Study Guide for Book Clubs: A Gentleman in Moscow

This is just the best study guide I have ever come across! It really helped me understand the book, and was very interesting to read. I would definitely buy other study guides from this author again.

As the facilitator in my Senior Center's Book Club, I found the Study Guide to be extremely helpful for not only the analysis of the book itself but also in formulating discussion questions to stimulate group discussion. The guide proved to be a good summary and recap of the novel while also providing insights into such literary terms as plot, character development, theme analysis, and historical context.

I took a short-step to gain a better understanding and become a little wiser, when I purchased this Study Guide, after reading "A Gentleman in Moscow." I took an additional step when I read it before "attending" my book club for discussion --- while in self-isolation during our coronavirus shut-down (April 2020). Yes, we met electronically. The purchase and refreshment-reading of the Guide were informative and valuable. The author structured the summary well and wrote clearly. Probably, the material is as well delivered as any summary of a short fiction-book is expected to be. I read "A Gentleman in Moscow" before reading this synopsis. This Study Guide worked well for me by delivering a quick summary of this well-written story, within which I became so lost in enjoying "The Gentleman in Moscow," I forgot I was reading. The Guide's highest value may be its sketches of the story's characters and scenes within which the characters interacted. Use of the Study Guide may find its highest utility when reading "A Gentleman in Moscow" for the second or third time. I know that I benefited from help placing culturally unfamiliar names, locations, and scenes where they belong. If you loved "A Gentleman in Moscow", as I did, this guide is worth reading before attending your book club discussion … or even prior to re-reading "A Gentleman in Moscow" for a second or third time later on, simply because the guide's text reminds me about character subtleties that enrich their participation. The guide helps keep memories of the story in focus.

Our book club read A Gentleman in Moscow. We had the usual questions set up. Then a few of us read the Study Guide. Whoppee! What a wonderful analysis of the book. So much more in depth understanding of the book, the characters, the structure. It was wonderful. And the questions really spurred lots of discussion. Get it. Read it...after you read Gentleman in Moscow. So glad we ran across it.

I recently read A Gentleman in Moscow for our local book club last month. Reading Kathryn Cope's Study Guide helped me to understand it's many layers and to see where things introduced off-handedly in earlier sections, were picked up and became significant in later sections. It also helped me see additional themes and insights into the characters I did not see in my own reading. I've used Cope's guides several times with our book club selections and found them very helpful to getting more out of the book; especially if it was my turn to lead the discussion. Read the book first, then the study guide to appreciate the book -- it's not a substitute for reading the book!!

This has a pretty good summary of the story, some notes about how historically correct it is, a bit about Towles himself, and some fair discussion questions. I would give it a 3.5 out of 5.

This is an excellent study guide for the novel A Gentleman in Moscow! Two members of our book club, consisting mostly of retired educators and administrators, purchased this guide for a recent discussion and found it worth every penny. The author of this guide apparently closely read this bestseller, researched many topics addressed in this historical fiction, and wrote a very helpful guide, which is not to be used just as a "find a summary and skip reading the book," but rather an invaluable aid in understanding, discussing, and enjoying this outstanding current bestseller. Kudos to Kathryn Cope!

This was really helpful. The explanations of the author's intentions, use of time, meaning of objects, characters, were helpful in a better understanding and appreciation of the book. I suggest even reading it before you read the book - just skip the synopsis of each chapter so it won't be a spoiler but read the meanings, the references to literature, the significance of objects, etc). That said, I can do without the pretentious questions at the end of this. I ignored those. But the explanations, for such things as how time flows and skips in years in the first half of the book but is measured in days, months, even hours in the second half, are useful for a deeper appreciation of the book. People complain that the book has no plot, but after reading this, you discover that there is so much going on beneath the surface, that it's like a wonderful whirlpool that you might miss....in a sense, a lot of meaningful plots being considered.

A wonderful story about a very civil man living in an uncivil situation. His ability to master and adapt is an inspiring lesson.

Revisiting Russia. Last year I visited Moscow an Petersburg for the first time. The novel brought back many good memories. Life has improved so much fro both czarist days and more recently Bolshevik days. Great read

Really very good. I have never used these before but gave me a broader understanding of the book. Wonderful!

much needed and very helpful

A disappointing book. It gives some basic history of the times but mostly just repeats elements of the book, rather than providing any literary criticism or historical insight.