52 books
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“
Ah, comrade, thought the Count. Now, there was a word for the ages... When the Count was a boy in St. Petersburg, one rarely bumped into it. It was always prowling at the back of a mill or under the table in a tavern, occasionally leaving its paw marks on the freshly printed pamphlets that were drying on a basement floor. Now, thirty years later, it was the most commonly heard word in the Russian language.
A wonder of semantic efficiency, comrade could be used as a greeting, or a word of parting
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”
― A Gentleman in Moscow
― A Gentleman in Moscow
“
I started learning English from Abuelo Jorge's old grammar textbooks. I found them in Abuelo Celia's closet. They date back to 1919, the first year he started working for the American Electric Broom Company. At school, only a few students were allowed to learn English, by special permission. The rest of us had to learn Russian. I liked the curves of the Cyrillic letters, their unexpected sounds. I liked the way my name looked: Иван. I took Russian for nearly two years at school. My teacher, Serg
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”
― Dreaming in Cuban
― Dreaming in Cuban
