Rebecca’s Reviews > A Gentleman in Moscow > Status Update

“For as it turns out, one can revisit the past quite pleasantly, as long as one does so expecting nearly every aspect of it to have changed.”

“…our lives are steered by uncertainties, many of which are disruptive or even daunting; but that if we persevere and remain generous of heart, we may be granted a moment of supreme lucidity – a moment in which all that has happened to us suddenly comes into focus as a necessary course of events, even as we find ourselves on the threshold of a bold new life that we had been meant to lead all along.”

“It is one of the intrinsic limitations of being young, my dear, that you can never tell when a grand adventure has just begun.”

“For it is the role of the parent to express his concerns and then take three steps back. Not one, mind you, not two, but three. Or maybe four. (But by no means five.) Yes, a parent should share his hesitations and then take three or four steps back, so that the child can make a decision by herself – even when that decision may lead to disappointment.”

“Leaning forward, Nina cupped her palms against the glass and squinted. “If only I were there, and she were here,” she sighed. And there, thought the Count, was a suitable plaint for all mankind.”

“Tall and thin, with a narrow head and superior demeanor, he looked rather like a bishop that had been plucked from a chessboard.”