Tag Archives: RKS literature

RKS RUSSIAN LITERATURE: Bloodsucker Mademoiselle Blanche Completely Cleans Out Our Protagonist (Fyodor Dostoevsky)

I frequently had recourse to champagne because I constantly felt depressed and bored, owing to the fact that I was living in the most bourgeois, mercenary milieu imaginable, where every sou was counted and grudged. Indeed, two weeks had not gone by before I realized Blanche had no real affection for me, even though sheContinue reading “RKS RUSSIAN LITERATURE: Bloodsucker Mademoiselle Blanche Completely Cleans Out Our Protagonist (Fyodor Dostoevsky)”

RKS RUSSIAN LITERATURE: Mademoiselle Blanche an Unapologetic Bloodsucker (Fyodor Dostoevsky)

‘What do you want with money?’ she would say to me with an air of total simplicity, and I never argued the point. She fitted out her flat very nicely with the money, which did not stop her from saying when, later, she was showing me over the rooms of her new home.’ See whatContinue reading “RKS RUSSIAN LITERATURE: Mademoiselle Blanche an Unapologetic Bloodsucker (Fyodor Dostoevsky)”

RKS Literature: Giving Thanks to God When There is No One Else to Give it To (Salman Rushdie)

I always in my own godless way found it hard to believe that she actually believed in an actually existing god. But she probably did; I was probably wrong about that too; and anyway, what other word is there? When there’s that gratitude in you for life’s dumb luck, when there’s nobody to thank andContinue reading “RKS Literature: Giving Thanks to God When There is No One Else to Give it To (Salman Rushdie)”

RKS RUSSIAN LITERATURE: Charlatan Poles at the Casino Robbing Grandmother (Fyodor Dostoevsky)

An hour later, the two Poles who earlier in the day had been thrown out of the casino, made a reappearance behind the old lady’s chair and renewed their offers of service, even if only to be sent on errands; but Potapych told me these rascals exchanged winks with the said “gentleman of honour”, andContinue reading “RKS RUSSIAN LITERATURE: Charlatan Poles at the Casino Robbing Grandmother (Fyodor Dostoevsky)”

RKS RUSSIAN LITERATURE: Croupiers at Casino Guardians of Assets of the House (Fyodor Dostoevsky)

At the casino Grandmother seemed to be expected, for no time was lost in getting her to her former place beside the croupier. It is my opinion that though croupiers seem such ordinary humdrum officials – men who couldn’t care whether the bank wins or loses – they are, in reality anything but indifferent toContinue reading “RKS RUSSIAN LITERATURE: Croupiers at Casino Guardians of Assets of the House (Fyodor Dostoevsky)”

RKS RUSSIAN LITERATURE: The Tedious and Unbearable Frenchman (Fyodor Dostoevsky)

He was a true Frenchman insofar as that, though he could be lively and engaging when it suited him, he became insufferably dull and wearisome as soon as the need for being lively and engaging had passed. Seldom is a Frenchman naturally polite: he is polite only to order and for a purpose. For example,Continue reading “RKS RUSSIAN LITERATURE: The Tedious and Unbearable Frenchman (Fyodor Dostoevsky)”

RKS RUSSIAN LITERATURE: Yet Another Satirical Knock on the Germans (Fyodor Dostoevsky)

I remember that the baroness was clad in a voluminous silk dress, pale grey in colour, and adorned with flounces and a crinoline and train. Also, she was short and inordinately fat, while her gross, flabby chin completely concealed her neck. Her face was purple, and the little eyes in it had an impudent, maliciousContinue reading “RKS RUSSIAN LITERATURE: Yet Another Satirical Knock on the Germans (Fyodor Dostoevsky)”

RKS CANADIAN LITERATURE: Teen Phone Obsession and Illiteracy (Joanna Goodman)

Arden looks helplessly around Ivey’s room, her eyes darting wildly from the closet to the backpack on the floor to the drawers of her desk, wishing she could tear it all apart and uncover some piece of her child, something stashed away, hidden. Letters, a diary, poems, notes she’s passed to friends in class. ArdenContinue reading “RKS CANADIAN LITERATURE: Teen Phone Obsession and Illiteracy (Joanna Goodman)”

RKS RUSSIAN LITERATURE: Russian Ineptitude and German Efficiency (Fyodor Dostoevsky)

‘On the fact that to the virtues and merits of the civilized Westerner, there has, historically, been added – almost as his main virtue – a capacity for acquiring capital, whereas not only is the Russian incapable of acquiring capital, but he also loses what he has wantonly and by sheer folly. Nonetheless, we RussiansContinue reading “RKS RUSSIAN LITERATURE: Russian Ineptitude and German Efficiency (Fyodor Dostoevsky)”

RKS RUSSIAN LITERATURE: A Gentlemen is Not Concerned About Money When Gambling (Fyodor Dostoevsky)

Yes, even if a gentleman should lose his whole fortune, he must never give way to anger. Money must be so far beneath a gentleman as never to be worth a thought. Of course, the supremely aristocratic thing is to be entirely oblivious of the rabble and all one’s surroundings, but sometimes it may beContinue reading “RKS RUSSIAN LITERATURE: A Gentlemen is Not Concerned About Money When Gambling (Fyodor Dostoevsky)”