Amor Towles strana 2 z 2

In a jazz bar on the last night of 1937, watching a quartet because she couldn't afford to see the whole ensemble, there were certain things Katey Kontent knew: the location of every old church in Manhattan how to sneak into the cinema how to type ei ghty words a minute, five thousand an hour, and nine million a year and that if you can still lose yourself in the first chapter of a Dickens novel then everything is probably going to be fine. By the end of the year she'd learned: how to launch a pa per airplane high over Park Avenue how to live like a redhead how to insist upon the very best that the word 'yes' can be a poison and the Rules of Civility. That's how quickly New York City comes about - like a weathervane - or the head of a cobra. Time tells which.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility—a transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel “In all ways a great novel, a nonstop pleasure brimming with charm, personal wisdom, and philosophic insight . . .this book more than fulfills the promise of Towles' stylish debut, Rules of Civility." – Kirkus Reviews (starred) With his breakout debut novel, Rules of Civility, Amor Towles established himself as a master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction, bringing late 1930s Manhattan to life with splendid atmosphere and a flawless command of style. Readers and critics were enchanted; as NPR commented, “Towles writes with grace and verve about the mores and manners of a society on the cusp of radical change.” A Gentleman in Moscow immerses us in another elegantly drawn era with the story of Count Alexander Rostov. When, in 1922, he is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the count is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him a doorway into a much larger world of emotional discovery. Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose. From the Hardcover edition.

On 21 June 1922 Count Alexander Rostov - recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt - is escorted out of the Kremlin, across Red Square and through the elegant revolving doors of the Hotel Metropol. But instead of being taken to his usual suite, he is led to an attic room with a window the size of a chessboard. Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the Count has been sentenced to house arrest indefinitely. While Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval, the Count, stripped of the trappings that defined his life, is forced to question what makes us who we are. And with the assistance of a glamorous actress, a cantankerous chef and a very serious child, Rostov unexpectedly discovers a new understanding of both pleasure and purpose. HE CAN'T LEAVE. YOU WON'T WANT TO.

Čtenáři i kritikou oslavovaný román z prostředí newyorské smetánky třicátých let minulého století, který dává vzpomenout na to nejlepší z děl F. Scotta Fitzgeralda. Pětadvacetiletá Katey nemá na konci roku 1937 příliš důvodů k oslavám, a tak si s kamarádkou naplánuje klidný silvestrovský večer v zapadlém jazzovém baru. Náhodné setkání s úspěšným bankéřem Tinkerem, který v baru hledá svého bratra, jí však naprosto změní život. Od onoho osudného Silvestra pak sledujeme Kateyinu klikatou cestu mezi newyorskou smetánku, poznáme pozlátko i bídu „lepší společnosti“ a nahlédneme do duše neobyčejné dívky s ještě neobyčejnějším osudem. Amor Towles se v románu Pravidla zdvořilosti pokouší o zdánlivě nemožné – očima ženy se v něm probouzí dávno zaniklý svět se všemi jeho nepsanými zákony a zásadami, které něžnému pohlaví nedávaly příliš šancí na seberealizaci a úspěch. Období 30. let minulého století se mu však daří vykreslit s obdivuhodnou živostí a čtenář se zvědavostí sleduje, kam až se Katey za pomoci šťastných náhod i vlastních schopností podaří vystoupat.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility. 'Everything a novel should be: charming, witty, poetic and generous. An absolute delight' Mail on Sunday 'A work of great charm, intelligence and insight' Sunday Times 'Winning . . . gorgeous . . . satisfying . . . Towles is a craftsman' New York Times Book Review 'A comic masterpiece' Daily Express 'If we do a better book than this one on the book club this year we will be very very lucky' Matt Williams, Radio 2 Book Club 'Abundant in humour, history and humanity' Sunday Telegraph 'Wistful, whimsical and wry' Sunday Express On 21 June 1922 Count Alexander Rostov – recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt – is escorted out of the Kremlin, across Red Square and through the elegant revolving doors of the Hotel Metropol. But instead of being taken to his usual suite, he is led to an attic room with a window the size of a chessboard. Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the Count has been sentenced to house arrest indefinitely. While Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval, the Count, stripped of the trappings that defined his life, is forced to question what makes us who we are. And with the assistance of a glamorous actress, a cantankerous chef and a very serious child, Rostov unexpectedly discovers a new understanding of both pleasure and purpose.

Nenapravitelný aristokrat Rostov, uhlazený vzdělanec s důvtipem na rozdávání, jenž v životě neodpracoval jediný den, je nucen opustit své apartmá moskevského hotelu Metropol a žít v podkrovním kamrlíku pro personál, zatímco venku se odehrávají nejbouřlivější události ruské historie. Avšak hrabě je rozeným optimistou, v souladu s filozofií svého kmotra velkovévody – pokud se člověk nevypořádá s okolnostmi, okolnosti se vypořádají s ním – nezahořkne a postaví se osudu čelem.

Amor Towles se v románu Pravidla zdvořilosti pokouší o zdánlivě nemožné – očima ženy probouzí dávno zaniklý svět se všemi jeho nepsanými zákony a zásadami, které něžnému pohlaví nedávaly příliš šancí na seberealizaci a úspěch. Období třicátých let minulého století se mu však daří vykreslit s obdivuhodnou živostí a čtenář se zvědavostí sleduje, kam až se Katey za pomoci šťastných náhod i vlastních schopností podaří vystoupat.

Vytáhněte paty z Metropolu a budete na místě zastřelen, zní doživotní rozsudek bolševického tribunálu nad hrabětem Alexandrem Iljičem Rostovem za autorství nebezpečné básně. Tak začíná strhující příběh klenoucí se od vzniku Sovětského svazu přes Velkou vlasteneckou válku až po nástup Chruščova k moci. Nenapravitelný aristokrat Rostov, uhlazený vzdělanec s důvtipem na rozdávání, jenž v životě neodpracoval jediný den, je nucen opustit své apartmá moskevského hotelu Metropol a žít v podkrovním kamrlíku pro personál, zatímco venku se odehrávají nejbouřlivější události ruské historie. Avšak hrabě je rozeným optimistou; v souladu s filozofií svého kmotra velkovévody pokud se člověk nevypořádá s okolnostmi, okolnosti se vypořádají s ním nezahořkne a postaví se osudu čelem. Jeho prostřednictvím sledujeme nejen specifický život v luxusním hotelu, ležícím nedaleko Kremlu, ale také vliv historických zvratů na jeho obyvatele. Výsledkem je úžasné dobrodružství dalece přesahující zdi Metropolu. Postava hraběte Rostova, který s moudrostí, humorem a elegancí vzdoruje každodenní absurditě, uchvátila čtenáře po celém světě. Román byl přeložen do více než dvaceti jazyků a jeho prodeje již překročily milion výtisků.

In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he has just served fifteen months for involuntary manslaughter. With his mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett plans to pick up his eight-year-old brother Billy and head to California to start a new life. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have stowed away in the trunk of the warden's car. They have a very different plan for Emmett's future, one that will take the four of them on a fateful journey in the opposite direction - to New York City. Bursting with life, charm, richly imagined settings and unforgettable characters, The Lincoln Highway is an extraordinary journey through 1950s America from the pen of a master storyteller.

In a New York City jazz bar on the last night of 1937, watching a quartet because she couldn't afford to see the whole ensemble, there were certain things Katey Kontent knew: * how to sneak into the cinema, and steal silk stockings from Bendel's * how to type eighty words a minute, five thousand an hour, and nine million a year * that if you can still lose yourself in a Dickens novel then everything is going to be fine By the end of the year she'll have learned: * how to live like a redhead and insist upon the very best * that chance encounters can be fated, and the word 'yes' can be a poison * that riches can turn to rags in the trip of a heartbeat . . . 'If the unthinkable happened and I could never read another new work of fiction . . . I'd simply re-read this sparkling, stylish book, with yet another round of martinis as dry as the author's wit' Herald 'Terrific. A smart, witty, charming dry-martini of a novel' David Nicholls, author of One Day