'er-do-well, befriended by a single-minded widow who is ahead of her time, and challenged by an imperious mentor, Katey experiences firsthand the poise secured by wealth and station and the failed aspirations that reside just below the surface. Even as she waits for circumstances to bring Tinker back into her life, she begins to realize how our most promising choices inevitably lay the groundwork for our regrets.

page 59/18% (view spoiler)[ I love the era of this book. Even thought it's set in the 1930s, there are passages that seemed poignantly applicable to today. Here Katey describes music, but her attitude is similar to how many people felt toward 2021 after the uncertainties of last year:

"We didn’t really understand what we were listening to, but we could tell that it had its advantages. It wasn’t going to raise our hopes or spoil them."

These pithy, insightful statements are one of my favorite things about Towles's writing.

The bra strategy for sneaking into the theatre cracked me up. (hide spoiler)]

I will be starting this tomorrow.

I don't want to open your spoiler until I get to a similar spot. However, I am reading the print book not my kindle and don't know percentages. Can you let me know page or chapter # for what you are covering?
thanks

Linda C wrote: "I don't want to open your spoiler until I get to a similar spot. However, I am reading the print book not my kindle and don't know percentages. Can you let me know page or chapter # for what you ar..."

Sorry, I didn't even think about that! Still a buddy read newbie over here :P I updated my previous post and will include both going forward.

Also p.59 Chapters 1-4 (view spoiler)[ I stopped just after the accident. This will definitely change the dynamic of the trio. Terrible about the accident but I'm glad it didn't continue along its current trajectory. Characters were too Roaring 20s frivolous. Felt like a period movie setup. I'm hoping for more depth.

I loved Gentleman in Moscow and am hoping for more of a character piece like that. But it's still early and I'm sure we'll get more focus as we go.

Liked your comment on the music and today. Katie seems to have some thoughtfulness, such as needing to find alone time and it being available in churches.

Did you notice the discrepancy in the Prologue dates? first sentence - "On the night of October 4th, 1966, Val an I...attended the opening..." followed by viewing the photos and comments on Tinker. Then Val takes her arm and they leave. Followed by the place and date - New York City, 1969. Huh?? (hide spoiler)]

page 121/35% (view spoiler)[I enjoyed the setup, but I see what you mean.

I *love* Gentleman in Moscow. I'll always watch Amor Towles' career with great anticipation because of that book.

Katie does seem to need space. She also seems a bit of Mary Sue. Are you getting that vibe?

Actually, all the characters are coming off a bit flat to me. I don't know if it's still too early in their character arcs or if it's just my mood, but none of them have changed or developed much.

I am also not sold on Evelyn being a great friend who will love Katey till "doomsday." She seems a bit insincere to me, and that makes me not trust her motives toward her friend. Also, she's willing to be with Tinker even though their relationship is so strained. I don't know. I don't really like her, but I'm not sure I'm supposed to. haha

I think the date difference means the narrator was reminiscing about when she and her husband went to the photography exhibition. (hide spoiler)]

also p. 121 Chapters 5-9 (view spoiler)[ I am not enjoying this as much as Gentleman in Moscow.

Just am not drawn to any of the characters. Don't like manipulative Eve. Kate, at times, seems to see her pretty clearly but still admires her. Then there is Kate herself, looking down on everyone she works with, Charlotte and Fran, yet she was perturbed when the girl at the Explorer Club gave her a condescending look. No one likes anyone else. All relationship seem to be surface only.

Sure hope this gets better. If I had read this before Gentleman in Moscow I don't know if I would have decided to read it. (hide spoiler)]

p. 222 Chapters 10-17 (view spoiler)[I like Wallace. So far the only winner in the book. I think I am supposed to be routing for Katy or sorry for her loss of Tinker, but I don't.
Chapter ten starts as a sort of pick up in pacing when Katy decides to change her life all be it with trickery. It was definitely more interesting. I liked the chapters with Wallace and Bitsy and her arrangement with Alley about the job competition. But then we get back to Eve and Tinker and their relationship with Katy and I'm turned off again.
So Eve's out of the picture and Tinker is calling Katy. I am hoping Katy sees through Tinker. He just hasn't the backbone to be the hero of this story, not that Katy is my idea of a heroine.
It's time to see how Tinker also leaves the picture since the prologue refers to him as a distant past connection. (hide spoiler)]

I'm off to finish.

The end (view spoiler)[ Well what a lot of surprises in the last hundred pages!
Poor Wallace. As soon as he agreed to Katy's idea of buying his family Christmas presents before going to Spain, I knew he wouldn't be back.
Still do not like Eve or Anne, both too manipulative.
As for Tinker, his choices were terrible and I wasn't sorry that he got a comeuppance from Katy and Hank. However, I'm glad that Hank seemed to feel that his tie free life at the end made him happy.
And then there is Katy herself. She retains a bit of a moral compass, enough to keep her from making big mistakes. However she had a bit of Anne's manipulative style, Eve's party girl attitude, and Tinker's desire for the silver spoon. She was not a goody two shoes as some reviewers seemed to think.
All things considered this was not a winner for me. (hide spoiler)]

Still don't see where the 1969 date at the end of the prologue comes in. At the end of the book the epilogue goes back to the night of the photography exhibit in 1966 to tie everything up.

page 272/77%
(view spoiler)[I also found Wallace refreshingly genuine as I believe we were supposed to. In the very beginning, I was pulling for Katey and Tinker, but the more that was revealed about both of them, the less they seemed suited for each other. Possibly the author is making a statement about first impressions versus the reality of a person's character.

Alley's plan for keeping them both hired cracked me up. I can't imagine having a new coworker that had my back like that.

Bitsy seems like a real trooper of a friend. I hope Wallace doesn't die like I'm pretty sure he's going to so that he and Bitsy can finally get together.

I'm so glad Eve left for LA! Holey moley. I still don't like her, but I felt some respect for her when she finally left Tinker.

Call my judgmental, but I was annoyed with Katey for wasting it on Dicky. What a stupidly vengeful thing to do.

I'm over Tinker completely, and I have been ever since I saw Val's name appear in the story. Tinker's dalliances with Anne just sealed my attitude toward him. Now all I want to know is how Katey and Val end up together. (hide spoiler)]

100%
(view spoiler)[Well, I have to say that I did not enjoy that as much as I'd hoped. However I think my disappointment is due to reading A Gentleman in Moscow first and then going back to read Amor Towles' literary debut.

I think the triumph here is Tinker actually, more than Katey even. Katey certainly didn't "settle" or choose the simple life by her marriage to Val. But maybe the author's point is that one can lead a healthy life and remain true to one's values in any sphere. (hide spoiler)]

Thank you for the buddy read, Linda!

I agree with you about reading Gentleman in Moscow first. I expected different things from this.

Thanks also for the BR

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RESTARTING JANUARY 12TH, 2025


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Started this one today

So far, I really like the story. It's set in the 1930s in New York City, and paints a picture of life in those days. I like the way they talk about women from the midwest coming to New York, and that they could fit in anywhere because there was no class distinction like there was in the east coast.

Through Ch. 7 / 27%

So far I really like this one. Fingers crossed...

(view spoiler)[I like how the three, Eve, Katey and Tinker met and became such good friends. The way the girls at first seemed to both possibly be vying for Tinker's attentions made me think that Katey and he would end up together. But now, after the car wreck, It looks like Tinker and Eve are becoming a couple. I'm not sure yet if it's due to his feeling guilty or if he really is falling for her, so that's yet to be decided.

I've also enjoyed all the visuals of Manhattan and New York, which I've been to once for 2 full days and leaving on the 3rd, but I'll never forget how NY City looked like the movies...taxis and umbrellas all over the place! It was pretty cool.

The references to the female authors when Katey went to visit Eve after the accident made me wonder if Eve would possibly commit suicide just because of all the references to them and then one of them saying something like, "Didn't they all commit suicide?" But I don't think that anymore. I do wonder still of Tinker and Katey will somehow end up together. (hide spoiler)]

One thing I loved and this is no spoiler was all of the allusions! I taught Great Expectations for many years to the freshman Honors English classes, so hearing Miss Havisham's name and her dining room. It's one description that remained with me a long time.

I thought the culture of New York was very well-illustrated by things like (view spoiler)[ their going to Mozart piano concerts, Carnegie Hall, and Louis Armstrong. Plus just so much about the vibes in NY which, if you've ever been there, you'll know what I mean. (hide spoiler)]

Allusions: (view spoiler)[I don't know why but I love figurative language which can make writing so much more colorful, but I absolutely LOVE allusions. I think it's because I'm transported back to history quite often, or they give me certain memories like Great Expectations and all of my students over the years I taught it to and the lengthy paragraph-long sentences he used. Then there are fun ones like Annie Oakley mentioned, someone I haven't thought about in a LONG time. Louis Armstrong was one of my dad's favorite singers and the song What a Wonderful World so I can not only "hear" his voice singing it but I can remember singing it for my dad along with Louis Armstrong when Dad was in the rehab after his stroke. (hide spoiler)]

This mention would be in the first 27% but I forgot to mention it...(view spoiler)[I couldn't believe that Eve found earrings that were SO expensive, especially for that time! Jeez! I thought it interesting and also unbelievable that a woman would leave / forget something that expensive in Tinker's apartment. (hide spoiler)]

60%

(view spoiler)[I don't know why but I didn't expect that Eve would get pregnant AND being Catholic that she'd abort it. I am not Catholic but from what I know of the religion, that's definitely not allowed. I wonder what her reasoning was. Was it because of her plans to go to L.A. and the baby would hold her back? Or maybe because she knew she and Tink weren't really meant to be? Is that the reason they broke up? I mean he proposed and her response made me think she held the car wreck against him by saying something about him crashing her into another light post. I was just surprised by both. (hide spoiler)]

75%

(view spoiler)[I never suspected that Tinker was with Anne! My gosh, he was not who he projected himself to be. That one shocked me! (hide spoiler)]

Finished

(view spoiler)[I thought the ending was somewhat satisfying. I guess the fact that Eve and Katey talked was positive but I wanted more from their conversation. I was happy to see that Katey saw Hank again and I thought the note he sent her was pretty clever. (hide spoiler)]

I really liked this one. I hope to come back and read others' comments and see how everyone liked the book. (view spoiler)[I wonder IF Katey and Tinker might get together. She seems happily married but if something happens to Val (dies) I think it's possible the way their relationship ended. I would love to see them all back together in some way. What could book 2 have in store for us? (hide spoiler)]

And the APPENDIX (view spoiler)[Oh my gosh! That was hilarious for the most part. Definitely gave me a good laugh! I especially liked the one that said "the Eys lift not one eyebrow higher that the other wry not the mouth." lol I kind of liked not standing too close to "no man's face with your "Spittle." That one I would say is a decent rule. lol (view spoiler)[

I'm sorry my comments are so disjointed! I finished last night and was just too tired to comment. Usually when I know that's going to happen, I take some kind of notes to remind me what happened in each section. I should've. (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Vicki wrote: "60%

[spoilers removed]"

I was wondering the same thing (view spoiler)[I'm glad though that Eve lost the baby so she and Tink could split up - they just weren't right for each other (hide spoiler)]

25% in
(view spoiler)[I also love all three main characters and am hoping that Tinker and Katey end up together. I love the friendship between Eve and Katey. (hide spoiler)]

I really enjoyed this novel set in the 1930s in New York city. It really paints a picture of life at that time, and the class structure at that time. I also enjoyed the fact that the author references Agatha Christie in the story, when talking about how Hercule and Miss Marple solve crimes and notice personal characteristics and motives.

Appendix (view spoiler)[ that was hilarious - there were actually rules of civility made by George Washington - too fun (hide spoiler)]