This sophisticated and entertaining first novel presents the story of a young woman whose life is on the brink of transformation. On the last night of 1937, twenty-five-year-old Katey Kontent is in a second-rate Greenwich Village jazz bar when Tinker Grey, a handsome banker, happens to sit down at the neighboring table. This chance encounter and its startling consequences propel Katey on a year-long journey into the upper echelons of New York society—where she will have little to rely upon other than a bracing wit and her own brand of cool nerve. With its sparkling depiction of New York’s social strata, its intricate imagery and themes, and its immensely appealing characters, Rules of Civility won the hearts of readers and critics alike.
MY THOUGHTS:
This was almost a DNF because for several pages it appeared nothing was going to happen other than social climbers drinking cocktails and attending musical events. But somewhere around the halfway point the story started to get interesting.
Katey Kontent is the working class daughter of a deceased Russian migrant. She and her room mate, Eve Ross, make a new friend on New Year's Eve, 1937. It's Theodore, aka Tinker Grey, who they assume from his prosperous appearance is a WASP boy (white Anglo Saxon Protestant). Pushy Eve instantly dibs Tinker for herself, attracted by his vibes of old family power and influence. Although Tinker himself seems to prefer Katey, Eve's talons are long and circumstances seem to flow her way. Yet down the track, when favour begins to shine on Katey, she has a gob-smacking revelation about Tinker that may change everything.
Okay, enough about the plot. The most awesome factors of this story are its era (covering the entirety of 1938) and its setting (New York City, the Big Apple itself). Amor Towles' writing is so colourful and evocative, it wouldn't surprise me to discover he'd been a time traveller! For a novel written in the 21st century, it's convincingly retro and full of 80-year-old glamour.
The main character herself is very cool. Katey is a bookworm who devours fiction, which stands her in good stead to read a room, assess people's character and wriggle smoothly into higher social echelons than her own. My favourite passages contain her occasional bookish thoughts lapsing into personal philosophy. For example, her dad knew that whatever life might throw at him, he'd make it through as long as he could appreciate something as simple and readily available as his morning cup of coffee. And it dawns on Katey that for her, his coffee translates to the works of Charles Dickens.
'Admittedly there's something a little annoying about all those plucky underprivileged kids and the aptly named agents of villainy. But I've come to realize that however blue my circumstances, if after finishing a chapter of a Dickens novel I feel a miss-my-stop-on-the-train sort of compulsion to read on, then everything is probably going to be just fine.'
Then down the track, she figures out why binge-reading Agatha Christie mysteries is more than just a lazy indulgence.
'You can make what claims you will about the psychological nuance of Proust or the narrative scope of Tolstoy, but you can't argue that Mrs Christie fails to please. Her books are tremendously satisfying. Yes, they've formulaic. But she doles out her little surprises at the carefully calibrated pace of a nanny dispensing sweets to the children in her care.... Poirot and Marple are not really central characters in the traditional sense. They are simply the agencies of intricate moral equilibrium that was established by the Primary Mover at the dawn of time.'
It's hard, at first, to muster much love for any character other than Katey herself; especially not that callous and selfish Eve or pliable and duplicitous Tinker (although admittedly his may be the best character arc). The sweet and privileged Wallace Wolcott has some great moments, as does Tinker's obnoxiously principled brother, Hank.
Yet near the finish it dawns on me the cast are living out a universal drama. We are prodded to question whether it's truly corrupt for struggling have-nots to make questionable decisions simply to place them on a level playing field with those spotless beings favoured by fortune. The distinction between the families of 'old wealth' and self-made folk who have had to be unscrupulously inventive to place themselves in the same social circles is fascinating.
Is the climbing and striving worth it though? We are left to figure that out for ourselves, and each reader's answer may be different. Tinker's apparently simple line, when he decides to give up the chase, may be one of my most profound picks. Inspired by Katey to read Thoreau's Walden, he says, 'All this wanting and not wanting. It's worn me out and for once I'm going to try the present on for size.' Since the 21st century has become no easier an era in which to live, I do understand where he's coming from.
Oh, and the way in which young George Washington's almost 300 year-old 'rules of civility' influence the course of Tinker's life has great bearing on the title, and we get the benefit of all 110 in a glossary at the back.
It's rare for a book I almost dropped to end up with four stars, but I love it when it happens.
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