#vian

Ostap Bender lay in the dvornik's room, which was warm to the point of reeking, and mentally put the finishing touches on two possible career plans. He could become a polygamist and move peacefully from town to town, dragging behind him a new suitcase full of valuable items he'd picked up from the latest wife. Or he could go the very next day to the Stargorod Children's Commission and offer them the chance to distribute the as-yet unpainted but brilliantly conceived canvas The Bolsheviks Writing a Letter to Chamberlain, based on the artist Repin's popular painting The Zaporozhian Cossacks Writing a Letter to the Turkish Sultan. If it worked out, this option could bring in something along the line of four hundred rubles. Ostap had thought up both options during his last stay in Moscow. The polygamy option had been born under the influence of the court report from the evening papers, where it was clearly indicated that some polygamist had only gotten two years without strict isolation. Option number two had taken shape in Bender's mind when he was going through the AARR exhibit on a free ticket. However, both options had their downsides. It was impossible to begin a career as a polygamist without a wondrous, dapple-gray suit. In addition, he needed at least ten rubles for hospitality expenses and seduction. Of course, he could get married in his green campaign uniform as well, because Bender's masculine power and attraction were absolutely irresistible to provincial, marriage-ready Margaritas; but that would be, as Bender liked to say, "Poor-quality goods. Not clean work." It wasn't all smooth sailing for the painting, either. Purely technical difficulties could arise. Would it be proper to paint Comrade Kalinin in a papakha and a white burka, or Comrade Chicherin naked to the waist? ↗

— Ilya Ilf

#marriage

Cu ce rămîn dacă alung amintirile? Nu rămîn cu nimic. ↗

— Octavian Paler

#roman #viata-pe-un-peron #roman

It was the second time in a row they were expecting us. We’ve got an informer in our group.” Johannes aka ‘BB’ The Informer by Steen Langstrup ↗

— Steen Langstrup

#noir-fiction #sabotage-group-bb #scandinavian-mysteries #world-war- #thriller

They say that the best furniture and clothing design from the '50s and '60s is Scandinavian or Milanese. ↗

— Christian Lacroix

#clothing #design #furniture #milanese #say

When we think of the major threats to our national security, the first to come to mind are nuclear proliferation, rogue states and global terrorism. But another kind of threat lurks beyond our shores, one from nature, not humans - an avian flu pandemic. ↗

— Barack Obama

#avian #beyond #come #first #flu

More humane societies are usually smaller, like the Scandinavian countries and Holland, where it is much easier to reach consensus and cooperation. ↗

— David Korten

#cooperation #countries #easier #holland #humane

It would be so much easier if I didnt have to make either choice. Picking neither and going back to the way I was just a few months previous would have been so much simpler. But something inside me had changed. There was no going back now. I couldnt live the same without them. ↗

— Keary Taylor

#eve #west #change

Fine by me, Jack. I just have to plug in the machine. The City will have to change its name to Sunny Beach.” “We don’t have a beach.” “Well, you know what I mean …” Conversation on Radio Fake 112.8 MHz In The Shadow of Sadd ↗

— Steen Langstrup

#gta #noir #scandinavian-mysteries #change

You just hang in there, boy, hang in with that apprenticeship of yours, do you hear me? You are lucky they would even take someone like you. You’re a child of the slums. A ragtag. On top of that, you’re a whining piece of shit. Nobody will ever do anything for you. Do you understand what I’m saying? They’ll let you starve to death, no problem. Nobody is going to cry on your grave.” Poul-Erik’s Mother The Informer by Steen Langstrup ↗

— Steen Langstrup

#mothers #noir-style #scandinavian-mysteries #death

Is this your first case?' This from the ugliest person Winter had ever seen. His face resembled five pounds of meat loaf molded by an arthritic potter. ↗

— Åke Edwardson

#scandinavian-literature #death