Another Book Finished

 I just finished another book.  This one was "Rules of Civility" by Amor Towles.

Some years ago I read two of Towles' novels... "The Lincoln Highway" and "A Gentleman in Moscow".  Both of them were excellent books that I thoroughly enjoyed.

"The Rules of Civility" was Towles' first novel, and, to his surprise, was a best seller. The story begins in a Greenwich Village jazz club on New Year's Eve of 1937.  The protagonist, Katie Kontent (yes, that's her name) is out celebrating with her roommate when they meet a handsome, cultured and apparently affluent fellow named Tinker Grant.  The three of them hit it off immediately.  Through Tinker, Katie gains entry to Manhattan's high society.  Although she is the working class daughter of a Brooklyn immigrant family, she is an avid reader (devouring everything from Dickens to Agatha Christie) and has the wit and self-confidence to waltz effortlessly in through the city's upper crust.

Although I sort enjoyed the book, I did not think that it was nearly as good as the other two novels by Towles that I read.  I had a hard time keeping track of all those wealthy New Yorkers who appear and then reappear during the course of the story.  I also found it hard to believe that Katie, no matter how bright and witty, was never met with snobbery by any of those rich folks.  "The Lincoln  Highway" and "A Gentleman in Moscow" both had surprising and very satisfying endings.  This book simply ended, and left me thinking, "That's it?"

"Rules of Civility" has been compared to "The Great Gatsby".  Well, I read "The Great Gatsby" ages ago, and it really didn't impress me either.