Category Archives: literature

RKS British Literature: The World as a Stage is Badly Cast (Oscar Wilde)

“Actors are so fortunate. They can choose whether they will appear in tragedy or in comedy, whether they will suffer or make merry, laugh or shed tears. But in real life it is different. Most men and women are forced to perform parts for which they have no qualifications. Our Guildensterns play Hamlet for us,Continue reading “RKS British Literature: The World as a Stage is Badly Cast (Oscar Wilde)”

RKS British Literature: Who Are the Opium Eaters in England? (Thomas De Quincey)

“Reader, I am sorry to say, a very numerous class indeed. Of this I became convinced some years ago by computing at that time, the number of those in one small class of English society (the class of men distinguished for talents, or of eminent station), who were known to me, directly or indirectly, asContinue reading “RKS British Literature: Who Are the Opium Eaters in England? (Thomas De Quincey)”

RKS British Literature: A Philosopher’s Reflection on Opium (Thomas De Quincey)

“I may affirm that my life has been on the whole, the life of a philosopher; from my birth I was made an intellectual creature: and intellectual in the highest sense of my pursuits and pleasures have been, even from my school-boy days. If opium eating be a sensual pleasure, and if I am boundContinue reading “RKS British Literature: A Philosopher’s Reflection on Opium (Thomas De Quincey)”

RKS British Literature: What is So Revolting to Englanders (Thomas De Quincey)

“Nothing, indeed, is more revolting to English feelings, than the spectacle of a human being obtruding on our notice his moral ulcers or scars, and tearing away that ‘decent drapery’, which time, or indulgence to human frailty, may have drawn over them: accordingly; the greater part of our confessions (that is, spontaneous and extra-judicial confessions)Continue reading “RKS British Literature: What is So Revolting to Englanders (Thomas De Quincey)”

RKS Literature: Bozo the British Beggar Comments on the Cremation He Saw in India (George Orwell)

“Have you ever seen a corpse burned? I have, in India. They put the old chap on the fire, and the next moment I almost jumped out of my skin, because he started kicking. It was only his muscles contracting in the heat-still it gave me a turn. Well, he wriggled around a bit likeContinue reading “RKS Literature: Bozo the British Beggar Comments on the Cremation He Saw in India (George Orwell)”

RKS Literature: The Salvation Army and Stench of Charity in England (George Orwell)

“Since then I have slept in a number of Salvation Army shelters, and found that, though the different houses vary a little, this semi-military discipline is the same in all of them. They are certainly cheap, but they are too like workhouses for my taste. In some of them there is even a compulsory religiousContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Salvation Army and Stench of Charity in England (George Orwell)”

RKS Japanese Literature: Japanese Pecker Nationalism Falls Flat! (Akiyuki Nosaka)

“What the hell are you doing? You’re numbah one, aren’t you? Come on. Show the American. That huge thing is the pride of Japan. Knock him out with it! Scare the shit out of him! It was a matter of pecker nationalism: his thing had to stand, or it would mean dishonour to the race.Continue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: Japanese Pecker Nationalism Falls Flat! (Akiyuki Nosaka)”

RKS Japanese Literature: American Soldiers Nothing Like the Spindly British General Percival Who Surrendered Singapore (Akiyuki Nosaka)

“Maybe General Percival was an exception, because the soldiers I was looking at had arms like roof beams and hips like millstones, and underneath trousers that glowed with a sheen our civilian uniforms never had, you could see their powerful buttocks. I had been granted beginner’ s status in the Martial Arts Society and IContinue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: American Soldiers Nothing Like the Spindly British General Percival Who Surrendered Singapore (Akiyuki Nosaka)”

RKS Japanese Literature: Japanese Flocking Like Pigeons for Sticks of Gum Thrown by American Soldiers (Akiyuki Nosaka)

“A couple of hundred yards east down the wall of people, a cry arose that could have been a cheer or a scream. I looked over to see two American soldiers who stood a head-no, a head and shoulders-above the crowd that surrounded them. As I was about to step into to the road toContinue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: Japanese Flocking Like Pigeons for Sticks of Gum Thrown by American Soldiers (Akiyuki Nosaka)”

RKS Japanese Literature: Americans Not White Devils! (Akiyuki Nosaka)

“All at once, without an order or a shout of any kind the column came to a halt and the soldiers, who until then had looked like a part of the machinery with their uniforms the same colour as the trucks, spang out-almost as if they had been shot out-holding rifles. Once on the ground,Continue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: Americans Not White Devils! (Akiyuki Nosaka)”