Rules of Civility: A Novel by Amor Towles (PDF)

Description

From the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Lincoln Highway and A Gentleman in Moscow, a “sharply stylish” (Boston Globe) book about a young woman in post-Depression era New York who suddenly finds herself thrust into high society—now with over one million readers worldwideOn the last night of 1937, twenty-five-year-old Katey Kontent is in a second-rate Greenwich Village jazz bar when Tinker Grey, a handsome banker, happens to sit down at the neighboring table. This chance encounter and its startling consequences propel Katey on a year-long journey into the upper echelons of New York society—where she will have little to rely upon other than a bracing wit and her own brand of cool nerve.With its sparkling depiction of New York’s social strata, its intricate imagery and themes, and its immensely appealing characters, Rules of Civility won the hearts of readers and critics alike.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Amor Towles is a favorite author of mine. His storytelling is contemporary regardless of the time period that he writes about. In this story, it’s 1938; not the year of political unrest in Europe, but the period of post-depression indulgences lived by young professionals in NYC.

⭐My guess is there were several thousand people who read this book for the same reason that I did. They read this author’s second novel, the brilliant “A Gentleman in Moscow” and thought: “Wow! That was so awesome, I should read his FIRST (and to date, only other) book as well!” Well, this book was no “Moscow”. It was good. Very good. But no “Moscow”.The story starts in an art gallery in 1966. A couple in their 50s are viewing an exhibit of random photographs taken on trains of passengers in New York City in the late 1930s. Apparently the camera was hidden so the subjects didn’t know they were being “watched”. The woman sees a familiar face in not one, but two of these photographs. The man looks remarkably different in the two photos. She reminisces. Our real story begins.So we’re transported to New York City in the year 1938. We now read about the life of the woman we met in the art gallery who is now a single woman in her 20s. This book is essentially a journal of her life over the span of a year. Although the decade of the 1930s is remembered by history as being in the thick of the Great Depression, you wouldn’t really know that while reading about a year in the life of Katey Kontent. She’s a far cry from wealthy, but she’s not starving either. She has a decent job, somewhat decent living quarters, and meets a ton of very interesting people over the span of one year. Some of these new friends are definitely more well-off than she is, and some she becomes more intimate with than others. Although she has a humble background and is somewhat frugal, some of her new acquaintances allow her to taste a bit more of the exquisite culture and surroundings of the big city.In many ways, this book is more about New York City in the late 1930s than it is about Katey. Author Amor Towles does a wonderful job describing the sights, sounds, smells and personalities of the specific time and place. We almost feel as though we’re magically transported to a different era, and get a first-hand look at what makes the finer parts of the big city tick.Although I enjoyed a virtual tour of the time and the place, it was the author’s handling of Katey that left me a bit cold. I never felt like I really knew her. Even though she’s center-stage throughout the whole story and we saw first-hand everything she did, we’re never really told WHY she does anything. I never knew what she was really thinking or feeling. When she does things like take a particular job, or fall for a potential beau, I could never decipher exactly why she felt the way she did, and I confess I was always a bit surprised and even baffled when I observed many of her actions when we followed her around. Perhaps this was the author’s intention? Perhaps I was supposed to connect some dots about her aloofness, yet I never really could put two and two together. In fact, the whole “a-ha” moment of this book didn’t really jar me as much as it seemingly was supposed to do.Overall I was satisfied, though, by the end of the book. It was an enjoyable story that always kept me interested. I enjoyed “seeing” Manhattan during the few years before World War II happened, which I suppose changed everything forever. I didn’t really feel, though, like I really understood the majority of the characters. This book was big on places, but not so much on people. Enjoyable overall, but not a “must read” either.

⭐I read this book in 3 days. That’s unusual for me. I could not put it down during my waking hours. I will be forever richer for having read it.

⭐Amor Towles is one of the most skilled authors. His character portrayals entice one to stroll along at times by their side, at other times a bit behind, but never ahead.One of my favorites, as is all of his books.

⭐The first book I’ve gotten from Amazon that came in damaged.Most expensive book of the order.

⭐Well constructed, enjoyable novel. While following the characters’ lives, late 1930s New York City is interestingly portrayed.

⭐My second purchase and third read of my favorite of his books. Am sure I’ll read it again in a few years. The pictures of the characters and scenes in my mind are so vivid that I feel I’ve already seen the film.

⭐”Rules of Civility” is a terrific first novel and it gives us a glimpse into Towles’ knack for developing appealing, quirky characters and a compelling narrative. I read “A Gentleman in Moscow” and “Lincoln Highway” before reading “Rules”, and I found that the latter came up a little short when compared to the others. I found it harder to connect with Katey in “Rules” than with the Count in “Gentleman” or the brothers in Lincoln Highway and the other books had an element of suspense that was considerably less present in “Rules”, but it has its’ moments.It’s a very good read, nonetheless – I would read it before reading the others and perhaps that sequence would show it to better advantage.

⭐After reading “A Gentleman in Moscow”, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I sought out other works by Amor Towles.“Rules of Civility” like his other work is beautifully written and draws you into the epoch with engaging characters that you create a connection with.Overall I enjoyed “A Gentleman in Moscow” more. Indeed I’d rate it as one of my favourite novels alongside William Boyd’s “Any Human Heart”. However this is a cracking read and highly recommended.I look forward to reading future works by this talented storyteller.

⭐Over written, grotesquely improbable and without any discernible merit. This was a shock – having read “A Gentleman In Moscow’ I looked forward to this book. It was frightful. The characters were utterly implausible – not least the lead femal character whose inner musings have the authors male thumb print all over them. This is not to say that the male characters are three dimensional. They are non-dimensional as they exist in no universe known currently to man or to science. Could this have been written when the author was fourteen (if not chronologically, then emotionally)? It has made me doubt my own judgement about ‘A Gentleman In Moscow’. The late publisher, Gilbert Cunningham, was, in this case, right when he said that “everyone has one good novel in them; having written it they should destroy everything that precedes it and put down their pen forever”. Amen.

⭐I must admit, when I started this book, I’d forgotten why I’d bought it, or how it had been recommended to me. Didn’t matter. It was brilliant. So much so, I found myself rationing the time spent reading it. The writing is superb – almost as if I’d tasted fine wine – and thus certainly to be savoured. The plot is well structured, and the characters well-drawn, although none were terribly appealing people. That’s usually important for me – I do pretty much have to like the main figures in a novel – but for once, it didn’t matter. Partly because we have, at last, an authentically-depicted strong female at the centre of the narrative. The setting is also very realistic – New York in the 1930s beautifully evoked. And yes, I was desperate for a Martini!

⭐I’m not going to write much here as I’ll be saying the same as most other reviewers.I read A Gentleman in Moscow recently and found it one of the best books I’ve read for a very long time – extremely engaging, with a storyline that kept me interested and with characters one grew to love and a gentle humour that made me like the author very much too.As the author has written very little else, I thought I’d read Rules of Civility as I’d enjoyed AGIM so much even though I knew the reviews said it wasn’t as good.And they were right. It was an OK read, capturing something of the feel of the era in which it was set. But the story was rather rambling and I found it hard to really engage fully with the characters.If I’d read Rules of Civility first, I wouldn’t have chosen to read another book by the same author and would have missed out on A Gentleman in Moscow, which would have been a tragic loss. So, my advice would be this: if you read Rules of Civility first, don’t be put off reading A Gentleman in Moscow. If – like most people, it seems – you’ve read A Gentleman in Moscow and want to read something else by the same author, please set your expectations quite low before reading Rules of Civility, or you’ll probably be disappointed.

⭐I’ve struggled through this book with no clearer idea what it’s about or why. I came to it via Gentleman of Moscow, which I absolutely loved. This earlier book couldn’t be more different. The main character lacks depth and definition, despite both being central to the story’s believability. So you’re left feeling bewildered by events and with a sense that the plot – such as it is – crashes gears rather than smoothly proceeds. The main character feels like a cypher onto which the author sticks and hangs ideas and storylines.Apart from the mechanics of plot and character, the writing, as with the later book, is beautiful – stylish, descriptive and fresh. That kept me reading. But ultimately the holes in the book – character, plot, structure – left me feeling very disappointed.

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