Katya

“I was thinking of the new future that our Communist science is opening to us,” he said.
“Our people are fully aware of that,” Dr. Han Tse said rapidly. “Ever since we exploded our first bomb there has been happiness and rejoicing everywhere.”
― Romain Gary, The Gasp

“The guy was typical of the deep dichotomy in human nature, with nobility and evil, darkness and light, love and hate as impossible to disentangle, to separate from each other, as it was to split the gasp. An impossible fission, a fusion as intricate, fundamental as that of culture with civilization.”
― Romain Gary, The Gasp

“He was suddenly overcome with hatred for his own face, for its flat, hard tightness, the narrow lips, the pale, cold eyes, the deadness. Overkill, he thought. That’s what was showing on his face. Overkill. Shambles. You try hard, too hard, to get rid of that juvenile romantic in you and what happens then? You succeed, that’s what happens. And it shows forever on your face. It turns to stone.”
― Romain Gary, The Gasp

“Our comrades in the textile industry have increased their production more than seventy-five percent.”
Now they could show their delight, even though they could not hold hands or kiss, and everybody knew that there was nothing personal and selfish in the way they smiled at each other, that the light in their eyes and the tenderness of their smiles were due to the increase of the production rate of the textile workers and to the general economic growth of the country. There were no more private little worlds in China.
He went on telling her all the good news, for it would be embarrassing to sit there in silence. There were many other things he wished to say, and above all he wanted to take her in his arms; he wanted that more than anything else in life, almost as much as he wanted the prosperity and freedom of Chinese people. It was time for him to go now, but he could not tear himself away and he sat there rather stiffly, with the red-star peaked cap on his knees and his shaved head exposed, trying to think of something more to say, some of those things that make a girl happy.
“The figures show that we have raised both our industrial and agricultural output by ten percent this year.”
This was a good excuse, and she took his hand in both of hers and pressed it lovingly.
The doctors smiled, the nurses smiled and the patients smiled, sharing their happiness. He was the youngest general in the People’s Army, and though he had come to see his girl, he was addressing all of them and sharing his presence with them.
She held his hand as long as she could without making it appear personal, and then he saw tears in her eyes, but it was all right, nobody could see them.”
― Romain Gary, The Gasp