Born and raised in the Boston area, Amor Towles graduated from Yale College and received an MA in English from Stanford University. Having worked as an investment professional in Manhattan for over twenty years, he now devotes himself fulltime to writing. His first novel, Rules of Civility, published in 2011, was a New York Times bestseller in both hardcover and paperback and was ranked by the Wall Street Journal as one of the best books of 2011. The book was optioned by Lionsgate to be made into a feature film and its French translation received the 2012 Prix Fitzgerald. His second novel, A Gentleman in Moscow, published in 2016, was also a New York Times bestseller and was ranked as one of the best books of 2016 by the Chicago Tribune, the Miami Herald, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the St. Louis Dispatch, and NPR. Both novels have been translated into over fifteen languages.
我是在哪里听到说这本书非常适合疫情隔离期间读，因为讲的是一个20世纪初/中期，俄罗斯一个曾经的伯爵被布尔什维克政权在豪华酒店的一个放杂物的窄小房间里软禁30年的故事。
一开始听，我感觉这会是一本慢节奏的书，决定静下心来，仔细体会一下。结果是听的整个过程都很享受。朗读者的演绎很棒（这本书得了某个audio award）。另外书中有不少对俄罗斯建筑、食物、音乐、文学、乃至民族性格的描述，都是我有兴趣的。
我最大的感想有两点，一是环境在不可抗拒力的作用下发生巨变时，人必须对环境的改变去适应和接受，才能继续生活（而不仅仅是生存）。书中几个人物的命运很令人感慨。不能接受环境改变的人，活在伤感和痛苦中，甚至“被消失”了。能够去接受和适应环境改变，认真生活的人，得到了意想不到的收获。书中的对话里几次出现“曼彻斯特飞蛾“如何去适应环境的变化，改变自己的颜色。所以我想这也是作者想表达的主题。
前两天我跟一个老印邻居聊两句。他是某公司高管，他们行业是受疫情影响最严重的行业之一。我听这个邻居说他们在当地的一个厂永久关闭了，他本人前途未卜。我听了立刻表示同情，说希望他们能很快重起。这位邻居笑眯眯地说他现在这个行业在很长一段时间内会就此没落了，但他不担心，因为现在是个巨变的时代，肯定会有新的行业蓬勃发展起来，他也会有新的机会。我听了对他肃然起敬。
另一个感想是规律生活的健康意义。书中的伯爵该吃饭就吃饭，该睡觉就睡觉，该工作就工作，该锻炼就锻炼，除了极特殊情况，不随外物改变生活规律。我本人在疫情隔离期复发了乱吃零食的坏习惯，还偶尔熬夜，其负面影响已经有所显现。这本书提醒了我，在家独处期，更应该保持规律的生活。
另外书里说的俄罗斯民族善于去毁灭自己创造的美好事物，我感觉有点道理。。
Born and raised in the Boston area, Amor Towles graduated from Yale College and received an MA in English from Stanford University. Having worked as an investment professional in Manhattan for over twenty years, he now devotes himself fulltime to writing. His first novel, Rules of Civility, published in 2011, was a New York Times bestseller in both hardcover and paperback and was ranked by the Wall Street Journal as one of the best books of 2011. The book was optioned by Lionsgate to be made into a feature film and its French translation received the 2012 Prix Fitzgerald. His second novel, A Gentleman in Moscow, published in 2016, was also a New York Times bestseller and was ranked as one of the best books of 2016 by the Chicago Tribune, the Miami Herald, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the St. Louis Dispatch, and NPR. Both novels have been translated into over fifteen languages.
喜马拉雅上也有，我也去听听