B. A Gentleman in Moscow

A Gentleman in Moscow

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Highlights

It demanded to be written. I simply happened to be sitting at the particular desk on the particular morning when it chose to make its demands. — location: 170

“A king fortifies himself with a castle,” observed the Count, “a gentleman with a desk.” — location: 256

entr’acte. — location: 264

It is part of the human experience that we are constantly gripping a good fellow by the shoulders and wishing him well, taking comfort from the notion that we will hear word of him soon enough. — location: 295

he had an instinctive awareness of all the temperaments in the room. — location: 347

if a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them. — location: 365

it was a desk to be reckoned with. — location: 368

imagining what might happen if one’s circumstances were different was the only sure route to madness. — location: 396

will-o’-the-wisp — location: 413

circumambulate — location: 432

the Count would maintain his resolve by committing to the business of practicalities. Having dispensed with dreams of quick discovery, the world’s Crusoes seek shelter and a source of fresh water; they teach themselves to make fire from flint; they study their island’s topography, its climate, its flora and fauna, all the while keeping their eyes trained for sails on the horizon and footprints in the sand. — location: 547

that confirmed his initial suspicion that the book had been written with winter nights in mind. Without a doubt, it was a book for when the birds had flown south, the wood was stacked by the fireplace, and the fields were white with snow; that is, for when one had no desire to venture out and one’s friends had no desire to venture in. — location: 564

alacrity, — location: 590

Long had he believed that a gentleman should turn to a mirror with a sense of distrust. For rather than being tools of self-discovery, mirrors tended to be tools of self-deceit. — location: 666

he took greater pride in knowing that a gentleman’s presence was best announced by his bearing, his remarks, and his manners. Not by the cut of his coat. — location: 670

perhaps a mirror will suddenly serve its truer purpose—revealing to a man not who he imagines himself to be, but who he has become. — location: 674

indefatigable — location: 699

snifter — location: 787

perhaps even essential to the institution. — location: 839

fact, after a few requisite pleasantries, the most accomplished of hostesses could signal the transition with a single word of her choosing. — location: 842

“I shall work upon my posture,” Nina said quite definitively, brushing the crumbs from her fingers. “And I will be sure to say please and thank you whenever I ask for things. But I have no intention of thanking people for things I never asked for in the first place.” — location: 911

ennui—that — location: 929

But, an enterprising and tireless spirit, the young lady had made the most of her situation by personally investigating the hotel until she knew every room, its purpose, and how it might be put to better use. — location: 952

Nina had not contented herself with the views from the upper decks. She had gone below. Behind. Around. About. In the time that Nina had been in the hotel, the walls had not grown inward, they had grown outward, expanding in scope and intricacy. In her first weeks, the building had grown to encompass the life of two city blocks. In her first months, it had grown to encompass half of Moscow. If she lived in the hotel long enough, it would encompass all of Russia. — location: 964

escutcheon, — location: 986

if one were to eavesdrop at their tables for a month, one would be able to anticipate all of the bankruptcies, weddings, and wars of the year to come. — location: 999

For pomp is a tenacious force. And a wily one too. How humbly it bows its head as the emperor is dragged down the steps and tossed in the street. But then, having quietly bided its time, while helping the newly appointed leader on with his jacket, it compliments his appearance and suggests the wearing of a medal or two. Or, having served him at a formal dinner, it wonders aloud if a taller chair might not have been more fitting for a man with such responsibilities. The soldiers of the common man may toss the banners of the old regime on the victory pyre, but soon enough trumpets will blare and pomp will take its place at the side of the throne, having once again secured its dominion over history and kings. — location: 1008

The Count’s bedroom and this improvised study had identical dimensions, and yet, they exerted a completely different influence on his mood. — location: 1080

For if a room that exists under the governance, authority, and intent of others seems smaller than it is, then a room that exists in secret can, regardless of its dimensions, seem as vast as one cares to imagine. — location: 1084

axiomatic — location: 1095

honorifics.” — location: 1250

“It is the business of the times to change, Mr. Halecki. And it is the business of gentlemen to change with them.” — location: 1261

For the times do, in fact, change. They change relentlessly. Inevitably. Inventively. And as they change, they set into bright relief not only outmoded honorifics and hunting horns, but silver summoners and mother-of-pearl opera glasses and all manner of carefully crafted things that have outlived their usefulness. — location: 1277

Then, like a lone sailor adrift for years on alien seas, he wakes one night to discover familiar constellations overhead. And when this occurs—this extraordinary realignment of the stars—the man so long out of step with his times experiences a supreme lucidity. Suddenly all that has passed comes into focus as a necessary course of events, and all that promises to unfold has the clearest rhyme and reason. — location: 1456

in all probability — location: 1469

belied — location: 1479

troika — location: 1483