Play Book Tag discussion

I just love the way Towles writes, which is why this gets 4 stars even though the story itself is 3 stars for me. This is a very strong debut, and even though it's the second book I've read by him I wasn't disappointed by first-novel writing which is very commonly not as strong as later. (how's that for an awkward phrase? But I'm just writing this as I think of things and it's not going to be a pithy, well-thought out review or rehash the story, etc.)

The characters are wonderfully developed, which is requisite for any character-driven novel, but plenty of things happen in this one, which isn't always the case with this sort of novel. I didn't notice a single 2-D character in the entire book. I loved the photos before each section, and they tie in with the prologue, which was very clever of the publishers to include. My only regret is that it came to an end, and yet I also know that it ended at just the right spot.

I've read all three of his books now, though not his novella, and this one was definitely my favourite.

Hannah wrote: "I've read all three of his books now, though not his novella, and this one was definitely my favourite."

That's interesting--so far I like A Gentleman in Moscow better, but I have one more of his to read on my want to read list of his, and then I'll have to decide if I want to read any more by him.

I love Towles, but definitely see him as a more experimental exploratory writer like Patchett and Emily St. John Mandel. You can only predict that the quality of the writing is first rate but that the style, format, and journey may be adapted to either the type of story being told or tge inspiration for it.

I saw Rules of Civility as a story about the Lost Generation of artists in NYC between the World Wars. Where in Europe, Paris in particular, it was the rise of the modern '-isms' as redefining art, in US it was different especislly in NYC, with rise of Hollywood and filmmaking in California, and television on both coasts.