Stuart M. Kaminsky > Quotes

“We, at least I, need monsters. Without monsters, there are no heroes. Something has to be black and white.
~Lew Fonesca ”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky

“Karpo, as always, was dressed in black. His leather coat was black. Even his scarf and fur hat were black. Rostnikov thought that clothes reflected the people who wore them. Rostnikov himself dressed neatly, conservatively, in old comfortable suits and ties Sarah had bought for him at market stalls. As for Karpo's choice of black, Rostnikov was not given to simple judgment. He himself was rather fond of black, which was either the absence of color or the totality of color. There was a statement in black, he thought. Black said, You cannot penetrate my being by looking at my exterior. I am a dark cipher.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Murder on the Trans-Siberian Express

“The worst thing,' she whispered to the cat as she stroked it, 'is not to be useful.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Death of a Dissident

“you fantasize too much. It will make you dream. Dreams will turn to hopes. Hopes will turn to longing. Longing will turn to despair. Despair will turn to laughter. And laughter will get you in trouble.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Red Chameleon

“According to my Glendale high school days, the road along the ocean that stretched from San Diego to San Francisco was staked out in the 1780’s or so by the Spanish. The Spanish were afraid the French or Russians would claim the land along the coast first. France had picked up a big chunk of land between the Mississipi and the Rocky Mountains. Russia was coming south across the Berring Sea and down the coast from what would eventually be Alaska. The first big push to stake out the royal road stopped at what became Los Angeles. The whole point of the road was to set up a link between the Franciscan missions in California.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Murder On The Yellow Brick Road

“Moscow,” he said, “was built to make people feel small against the magnificence of the revolution. The streets are eight lanes wide, the statues are five stories high, the buildings are as big as mountains. But this—look at it, Shemenkov”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Hard Currency

“COMMISSAR ILLYA RUTKIN TUCKED his briefcase under his arm, adjusted his goatskin gloves, pulled down his fur hat to cover his ears and tightened the scarf over his mouth before opening the door of the wooden house and stepping out into the Siberian morning.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Red Chameleon

“If I don’t help you, you will sit there till Moscow turns capitalist, and I will wither away,” Kroft said reasonably.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Death of a Dissident

“You may return to Odessa to spread the news that Fedot the cousin of fond memory was a walking blind erection that managed to be unable to locate me for the past four years. He was, however, more successful in locating a colorful array of other willing, waiting receptacles.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, A Whisper to the Living

“Hope was reasonable, but never expect the hope to be fruitful.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Red Chameleon

“Life was a series of tests, challenges that one was either prepared for or would be worn away by. Since hardship was inevitable, it was best to condition oneself to it.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, A Fine Red Rain

“When I first became a policeman, I was often struck by the absurdity of most of the crime I encountered. Gradually what used to seem absurd began to seem quite normal.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Blood and Rubles

“The sun had by now whispered to the sub-arctic sky giving the gray darkness a glow, a gentle glow. Rostnikov remembered the ghost of a winter morning when he was a child.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, A Cold Red Sunrise

“To Procurator Timofeyeva, the uniform had been a reminder of her duty. To Khabolov, it was a badge of his authority.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Red Chameleon

“It doesn’t look as if it is anything to worry about.” “Allow me the indulgence of worry,” he said.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, A Cold Red Sunrise

“It was a typical Soviet ploy. People were forever quoting Lenin, much of the time with a great deal of creativity, knowing that even scholars had a difficult time identifying quotations from the mass of Lenin’s writing and speeches. Rostnikov”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Black Knight in Red Square

“ICE CREAM IS THE SOVIET Union’s most popular dessert. It is eaten not only in the summer but in the winter.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, A Cold Red Sunrise

“From time to time, Felix muttered nichevo, the Russian word for “nothing,” which conveyed resignation, stoicism, the idea that whatever might be the problem, you shouldn’t let it get to you. Life is too full of explosions. One cannot allow oneself to be destroyed by fear of them.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, A Fine Red Rain

“From time to time, in spite of her training, she did fall into deep sleep for a few minutes, and the dream did come, the dream of circles within circles that turned to a spiral of wire on which she was skewered. She twisted downward on that spiral toward the ever narrowing center hidden in darkness, below which she would fall off the wire and plummet into the void. She ground her teeth furiously, awakening herself.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Black Knight in Red Square

“There were a few seats, but Karpo did not want to sit. He wanted the distraction of discomfort, relished the physical irritation to be overcome.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Red Chameleon

“It is my duty,” said Karpo. “If it costs me my life, then I will die in the course of my duty. If I value my life more highly than I value the meaning by which I live, then my life has no meaning.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Rostnikov's Vacation

“He made himself a plate of cheese, cold meat pie, onions with vinegar, and a slice of bread.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, A Fine Red Rain

“Emil Karpo, the world is a strange, sad, wonderful, and horrible place, and Moscow is at the very center.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, The Dog Who Bit a Policeman

“Rostnikov had discovered that the vest factory often went twenty-four hours in ceaseless production of second-rate vests for which there was no market. Work quotas had to be met. People had to be kept busy.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Red Chameleon

“I do not give my hand to murderers.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, A Cold Red Sunrise

“I am going to move to St. Petersburg,” Boris said, his voice a crisp rasp. “You have relatives there?” Rostnikov said, ignoring the non sequitur. “No, never. That is why I want to go there.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, People Who Walk In Darkness

“It is curious, but the K.G.B. is composed of men. Men are animals. Animals are not perfect. We can only strive.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Death of a Dissident

“Once again he cawed four times and was about to caw again when he heard the sound of humans coming through the woods. The bird turned on the window ledge, flapped its black wings, and rose slowly toward the trees. He caught the wind and soared upward.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Death of a Russian Priest

“Granovsky was driven to near fury by their fear, but he had learned to pretend not to notice it. It pleased him that in seventeen years of marriage his wife had no idea how much her concerned cow eyes infuriated him.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Death of a Dissident

“Girls,” said Rostnikov. “Go into the other room and pretend you are doing homework. You can listen from there.”
― Stuart M. Kaminsky, Blood and Rubles