Justina Garcia

Spoilers warning! The book serves up a rich, nuanced story of decades of a life lived in “house arrest” within the confines of the upscale Metropol hotel, by a gentleman of high social standing from a wealthy, elite family — who like all others of their stature —were stripped of titles, wealth and property following the Russian revolution. The characters were complex and warm and their humanity radiated from the turning of each page. Loving the novel, I anticipated seeing it brought to life on the screen. Yet, the series missed so much and exercised such creative license in adapting the story for the screen (not all necessary IMO) that the story line was changed in ways that distort the plot and characters. In the series, Count Rostov is consumed by guilt about his beloved sisters suicide. While he did harbor guilt of his involvement in a heartbreak she suffered and not being by her side at the time of her death, the book did not mention her suicide nor a romance with Mishka of which Rostov disapproved. What was that all about? Also, the friendship with Mishka was intimate, honest and raw in the novel, not strained as portrayed in the series. The casting was also off. In the book, Osip is gregarious and talkative. He is quite the opposite in the series and therefore, unrecognizable other than by the scar. And, the Prince is not ripped from his violin performance and shot outside the hotel inferring fear of of suffering the same fate kept Alexander tethered to the hotel for decades. The book doesn’t paint that as the primary motivation, although no doubt it was a factor. There is so much more that simply does not track, but I’ll stop there. I may be channeling a little Mishka in indignant frustration at how little the script writer seems to have understood or appreciated the story and it’s loveable characters. Ewan’s acting and the staging are fantastic, but the entire thing could have easily been a stupendously successful adaptation. Pity it fell so short of telling the story the way it was written by Towles. Where was Towles in all this, I wonder? Is he also disappointed in this extensively altered version of his novel? Amor, what gives?