Read this month’s book review by Kathy Friesen on Amor Towles’ “Table for Two.” Kathy is a member of the Bluestem Book Club, and this is their book choice for their next meeting in May.
In “Table for Two” (2024), Amor Towles presents six short stories and a novella. In the first story, “In Line,” a Russian peasant couple live contentedly in a collective until they hear a speaker from Moscow on the Proletariat. Irina informs Pushkin that the time has come to move to Moscow. She wishes to be where the songs of the proletariat can be heard from every kitchen. Through these two characters, we learn the ideology and fallacies of Communism.
Upon arrival in Moscow, Irina wastes no time in finding them an apartment, selling their horse and cart, and finding jobs at the Red Star National Biscuit company. Irina repairs the moving assembly line, and Pushkin is to add vanilla to the batter each time a green light blinks. He is so fascinated with the operation of the assembly line that he forgets to add the vanilla, ruining an entire day’s worth of biscuits and is fired. Towel, using one of many unique phrases, describes Pushkin as a “rolling marble on a chessboard.”
Irina’s twelve-hour days and duties on the “workers committee” do not allow her time to stand in line for milk, bread, and sugar. She hands their ration cards to Pushkin and sends him out to wait in line. While most people become irritable while waiting in line, the gentle Pushkin passes the time of day making conversations with the women also waiting in line. He discusses the weather and architectural details of buildings, and then asks about their children, thus becoming their favorite.
Pushkin has stood in line for three hours waiting for a head of cabbage, when one of the young mothers needs cabbage, but also needs to rush to the pharmacy for her sick young child’s medicine. She asks Pushkin to hold her place in line. Generally frowned upon, the other mothers, knowing Pushkin’s gentle spirit, allow it. When the mother returns, she repays Pushkin with brightly colored sticks of candy. A young orphan, Pitya, after observing the transaction, approaches Pushkin and suggests that they could be more successful at standing in line by working together. Soon, Pushkin had an entire network of young men willing to wait in line and receive the benefits.
The most exclusive of lines is that of waiting in line for a visa to leave Russia. An acquaintance asks Pushkin to do this for him. When he does not return, Pushkin isn’t quite sure what he should do. While waiting in line, he has casually completed a visa form. Even though he has never desired to leave Russia, he is interviewed and accepted for a visa to New York.
Pushkin and Irina pack two bags, one with money and one with clothing. On board the ship Irina is seasick, but Pushkin delights in exploring the ship and making friends. As he gathers tips on travel, he repays each kindness received with a generous tip. On arrival in New York, Irina screams,” Who in their right mind would dole out a small fortune in hard-earned currency to a pack of gracious wolves on the doorstep of a foreign country?” Oh, yes, the man I married! She furiously stomps off, leaving Pushkin at the railroad station waiting with their remaining bag.
What of Pushkin? He waits and waits for hours while people come and go, but no Irina. He thinks he sees her and dashes off, only to discover their remaining bag is now missing when he returns. He thinks he sees the man who took the bag and follows him down streets, up alleys, until he is hopelessly lost.
He hears the church bells ring six o’clock. An old man in a threadbare coat motions to him, “Follow me.” He does not understand at first, but can smell the chicken soup. So, where does Pushkin find himself in America? Waiting in line…. And what of Irina? Where does she find herself as she follows some women wearing Russian head scarves?
