I had my doubts as I picked up this tomb but ended up loving it. I wondered how could a book be interesting if the protagonist, Count Alexander Ilyrich Rostov spends 50 years in house arrest in Moscow's Metropol Hotel? The Count had the bad luck to be born an aristocrat, living the good life until the 1920's when the Bolsheviks took over and exiled him to the hotel for an egregious reason, a poem he had written. Fortunately, the hotel is filled with interesting people and gradually the Count adjusts to his predicament with grace, ultimately becoming the head waiter. Along the way, he befriends the hotels' staff, makes friends with various characters, and most importantly, befriends, Nina, a precocious girl who also is staying in the hotel. He watches her grow up, eventually marry and years later, he adopts her daughter, Sofia, when Nina follows her husband who is exiled to Siberia. The novel jumps from one decade to the next, as we see the Count make the best of things but the real joy is watching Sofia grow to become an accomplished pianist who is good enough to be invited to perform in Paris. The novel is also a subtle, quiet criticism of the Soviet system, the privations the populace face but also the Count can see some good or at least if not good, progress. Still, the warmth and culture of the Metropole contrast starkly with the dullness and boredom outside the hotel.
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