Sevens focus on restrictions and limitations, and want freedom not just for themselves for often for everyone. This hero "The Count" will delight you in his inventiveness and generosity of spirit, all under extreme restriction. An absolute delight from cover to cover and an antidote to the hard story we had last year of Anthony Bourdain as a Seven. Like a Seven, you won't want these good times to end--- I promise! Watch for a love of the senses, a deep sensitivity, endless options, the ability to move on from pain and memory, and lots of optimism alongside Wings: 6 Loyalty and 8 Force which show us that 7s also fight for *others* to have freedom.
"Then having poured the coffee, he began to enjoy the morning's sensations to their fullest: The crisp tartness of the apple... The hot bitterness of the coffee... The savory sweetness of the biscuit with its hint of spoiled butter... So perfect was the combination that upon finishing, the Count was tempted to crank the crank, quarter the apple, dole out the biscuits, and enjoy his breakfast all over again." Book THREE, Chapter 1930
"For, since the age of fifteen Alexander Rostov had been a master of seating tables." Seven Attention: To Planning!!!
"Taking a sip, the Count reviewed the menu in reverse order as was his habit, having learned from his experience that giving consideration to appetizers before entrees can only lead to regrets." Chapter 1924
"For if a room that exists under the governance, authority, and intent of others, seem smaller than it is, then a room that exists in secret can, regardless of its dimensions, seem as vast as one cares to imagine." pg 64
The quote he reads from a book he’s read before: "All Happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy and its own way."
Adulthood: Our faculties wax and wane, our experiences accumulate, and our opinions evolve—if not glacially, then at least gradually. Such that the events of an average day are as likely to transform who we are as a pinch of pepper is to transform a stew. And yet, for the Count, when the doors to Anna's bedroom opened and Sofia stepped forward in her gown, at that very moment she crossed the threshold into adulthood. On one side of that divide was a girl of five or ten or twenty with a quiet demeanor and a whimsical imagination who relied upon him for companionship and counsel; while on the other side was a young woman of discernment and grace who need rely on no one but herself.
The Count’s “Polonial” wisdom— in chapter Anecdotes: “The first was if one did not master one’s circumstances, one was bound to be mastered by them; and the second was Montaigne’s maxim that the surest sign of wisdom is constant cheerfulness.” Pg 419
…… in arrangement were files on members of the staff. On Arkady, Vasily, Andrey, and Emile. Even Marina. The Count needed no more than a glance at them to know their purpose. They were a careful accounting of human flaws, noting specific instances of tardiness, impertinence, disaffection, drunken-ness, sloth, desire. One could not exactly call the contents of these files spurious or inaccurate. No doubt, all of the aforementioned had been guilty of these human frailties at one point or another; but for any one of them the Count could have compiled a file fifty times larger that cataloged their virtues.
>>> Why does each chapter begin with the letter A?
If you click to expand on the photos below, you'll see even more snippets of why I felt this character (and more broadly, the novel) typified themes important to Type Seven. It's only meant as a pointer or a reminder while you read the novel.
"For, since the age of fifteen Alexander Rostov had been a master of seating tables." Seven Attention: To Planning!!!
"Taking a sip, the Count reviewed the menu in reverse order as was his habit, having learned from his experience that giving consideration to appetizers before entrees can only lead to regrets." Chapter 1924
"For if a room that exists under the governance, authority, and intent of others, seem smaller than it is, then a room that exists in secret can, regardless of its dimensions, seem as vast as one cares to imagine." pg 64
The quote he reads from a book he’s read before: "All Happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy and its own way."
Adulthood: Our faculties wax and wane, our experiences accumulate, and our opinions evolve—if not glacially, then at least gradually. Such that the events of an average day are as likely to transform who we are as a pinch of pepper is to transform a stew. And yet, for the Count, when the doors to Anna's bedroom opened and Sofia stepped forward in her gown, at that very moment she crossed the threshold into adulthood. On one side of that divide was a girl of five or ten or twenty with a quiet demeanor and a whimsical imagination who relied upon him for companionship and counsel; while on the other side was a young woman of discernment and grace who need rely on no one but herself.
The Count’s “Polonial” wisdom— in chapter Anecdotes: “The first was if one did not master one’s circumstances, one was bound to be mastered by them; and the second was Montaigne’s maxim that the surest sign of wisdom is constant cheerfulness.” Pg 419
…… in arrangement were files on members of the staff. On Arkady, Vasily, Andrey, and Emile. Even Marina. The Count needed no more than a glance at them to know their purpose. They were a careful accounting of human flaws, noting specific instances of tardiness, impertinence, disaffection, drunken-ness, sloth, desire. One could not exactly call the contents of these files spurious or inaccurate. No doubt, all of the aforementioned had been guilty of these human frailties at one point or another; but for any one of them the Count could have compiled a file fifty times larger that cataloged their virtues.
>>> Why does each chapter begin with the letter A?
If you click to expand on the photos below, you'll see even more snippets of why I felt this character (and more broadly, the novel) typified themes important to Type Seven. It's only meant as a pointer or a reminder while you read the novel.
Gentleman in Moscow (observations from Observer Deb Sharifi)
◦ Death of mother at young age had aunt telling him not to be mastered by his circumstances or adversity. “A man must master his circumstances or be mastered by them” Influence on his optimism, pursuits of pleasure, soldiering on, 7-ishisms?
◦ “Life will entice, after all!”
◦ The Count would “maintain his resolve by committing to the business of practicalities”
◦ Having been confined to small room, the Count finds pleasures: favorite soap, his pillow, and a pastry
◦ Pursuit of pleasure
◦ Keep it light
◦ Child (Nina) says, while spying woman going to theater, “if only I was there and she was here” and the Count thought “there is a suitable plaint (accusation) for all mankind”
◦ The Count “found political discourse tedious” yet was entertained when he and Nina spied on the assembly as they were arguing over verbiage on some political issue.
◦ Nina was helping him appreciate stuff even he hadn’t thought about (i.e. train tracks being laid, how coal gets to train)
◦ Death of mother at young age had aunt telling him not to be mastered by his circumstances or adversity. “A man must master his circumstances or be mastered by them” Influence on his optimism, pursuits of pleasure, soldiering on, 7-ishisms?
◦ “Life will entice, after all!”
◦ The Count would “maintain his resolve by committing to the business of practicalities”
◦ Having been confined to small room, the Count finds pleasures: favorite soap, his pillow, and a pastry
◦ Pursuit of pleasure
◦ Keep it light
◦ Child (Nina) says, while spying woman going to theater, “if only I was there and she was here” and the Count thought “there is a suitable plaint (accusation) for all mankind”
◦ The Count “found political discourse tedious” yet was entertained when he and Nina spied on the assembly as they were arguing over verbiage on some political issue.
◦ Nina was helping him appreciate stuff even he hadn’t thought about (i.e. train tracks being laid, how coal gets to train)
| description_type_seven_the_epicure.pdf |
| wagner_type_seven.pdf |
You do not need to leave your room.
Remain sitting at your table and listen.
Do not even listen. Simply wait.
Do not even wait. Be quiet, still and solitary.
The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked.
It has no choice. It will roll in ecstasy at your feet.
-Franz Kafka
“Listen to your life.
See it for the fathomless mystery that it is.In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness:
touch, taste, smell your way into the holy and hidden heart of it
because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.”
-Frederick Buechner