“What the boss man doles out is all you will get. Only you won’t get even that, what with the cooks and their stoolies and trusties. There’s thieving on the site, there’s thieving in the camp, and there was thieving before the food ever left the store.” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, “One Day in the Life ofContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Boss Man and Thievery at the Gulag (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)”
Tag Archives: RKS literature
RKS Literature: Thoughts of a Convict (Aleksander Solzhenitsyn)
“A convict’s thoughts are no freer than he is: they come back to the same place, worry over the same thing continually. Will they poke around in my mattress and find my bread ration? Can I get off work if I report sick tonight. Will the captain be put in the hole, or won’t he?Continue reading “RKS Literature: Thoughts of a Convict (Aleksander Solzhenitsyn)”
RKS Literature: In the Mood of Money (Kurt Vonnegut)
“Quinn sat down in the booth next to the bandmaster. He was a bachelor, a small, dark, humorless man. He wasn’t a well man. He couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t stop working, he couldn’t smile warmly. He had only two moods: one suspicious and self-pitying, the other arrogant and boastful. The first mood applied when heContinue reading “RKS Literature: In the Mood of Money (Kurt Vonnegut)”
RKS Literature: Beauty and Restless Beagles (Kurt Vonnegut)
“Susanna’s feathery hair and saucer eyes were as black as midnight. Her skin was the color of cream. Her hips were like a lyre, and her bosom made men dream of peace and plenty for ever and ever. She wore barbaric golden hoops on her shell pink ears, and around her ankles were chains withContinue reading “RKS Literature: Beauty and Restless Beagles (Kurt Vonnegut)”
RKS Literature: Brain Control in the Name of Equality (Kurt Vonnegut)
“Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn’t think about anything except in short bursts, and George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a government transmitter. Every twentyContinue reading “RKS Literature: Brain Control in the Name of Equality (Kurt Vonnegut)”
RKS Literature: Finally Equality in the United States in 2081 (Kurt Vonnegut)
“The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anyone else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anyone else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th and 213th Amendments to the Constitution and toContinue reading “RKS Literature: Finally Equality in the United States in 2081 (Kurt Vonnegut)”
RKS Literature: The Repetitive History of Earth (Kurt Vonnegut)
“If our descendants don’t study our times closely, they will find that they have again exhausted the planet’s fossil fuels, that they have again died by the millions of influenza and the Green Death, that the sky again has again been turned yellow by the propellants for underarm deodorants, that they have elected a senileContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Repetitive History of Earth (Kurt Vonnegut)”
RKS Literature: Powerless Old Poops and Young Psychopaths (Kurt Vonnegut)
“Captain O’Hare and I entered the palace between two lines of soldiers. They were an honor guard of some sort, I suppose. Each one held aloft a banner, which was embroidered with the totem of his artificial extended family – an apple, an alligator, the chemical symbol for lithium, and so on. It was suchContinue reading “RKS Literature: Powerless Old Poops and Young Psychopaths (Kurt Vonnegut)”
RKS Literature: Diplomatic Relations with the United States and China (Kurt Vonnegut)
“The miniaturization of human beings in China had progressed so far at that point, that their ambassador was only 60 centimeters tall. His farewell was polite and friendly. He said his country was severing relations simply because there was nothing going on in the United States which was of any interest to the Chinese atContinue reading “RKS Literature: Diplomatic Relations with the United States and China (Kurt Vonnegut)”
RKS Literature: Careful with Birthday Party Drinking (Kurt Vonnegut)
I must be very careful with my drinking at my birthday party, if I drank too much, I might spill the beans to everybody: That life awaits after death is infinitely more tiresome than this one.” Kurt Vonnegut, “Slapstick”, 1976.
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