Dear Amor Towles,
Thank you for your wonderful book, A Gentleman in Moscow. For years I’ve been reading non-fiction, mostly spiritual and biographies, and have just returned to novels. But I’m very clear that I only want to read novels that make me feel good – parenting young children I want to be uplifted and nourished by what I read!
Well, having immensely enjoyed the company of the Count in the Metropol, the evening that I finished the book I lay in bed waiting for sleep, and suddenly was struck by the realisation that one of the things I most enjoy in life is getting up in the morning and waking my family and preparing them breakfast, packed lunches etc. A task I’d occasionally complain about in the past.
Somehow the reading of your book changed the way I saw a mundane daily task, and turned it into something glorious. No idea what did it, perhaps the novel just made me feel better about existence. Or about being nice and looking after the small but important things in life.
All this has reminded me why it’s worth writing, or creating, too – art improves life!
Thank you.
Ben
Notes from Ben 