Speak, Memory Society & Class Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Paragraph)

Quote #4

I was nearing eighteen, then was over eighteen; love affairs and verse-writing occupied most of my leisure; material questions left me indifferent, and, anyway, against the background of our prosperity no inheritance could seem very conspicuous…(3.6.1)

When Uncle Ruka dies and Vladimir inherits a million dollars and his estate, it's no big deal: he has no use for a house and plenty of money, anyway. When a year later, the communist-run state has taken the money and property, it doesn't matter anymore, either: everything else is lost, too.

Quote #5

At breakfast, Golden Syrup imported from London would entwist with its glowing coils the revolving spoon from which enough of it had slithered onto a piece of Russian bread and butter. All sorts of snug, mellow things came in a steady procession from the English Shop on Nevski Avenue: fruitcakes, smelling salts, playing cards, picture puzzles, striped blazers, talcum-white tennis balls. (4.1.2)

Along with Russian wealth came access to British luxuries. This will only seem ironic and tragic later, after the family is exiled and can't afford to live in London.

Quote #6

...her hand, with its familiar pigeon-blood ruby and diamond ring (within the limpid facets of which, had I been a better crystal-gazer, I might have seen a room, people, lights, trees in the rain—a whole period of émigré life for which that ring was to pay). (4.2.2)

This is a neat double-exposure moment, where we get gesture and characterization, along with the unfolding of events to come.