Paul Lindstrom

“Putin’s calculation is simple: a Ukraine with a permanent war in its eastern region will never be fully welcomed by Europe or the rest of the world.”
― Andrey Kurkov, Grey Bees

“They prefer to be called gay. Queer . . . Queer’s a horrible term.” “Well, it’s what the ones I know call themselves. But tell you what. I’ll introduce you to a few, you can explain to them what they like to be called.”
― Mick Herron, The Secret Hours

“Well, this is their land,” the beekeeper offered timidly. “The hell it is!” the woman said indignantly, but without malice. “This land’s been Russian Orthodox since time immemorial! Russians brought Orthodoxy from Turkey, brought it to Chersonesus, back before there were any Muslims. It was later that the Turks sent in the Tatars, along with their Islam. When Putin was here, he told the whole story – this is sacred Russian land.” “Well, I haven’t looked into the history,” Sergeyich shrugged. “Who knows what happened?” “What happened is what Putin says happened,” she insisted. “Putin doesn’t lie.”
― Andrey Kurkov, Grey Bees

“The crackly, unobtrusive music of the fire was now accompanied by a barely audible chorus of bee-wings emerging from the hives.”
― Andrey Kurkov, Grey Bees