One Drink Book Club | A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles

[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to another episode of The One Drink Book Club. Tonight my guest is Jason Barnaby, an author in his own right and a sought after business speaker not to mention a good friend of mine that I've known for over 30 years.

[00:00:17] I'm very excited because we're going to be discussing one of my favorite books of all time, A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles. In the book we have a Russian aristocrat named Count Rostov who is forced into house arrest by the Bolsheviks in 1922.

[00:00:32] He has spared the firing squad but he must spend the rest of his life in the Metropole Hotel in Moscow. The story follows him for the next 32 years as he lives his life in the hotel finding friendships, love, purpose and family.

[00:00:45] The reason I love this book so much and have recommended it to so many people is that the author creates this incredible character in Count Rostov. He's this renaissance man who masters his circumstances of being under house arrest

[00:00:58] but is this really caring, interesting person who kind of savors all aspects of life and he has these amazing observations throughout. And the author has some really neat turns of phrase, elegant language, has a great plot

[00:01:14] and the characters he creates in the hotel make you feel like you're there with them and you really become invested in their lives and their stories and those relationships. And so when I started listening to this book again in preparation for this podcast,

[00:01:29] I immediately smiled because it was like greeting an old friend. Jason, welcome to the podcast. Thank you for coming. Oh dude, thanks for having me. I'm so excited to be here. I'm doing very well. I have my...

[00:01:40] I made my little cocktail which I know we're going to get to but I typically like scarf drinks down like anything, food and drink. I'm trying to get better at that and like enjoy it. This book was helpful in that respect.

[00:01:52] So I've just taken a few sips to make sure that it was okay before I suck it down. I was really happy when I asked you to be on the podcast. We talked about what books to do.

[00:02:02] I have to admit, I was really excited when you suggested this because we had talked about it. We're both in the same book club but I was so happy that people enjoyed it because when you make a suggestion in a book club,

[00:02:12] you're always worried that people aren't going to enjoy it. So when you suggested it, it made me feel good. So I really enjoyed this one because it took me out of if I have a norm

[00:02:21] like it took me out of that norm of what I would typically read and listening to it. It was the gentleman who did the reading was so good. I really, really enjoyed it. He is amazing.

[00:02:35] Nicholas Guy Smith is the voiceover talent who did it and it's super impressive. The prose itself is kind of sing song-y and it has this elegance to it but the voice actor even adds that much more. It really is a joy to listen to.

[00:02:50] I think if I've heard one criticism of the book is that sometimes it goes in tangents and there are stories there that don't really advance the plot but I loved every one of them and I didn't feel the need to rush through it.

[00:03:04] And I think savoring was a common theme. The count savored meals, he savored drinks, he savored his conversations and his time and I think I felt like I was savoring the book. Yeah, no I agree.

[00:03:18] And when we talked about what to do for the podcast and we came upon this one I was like, well, I got to go back and listen. And I absolutely second your words about welcoming an old friend

[00:03:29] and I know that I think this was like your third time through, right? For this book or maybe even more than that. It's at least three if not four. Yeah, so it was my second and I picked up on so as you do, right?

[00:03:42] Things that you miss the first time or where you see things because you know how it ends, you know where you may have missed it before and that was really cool to have that experience again. You talked about the cocktail, what cocktail did you make?

[00:03:53] So I will tell you that I do not have a deep liquor cabinet and so like all the mixers and all the syrups and all the things. I just don't... If I ever have them they go bad long before I can ever use them up.

[00:04:08] So I was thinking about there was that part in the book where I think it was, I don't remember if the guy was American or British but he was giving the bartender a hard time at how many ingredients go into the cocktails, right?

[00:04:20] It's like and he's like you should have... It should just have two ingredients that perfectly complement one another. So I landed on because this is another reason... Well, I'll tell you what I decided on and then I'll tell you why. So there is a fairly famous...

[00:04:36] Became famous through the show Parks and Rec. A fairly famous steakhouse here in Indianapolis called St. Elmo's Steakhouse. So if you're a Parks and Rec person, you've seen that. And they sell a cherry vanilla bourbon which is really pretty fantastic.

[00:04:51] So I'm just drinking a St. Elmo's bourbon and Coke Zero. So two ingredients that very well complement each other I would say. Nicely done. It's quite tasty. Yeah, this book actually gave you lots of choices for drinks. It was definitely a challenge to decide on just one.

[00:05:12] And so I actually looked... There's a part in the book where the shalia pen, which is the bar in the Metropole Hotel, the bartender, Odrius had put together a series of four cocktails that were the same colors as the spires on St. Basil's Cathedral.

[00:05:31] And so there was a red one, a green one, a yellow one and a blue one. I did a little research and apparently the author, Amore Tolles, did not actually base those on any kind of cocktail recipe.

[00:05:43] And so somebody had a fan had asked him, how do you make those? And he said, well, why don't you make the suggestion? And I'll take it under advisement. And so they put together four drink recipes.

[00:05:55] And so the blue one and the green one both had liquors in it that I do not like to drink. I generally try to avoid the fluorescent liquors. Yes, same. So the brick wall is an ounce of bourbon, an ounce of Amaro Nino, which had an Italian

[00:06:12] liquor, an ounce of apparel and an ounce of lemon juice. And so it actually is known as another name as the paper plane. If you've ever heard of a paper airplane, I think they kind of adopted that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it looks pretty.

[00:06:26] It is pretty and it's tasty too. Before we go on, I know that there are people who listen to this but haven't actually read the book. So I don't want to get too far into it and give anything away.

[00:06:36] But I want people to know, hey, they've now got two good drink suggestions. Yeah. But what else are you reading right now that you're excited about and that you would want to encourage people to take a look at?

[00:06:49] So in the mornings, I do just some quiet reflection time and I'm reading a book by Richard Rohr called Just This. And it's just a, it's actually a short, small square book that has

[00:07:06] page, page and a half of just like reflective types of prompts for you, if you will. And currently also listening to Black Like Me, which we are listening to for our book club. All right. Those are, those sound good.

[00:07:22] If I were going to make any suggestions right now, especially based on a gentleman in Moscow is the other two books written by Amor Tolles. The Gentleman in Moscow was his second book, his first book, Rules of Civility, which was also excellent.

[00:07:36] Although I will say I kind of like Gentleman in Moscow a little bit more, which is kind of unusual for like a big second album, so to speak. You know, you had a lot of success with your first album and then, you

[00:07:47] know, there's a lot of pressure on that second one. Yeah, there is. Which I think he rose to the challenge for sure. And then the most recent one is called The Lincoln Highway, which I thought was excellent.

[00:07:59] So I would suggest any of the three as really good books that you will enjoy immensely. Well, I will tell you, Jamie, I have learned or I have come to respect your recommendations as there has not been one that I've been like, yeah, I'm

[00:08:15] looking forward to reading those other, those other two. The last question before we get into the book is what would be your rating out of five? Oh, I would totally give it a five out of five. It's just fantastic.

[00:08:25] Agreed of the books we've done on the podcast, I have not given anybody a five, but I have to give this one a five because it really is in my top five reads of all time.

[00:08:37] So just a quick reminder to people to please review and subscribe if you can to the podcast on whatever platform you're listening to it. I will tell you it is hot sauce season. My hot peppers are coming in.

[00:08:49] So if you leave a review, somebody who leaves a review will get a free bottle of hot sauce of your choice. I have several flavors. So just, just had a couple of dashes of your hot sauce the other night when I was making some stuff.

[00:09:01] So for those, I am a satisfied customer and a highly recommending one as well. All right, let's get into the book because Count Rostov, who is the main character is immensely likable. I mean, he's such an interesting character. Why did you like him?

[00:09:18] Because there's so many aspects of his personality that are interesting and approachable. Yeah, you know, for me, I would say the things that drew me to him pretty immediately were his he's incredibly attentive. You know, he talks about other people in the book who are quite attentive,

[00:09:35] but he gets a name for knowing who needs to sit where at family gatherings and big parties. And he just knows those all the goings on. And he just seems to very easily walk through all that it's a second nature kind of thing to him.

[00:09:53] And I think there was even a part where his sister is like, why do you care? Like, you know, where people sit, they're going to have a good time anyway. And he was so fended. He's like, why do I can't do that?

[00:10:01] I can't do the accent, but why do I care? Like, why do I woman kind of, you know, that sort of. So I loved his, his attentiveness to things. And I really appreciated his intentionality with everyone and how decorum guided his intentionality because he was a gentleman.

[00:10:21] And how that to me always showed up first in how he behaved and how he responded. And I've always been fascinated by that kind of society and the way that he did it. I just thought it was really admirable and it was fun to to see, you know,

[00:10:38] in every in every scene that he was in, like, well, you know, how attentive and intentional is he going to be and how's he going to go about it? Yeah, it was interesting that he was a gentleman in the sense that he was an aristocrat.

[00:10:49] He was part of this upper class and so so much of his manners and his understanding of the way the world worked, the way he knew how to behave in all of these social situations.

[00:11:00] But I think that one of the things differentiated him is that he did not have. He was not a snob. He treated everyone. He did not think that his station in life was better than someone else's station.

[00:11:14] He understood that he was an aristocrat and he even said that in the very first scene, he's under arrest. He's in basically this courtroom where they are saying, why should we not kill you? And he talks about that his job is to be a gentleman. I don't understand.

[00:11:30] Like he sees it has his role to be this kind of like a social conduit. He was always known for being a good conversationalist. He was known as you said, how to interact with people and how to basically be a good party host and how to do things.

[00:11:45] But he truly did not feel any better than anyone else. And so I feel that he is a while he's a gentleman and that encompasses this large group of people who were the aristocrats.

[00:11:57] I think he was very different than other aristocrats because he did not look down on anyone. I think for me, what proves what you just said more than anything is what he winds up doing for a great deal of the time that he's in the metropole.

[00:12:11] And that is to become a waiter, right? Yeah. To serve other people and the pride that he took and the way that people leaned on him and counted on him and looked up to him and followed his direction to me really speaks of. I agree with you.

[00:12:30] I think I think he looked at his life as a gentleman, as an aristocrat, as a calling. Really, that was something that he was fulfilling. It wasn't just because he was born in a particular station. He felt a responsibility to that.

[00:12:45] And what I loved is that it ultimately came in the way that he served other people. And it just, I think it flowed very naturally from who he was. When that revealed itself in the book, I remember thinking, well, of course, that's what he's doing.

[00:12:58] Like that makes perfect sense. And the fact that he chose to do that and as you're right, it was more important for him to have this great restaurant that had this great chef and this great matriot D run well, that it was for him to be served well.

[00:13:15] If that makes sense. Yes. Yes. 100%. 100%. I've talked about the way the author phrase things in some of his observations being so just elegant and you have to repeat what it was that you said to me in the text message the first time that we read this book.

[00:13:33] I thought about that so many times as I was rereading this again. I think I said there's there's phrases that just make my heart soon, which is what which I thought was so sweet and so like like in a very endearing way.

[00:13:48] And I will tell you that like after you said that and looking, you know, listening again, I was really looking for some of those. And I did highlight. I did not go back and re-listen before we did this, but I'll send you some of them.

[00:14:01] I did highlight them in the in the audible version because you can, you know, put your thumb on it and it will record the pieces that you wanted to hear. And there were some that I was like, oh, there's a there's a good turn of

[00:14:12] phrase and I would rewind and record it again. So I'm looking forward to after this going back and just listening just to the pieces that I say. It's funny you said that because I did some of the same thing.

[00:14:23] I actually went ahead and got the Kindle version of the book too, so that you could search for some of them because I could remember the phrase. Yeah. I could find interesting. And there was a couple of the ones that I jotted down before tonight.

[00:14:35] The count goes on about the time between placing the order at a restaurant and the appearance of the appetizer being the most perilous times in all human interaction, which I thought was such a lovely description. I wrote it down here.

[00:14:52] He says, what young lovers have not found themselves at this juncture in a silence so sudden, so seemingly insurmountable that it threatens to cast doubt on their upon their chemistry as a couple. What husband and wife have not found themselves suddenly unnerved by the fact

[00:15:05] that they might not ever have anything urgent, impassioned or surprising to say to one another ever again? I just thought that was such a great observation. Another one I wrote down was he has a love interest. We haven't talked about Anna at all.

[00:15:19] But he has a love interest that visits the hotel. She's an actress and she has an interesting transformation because she was this very famous actress. But then kind of has this situation where she's no longer the young new star

[00:15:34] and has to figure out another way to kind of stay relevant and become another person. And so in this kind of trough of her life, he was explaining that actually he didn't the count didn't explain this. There is a narrator that pops in to the book.

[00:15:50] And when you listen to the book, the narrator is not so obviously not the count. Yes. Kind of assume it's the counts, what's going on in the count's head, but it's not. And I think in the book, it's a little more obvious that it's the narrator,

[00:16:03] which is an interesting vehicle. But he was saying that at the Suarez in the house, when Anna had a fancy DACA and had the things, said that Anna mastered the ancient art of descending a staircase.

[00:16:17] But having mastered the art of descending the stairs to a gathering of admirers, she had yet to master the art of ascending the stairs alone. And there is a scene where she tries to, you know, I can see that scene right in my

[00:16:29] head to the way he described it. Yeah. Where she tries to woo an up and coming director and invites him up for a nightcap and he says, no, I got this thing. I got to go. Thanks, but no thanks. Yeah.

[00:16:41] Which was such a and actually that was another that brought on another phrase, which was the Confederacy of the Humboldt. And they mentioned that the other count had had joined the Confederacy of the Humboldt. He was no longer an aristocrat.

[00:16:56] He was no longer somebody with titles and all of these other things. And she had kind of come the Humboldt. So, and they found love there. Which is cool. Exactly. Here in Washington, there's lots of people who have joined the Confederacy of the Humboldt.

[00:17:11] I wish they were the ones that were actually in office. That'd be great. I see them all the time. And there, you know what? I will tell you, I would much rather have dinner with somebody in the

[00:17:20] Confederacy of the Humboldt than somebody who is not right there yet. 100% Boy, they're so much more pleasant. 100%. Yes. There's a phrase that comes in multiple times in the book where the count who had been exiled many times in his life.

[00:17:36] This was one of those things I was trying to, as I was kind of examining it and thinking about it for this podcast. Early on in life, his parents died when he was young. And he kind of got exiled, even though it was to an enjoyable place,

[00:17:48] was to his grandmother's house kind of mansion. Then at a certain point, there is an event which, you know, where he has to basically escape Russia and lives in Paris for four years. He's kind of exiled in Paris.

[00:18:02] And then for the whole period of the book that you have, that you stay with him, he is exiled in the hotel. Yeah. And his stepfather or his godfather who raised him had always said that if one did not master one's circumstances, he was bound to be

[00:18:21] mastered by them. And it truly is a theme throughout where the count is put in all these situations where he could have gone lots of different ways. He could have been nostalgic about the old times. He could have been bitter about his situation, but he always looked

[00:18:37] at it as an opportunity and something to look forward forward thinking. And he never was very bitter about much of anybody. No, he really wasn't. There I was trying to think of he found the good in most people, almost everyone that he dealt with.

[00:18:54] The two people were the bishop who is a recurring character who he even was more annoyed by than he was was dismissive or angry at. Right. And then the other one was the Hazan who had kind of injured his sister's honor. Yeah.

[00:19:12] Really, those were the only two people that he had any kind of ill will for and even even the Bolsheviks who have basically run his family, run his aristocratic friends out of the country. Right. He saw them as well. This is the new system, I guess.

[00:19:29] You know, there's always going to be change. This is the change that we're experiencing. Right. He didn't even seem bitter about that. No, he didn't. He didn't. And I, you know, again, I think when you look at what you're doing in life,

[00:19:43] and this is, I do believe that this is how he saw it as a calling. And the things that you're doing in your every day are fulfilling that calling. It's hard for you to be bitter when you feel like everything

[00:19:55] that you're doing is fulfilling that thing for which you've been put on earth. And I really feel like that. I think that was pervasive and who he was and what he did throughout the book. Agreed.

[00:20:06] And I feel one of the things I enjoyed about the book is that there are different sections. I mean, there's really the table of context says, you know, there's book one, book two, book three, book four. And in those periods, they jump in further distances of time.

[00:20:20] So in the first chapter is year one. The next one is the next year, but then it immediately starts accelerating and then it decelerates towards the end. There are characters that he interacts with that basically each book kind of highlights.

[00:20:36] And in the first book, he meets a little girl named Nina, who also lives in the hotel whose mother has died and really becomes his best friend. And they go on adventures in the hotel. She's a very precocious, intelligent girl. He doesn't know how to deal with kids.

[00:20:53] He hasn't really dealt with them, but he forms this friendship with her, which is really a neat thing to watch. And then in this, you know, as you said, there's another part where he he becomes a part of the hotel in the way that he hadn't.

[00:21:09] He had lived there for many years, but he had not worked there. And so when he decides to join the staff of the Boliarski, which is the high end restaurant as a server, as a head waiter, you know,

[00:21:20] he becomes friends with the matriot D and the chef, the triumphant who become his best friends and they all really enjoy their each other's company and their love of food and wine and service. And that's a really special experience.

[00:21:35] And then later he ends up becoming the little girl, Nina ends up dropping off her daughter in an emergency situation who ends up living with account. And he raises her as his own daughter. So he becomes a father in that as well.

[00:21:51] And so and then the end kind of ends like almost like a James Bond movie. So it has a little bit of everything I feel like it does. And I don't know if there was a part of those books. I do have a question here.

[00:22:03] Is there a part that you felt that you liked more than the others? Oh, man. I would say I liked when he I definitely like the part when Sophia came into his life because I mean, anybody with children knows that they just up and everything.

[00:22:23] And, you know, he talked about how he was, how he had always prided himself on being such a great conversationalist and how Sophia just why, why, why. And I mean, it just took me back to my children like every every answer

[00:22:36] you gave led to that many more whys and why why. And it was insatiable, you know, as cultured as he was, as traveled as he was, as educated as he was, like he was bested by a little girl. And and I just thought that was fantastic.

[00:22:52] And I also liked the part where when he, you know, made plans to end the way things had been going and he winds up being befriended by one of the I think it was a maintenance guy or something, but the guy that was on the roof

[00:23:11] and like how things unfolded around because life just became very different at that part of the book. And you had already gotten a lot of the history. So for me, I think that middle piece, I mean, the end was spectacular.

[00:23:24] It really was the, you know, you're like, what's going to happen? What's going to happen? But I for me, I really like that middle piece because there was a lot of change that was happening in Russia, the whole like taking off

[00:23:34] of the labels of the wine bottles that represented so much for him. That's ultimately why the bishop did it because he he overrode one of the bishop's suggestions. But I just I really enjoyed that that middle space of the book.

[00:23:50] To me, at that point, he kind of he had come to terms with the fact that he was never leaving, but also didn't just settle with like, I'm just going to stay in my room. Like he made a life of it.

[00:23:58] And I thought that was really fun to see how he did that. You know, it's interesting. There are two parts in the book where the count is so kind and polite and generous to people throughout the book.

[00:24:09] And there are two situations where he kind of got cocky a little bit. And one of them was with the Huzan and he had this episode where he beat him at cards and then kind of socially embarrassed him.

[00:24:21] And it came back and bit him because that guy came and broke his sister's heart and did it just as revenge for the counts beating him later when he had kind of corrected in an aristocratic condescending way,

[00:24:39] the bishop, he came back and took all the labels off of 10,000 bottles of wine, which were the counts pride and joy. So in both cases, when he kind of got over his skis on being a little bit too cool for school, it bit him.

[00:24:54] And the thing that I really loved about that particular scene when the count did not know that the labels had been taken off of the wine bottles because the bishop was waiting on him. Right. And he's like, are you going to have the red or the white?

[00:25:07] And he's like, well, I'm going to have this because it's going to be this and it's going to be this perfect thing and he goes, so do you want the red or the white? You know, and it was just like in his own condescending way.

[00:25:19] It was the bishop getting back at him. And I just thought it was pretty hilarious. I did a little research because a lot of the things that talk about the Soviet situation and in the history of that time were drawn from real events and had examples.

[00:25:35] There was no example, apparently, of the Soviets going into the Metropole's wine cellar and taking all the wine labels off. But and yet could have been. I was going to say, and yet totally believable. Right. When you when you think about how things could have gone.

[00:25:50] Obviously, Sophia and Nina were central characters. But there are a lot of other characters in the book who played big parts in the Count's life. Was there anybody that you particularly or fond of? Awesome. I really, really appreciated.

[00:26:08] Awesome. I appreciated him for his cloak and daggers that he had. You know, he didn't reveal who he was. I loved the banter that they had at the very beginning, their first meeting when he's like, do you think that I'm a gentleman?

[00:26:23] And and he and again to the attentiveness, right? Count was like, well, no, and here's why. Awesome clearly had the upper hand because he knew and he's got this bodyguard with a gun and and then how they became friends and kind of argued like school boyfriends over like,

[00:26:38] are you going to watch the movie or are you going to talk through the whole thing? And like how that went back and forth. But what I loved most of all was how he showed up for him when Sophia. That was just so great.

[00:26:50] And there was still the cloak and dagger Ness, right? With the the van that he goes and gets in with all the fresh bread and, you know, gets a chance to go through the streets of Moscow.

[00:27:00] And he's and he's, you know, looking around and seeing how things are so different because he hasn't been out in so many years. But I love, I think Asup said something like, you know, you have served me for so long.

[00:27:13] It was a pleasure to finally have an opportunity to serve you. He was a great character. It's funny. I was thinking I can't think of another book, movie, story, etc., where the KGB agent was a cool guy. You liked it. Totally true.

[00:27:32] Because most of the KGB people were like his bodyguard. Right. Yeah, you're right. The exchange when they first met for the listeners, Asup was a KGB agent who wanted to learn how aristocrats thought. He wanted to learn how people in the West thought and he decided

[00:27:49] that the count was a resource and so would come to him once a month and basically get lessons on how to act, how they think what is good. So they'd watch movies. They'd watch, they'd read books and he basically gave him a cultural lesson.

[00:28:05] It developed into a friendship that lasted for years. Yeah. He was a great character. I thought the friendship between Emile, the chef and Andre, the matriot was really special. Men have a hard time making close friendships and to see those guys

[00:28:23] open up to one another and then share their love of it, share love and respect because they all had talents that they thought very well of one another. And so I thought that was a really neat. And I really, I loved the meal that they had together.

[00:28:39] Fine, you know, that all the things that had to come together. Yeah, that the bull, you base meal was so cool. I was really struck when they finally had the meal together and partially because of time, I'm sure, partially because of the meal,

[00:28:54] but also partially because of the drink that they finally opened up to one another. The things that they learned, I just thought that was so cool. It's like, you know, here are these people and I see this all the time.

[00:29:05] You're with people that you know, but then suddenly if you just lean in and get a little curious and you ask a question and you listen, which I think the count was really, really good at. It's amazing to me the things that you will learn.

[00:29:18] And I just find that most people don't take those opportunities. And that was one of the things I really appreciated about him and their relationship. That was really neat. Another thing that I loved about the book was the role of the Metropole Hotel itself.

[00:29:33] The author's descriptions of the hotel and its charms and its rooms. You could almost go through, I was thinking about this last night. If you chose any room, I could tell you my favorite story in the book that happened in that room.

[00:29:49] And so I mean, I'm thinking of the piazza. For the piazza, I think it would have been the the exchange where he had a first date next to him sitting next to him. And he helps them out by pointing out the best wine that would go with

[00:30:02] the Latvian stew and Boyosky had lots of great scenes. The private dining rooms with awesome had great scenes. The kitchen had great scenes. His rooms up in the Belfry were, you know, had some really neat things going on.

[00:30:17] And so I feel like the first time I read it, I definitely went to the internet and looked up old pictures of the Metropole. And he really, you know, the author really did base all these things on how it really does look and clearly spent time there.

[00:30:33] What struck you about the hotel or its role? Yeah. Well, what I really liked was when he talked about how hotels, other hotels had been built for the guests of the hotel. But this hotel had been built for the people of Moscow.

[00:30:51] It was and you saw that throughout the different places, you know, when the, you know, all of the journalists that would gather there and the different things that would happen in the famous people that came through.

[00:31:04] I really enjoyed the highback chair between the Potted Palms in the lobby because I'm a people watcher. So I could totally and again, his attentiveness, right? To sit there while he's, you know, reading his paper.

[00:31:18] But also I'm sure taking all of it in again, I think it goes back to intentionality, the intention with which this hotel was built and how you can see throughout the book that it really fulfilled that purpose. I thought that was really cool. Yeah.

[00:31:32] And I liked when the Soviet Union was starting to open up more to the West and you got more journalists coming to the hotel and visitors from other countries. It clearly added to the count's ability to socialize with the outside world

[00:31:46] because he was constantly looking at the world through the lens of whatever came through the hotel. Right. And so I think that the different time periods really helped kind of expand his horizons when he could kind of interact with those people.

[00:32:00] I also did really love when he made the, when he figured out that behind the wardrobe was the extra room. It was very lion witch in the wardrobe as. The only thing is that the bishop was so nosy and so invasive.

[00:32:15] I can't believe that he never found out about the extra room. It seemed like something he would have discovered on day three. Totally. Nosey bastard that he was. He was a nosy bastard. So the last topic or my last question is talks about at the close

[00:32:34] to the end of the book, Count Rostov has a discussion with Sophia, who is his adoptive daughter. And he says his greatest purpose in life was to be at the hotel when Sophia's mother, Nina, needed help.

[00:32:51] And he truly took on this role of father and caregiver mentor to Sophia. Incredibly serious. And I think he saw it as the greatest role of his life. And as you are a father, I'm a father. How did that, you know, affect?

[00:33:08] Dude, I told you before we started recording that, you know, I had, I'd read that question a couple of times today because you sent me these ahead of time just to look at. And I'm telling you the first time I read it today, I was at work today

[00:33:21] and I read it and I was like, I'm like tearing up sitting in my chair here at work, like what the heck's going on? I will say so, you know, we've got a 24 year old, a 19 year old and a 15 year old. So we like really span the gamut.

[00:33:33] And it is, I am experiencing a similar feeling when my 19 year old and 24 year old call home about something. Because in that moment where he feels like that was his greatest purpose in life was to be at the hotel when she needed help for me

[00:33:54] to be able to answer the phone call about how do you change your oil? Or I just got this check and how do I deposit it online and how does that work? And though you may have told them the things that they're asking

[00:34:05] about a hundred times, the fact that they're still willing to call and ask and you can still fulfill that purpose. There's nothing like that. Well, on that note, Mr. Barnaby, I will hold my last sips up as a cheers to both the book to my guest.

[00:34:23] And again, we highly recommend the book if you haven't read it. But my guess is that if you lasted this long, you probably read it and wanted to hear somebody else talk about it. My cheers is to I hope that Mr.

[00:34:34] Tolles keeps writing and keeps spinning out some great yarns. So thank you very much. And please join us for our next episode. Subscribe, review and come back for more. Thanks a lot.