Maria Reva > Quotes

“It’s what you all do, in the free world. You waste your freedom and your clear skies on things that don’t matter, like politeness and the perfect lawn. That’s why I can’t go back. I lived in a stupor and now, it’s like, all the colors are saturated. Like someone took electrodes to my eye rods and jolted them. You become like a lizard, where there’s no past or future, where everything’s trained on the present.”
― Maria Reva, Endling

“Candies Available for Civilian Consumption: Masha and Bear / Bear in the North / Little Bear / Clumsy Bear / Stratosphere / Strike! / Brighter! / Little Squirrel / Thumbelina / Moscow in Evening / Kiev in Evening / Fantastic Bird / Little Lemon / Little Lenin / Snowflake / Jelly / Fuzzy / Iris / Fudgy Cow / Little Red Hat / Alyonka / Little Miracle / Solidarity / Leningrad / Bird’s Milk / Red Poppy / Mask / Meteorite / Vizit / Red Moscow / Dream / Caramel Crab Necks / Goose Feet / Duck Beaks / Kiss Kiss / Golden Key / Snow / Crazy Bee…And So Many More!”
― Maria Reva, Good Citizens Need Not Fear: Stories

“For the rest of the day, Daniil pretended to work while the combine pretended to pay him.”
― Maria Reva, Good Citizens Need Not Fear: Stories

“Naturally blunt and low-voiced, the inexperienced Slavic woman trying to speak English is like a horse in a mouse maze.”
― Maria Reva, Endling

“Art exists in the liminal space between the giver and receiver.”
― Maria Reva, Endling

“The future had been a luxury. The future didn't exist anymore.”
― Maria Reva, Endling

“In the cities, building still stood hole. Some new or freshly renovated, some worse for wear but functional, complete with floors, walls, ceilings. When a hand turned on a tap, water poured from it. A flick of a switch, and light flooded a room. The parks also lay whole, grass stretched uninterrupted. Residents lived, and residents died, in balance. Animals too lived and died in balance, mostly inside the buildings; those who roam the streets in search of their owners were few. Beyond the cities, fields. Yellow and brown, pockmarked by farmhouses, sliced by trenches for irrigation. Beyond the fields, sky. A sturdy, solid blue, like a freshly painted ceiling. Not much fell from it yet, the occasional bird. Once, a fragment of comet, catching the breaths of those who witnessed in terror the flash of light -but when it was over, they clapped at the miracle.”
― Maria Reva, Endling

“The internat had taught her well: as soon as you want something, you lack it; and if you do get it, it can easily be taken away. But this lesson came at a cost—a dry unfeeling clump had formed in her chest, had grown with age. She wonders now: If she slit her skin open, would nothing but sawdust spill out?”
― Maria Reva, Good Citizens Need Not Fear: Stories

“Daniil’s head whirled. Seventeen humans in one room, arms and legs and fingers and toes laced together. Plus one bay leaf.”
― Maria Reva, Good Citizens Need Not Fear: Stories

“Noises filter into her dreams—the ruffle of sheets, snot bubbling up and down endless nasal passages, the distant cowbells from a village, the clack of trains from a rail yard. Outside the window, a couple of older, healthier children chatter as they dig another pit. When she hears them shoveling earth back into the hole, Zaya feels for damp soil on her own hot face. But it isn’t there, it’s for someone else.”
― Maria Reva, Good Citizens Need Not Fear: Stories

“Meanwhile, Najin and Fatu, the last northern white rhinos (mother and daughter), were the belles of the extinction ball. They lived round the clock under the protection of armed guards. Tourists visited from all over the world to pet them, then cry in their cars. When the rhinos passed gas together,”
― Maria Reva, Endling

“The New York Times called it “the rarest symphony in the world.”
― Maria Reva, Endling

“you can choose to have a happy ending.”
― Maria Reva, Endling

“Fight chaos with more chaos,”
― Maria Reva, Endling

“anger was a trusted antidote for worry.”
― Maria Reva, Endling

“Smena’s mother had died alone, and seemed to have fared all right. Before the accident, Smena had imagined death as a send-off, a majestic ship to board while your party of relatives crowds at the port ledge, waving goodbye. The higher the attendance, the more valued your life. Now, she imagined something more private. Once you got past the ugly physicality of death, you were left with a single boat, a cushion. Room to stretch out the legs.”
― Maria Reva, Good Citizens Need Not Fear: Stories

“Once upon a time,” he began. I wanted to shake the letter out of him. “I got the flu,” he continued. “Ever get the flu?” “Sure.” “The flu turned into bronchitis and I ended up in the hospital. Not only did I get my own room, but by the end of the week the room was filled, and I mean floor-to-ceiling filled, with flowers and cards and jars of food from people I didn’t even know, people from all around the country.” Konstantyn Illych leaned in. “Imagine, Misha, what would happen if you tried to get me fired.”
― Maria Reva, Good Citizens Need Not Fear: Stories