Daniel Nguyen’s Reviews > A Gentleman in Moscow > Status Update

I finally realised what this book reminded me of - that scene in HIMYM when Barney meets his daughter for the first time

In books (and well, in life) it’s not often announced that you’ll never meet a character again - you just read the story not knowing if it’s the last time you’ll see them. But here we are told that we will never hear from Nina again, and it’s a strange feeling to read the rest of the book with this certainty in mind.

Halfway done, how fun to get to go into the second half already knowing this is going to be my favourite book of all time

“Do you really think that silence would suit you?” Helena would ask.
“Like deafness suited Beethoven.”

I don’t understand how the tone of this book can be so witty and unafraid yet so quietly desperate all at once. Like a caged bird that sings in defiance, but you hear melancholy in every note.