Rules of Civility by Amor Towles ranks alongside The Great Gatsby for its depiction of the influence of wealth in New York City. Although Gatsby was set in 1922 and Civility in 1938, both books embraced that materialism brings happiness. Told through the perspective of 25 year old Katey Kontent, somewhat blue blooded and definitely hardworking, Katey becomes the sidekick for her best friend Eve. When the two of them meet Tinker Gray, a rich banker, their friendship is challenged for a love for wealth and romantic love. Of course in a city fueled by the idea that money buys happiness it becomes harder and harder for Katey to find her niche of individuality no matter how much she reads to discover it. Societies pressure to be among the wealthy is immense and Katey soon discovers people are not who they pretend to be.
My favorite character in this novel was Tinker. He so reminded me of Gatsby. He was even described as a guy who had 'wonder'. Tinker like Gatsby dreamed and wealth was a huge part of that dream, however Tinker unlike Gatsby seem to discover that you surely can't repeat the past and going forward and truly embracing who you is what happiness is. Too bad for Katey and Eve. Katey even more than Eve, irked me in this regard. This is all I shall say without spoiling. Eve came across as completely shallow, a real Gatsby's Daisy, but her refusal of her dad's money threw me. Eve's character explained it by saying:
"I'm willing to be under anything...as long as it isn't somebody's thumb."
And yet she was under someone else's thumb. To me, this was completely uncharacteristic (for her not to take her dad's money) and unless there was some further explanation for her reasoning. What other things besides money motivated Eve? Clearly not her independence and need for freedom else she wouldn't let someone else care for her. Was Eve both shallow and contradictory? Then I discover that Eve did appreciate good music. Did this make her less shallow? I'm not sure. I'm definitely unsure about Eve. I don't really buy her need for freedom and not being up under somebody's thumb because really she never is and although Katey seems to fly solo, she still can't see past her own limitations that come from feelings of betrayal. For me in the end, Tinker is the only redeemable character in the novel whereas in Gatsby all of the characters were totally shallow and unforgivable - still a great novel. Yes, I highly recommend Rules of Civility and maybe one should read it more than once.
