RKS Literature: Control of Society Through Falsification/Rectification (George Orwell)

“This process of continuous alteration was applied not only to newspapers, but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, sound-tracks, cartoons, photographs-to every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any political or ideological significance. Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this wayContinue reading “RKS Literature: Control of Society Through Falsification/Rectification (George Orwell)”

RKS Literature: Children as Ungovernable Savages (George Orwell)

“With those children, he thought, that wretched woman must lead a life of terror. Another two years, and they would be watching her day and night for symptoms of unorthodoxy. Nearly all children nowadays were horrible. What was worst of all was that by means of such organizations as the Spies there were systematically turnedContinue reading “RKS Literature: Children as Ungovernable Savages (George Orwell)”

RKS Literature: The Clean Mindedness of the Junior Anti-Sex League (Orwell)

“She was a bold looking girl of about 27 with thick dark hair, a freckled face and swift, athletic movements. A narrow scarlet sash, emblem of the Junior Anti-Sex League, was wound several times round the waist of her overalls, just tightly enough to bring out the shapeliness of her hips. Winston had disliked herContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Clean Mindedness of the Junior Anti-Sex League (Orwell)”

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: POTTY TRAINING: THE THRILL OF VICTORY AND THE AGONY OF DEFEAT

POTTY TRAINING: THE THRILL OF VICTORY AND THE AGONY OF DEFEAT Not to make an overarching analogy to Jim Mackay’s phrase for ABC’s Wide World of Sports “The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat” but I would have to apply that phrase to my potty training. When I do my “business” outside everyoneContinue reading ““Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: POTTY TRAINING: THE THRILL OF VICTORY AND THE AGONY OF DEFEAT”

RKS Literature: Physician Endorsed Cigarettes (Evelyn Waugh)

“The cigarettes Mr Slump smoked were prepared by doctors, so the advertisements declared, with the sole purpose of protecting the respiratory system. Yet Mr Slump suffered and the young secretary suffered with him, hideously. For the first hours of every day he was possessed of a cough which arose from the tartarean depths and wasContinue reading “RKS Literature: Physician Endorsed Cigarettes (Evelyn Waugh)”

RKS Literature: American Girl Preparing to Meet Her Lover (Evelyn Waugh)

“With a steady hand Aimée fulfilled the prescribed rites of an American girl preparing to meet her lover-dabbed herself under the arms with a preparation designed to seal the sweat glands, gargled another to sweeten the breath, and brushed into her hair some odorous drops from a bottle labelled: ‘Jungle Venom’-from the depth of theContinue reading “RKS Literature: American Girl Preparing to Meet Her Lover (Evelyn Waugh)”

RKS Literature: The Suicidal Hanging of Francis Hinsley (Evelyn Waugh)

“They told me, Francis Hinsley, they told me that you were hung With red protruding eyeballs and black protruding tongue; I wept as I remembered how often you and I Had laughed about Los Angeles and now  ‘tis here you’ll lie;   Here pickled in formaldehyde and painted like a whore Shrimp pink incorruptible, not lostContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Suicidal Hanging of Francis Hinsley (Evelyn Waugh)”

RKS Literature: These Undertakers Will Fix You Up Real Good (Evelyn Waugh)

“We had a loved one last month who was found drowned. He had been in the ocean a month and they only identified him by his wrist-watch. “they fixed that stiff,” said the hostess disconcertingly lapsing from the high diction she had hitherto employed, ‘so he looked like it was his wedding day. The boysContinue reading “RKS Literature: These Undertakers Will Fix You Up Real Good (Evelyn Waugh)”

RKS Literature: The Brutality of the Hun and Trench Warfare (Pat Barker)

“The other expression was the trench expression. It looks quite daunting if you don’t know what it is. Any one of my platoon could have posed for a propaganda poster of the Brutal Hun, but it wasn’t brutality or anything like that It was sort of a morose disgust and it came from living inContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Brutality of the Hun and Trench Warfare (Pat Barker)”

RKS Literature: Australian Blackbirder Slavers (Pat Barker)

“He’d started as a “blackbirder” as so many of the older traders had, kidnapping natives to work on the Queensland plantations, and he was frank about his methods too. Make friends with them, invite them on board ship, get them drunk and Bob’s your uncle, By the time they come around they’re out at seaContinue reading “RKS Literature: Australian Blackbirder Slavers (Pat Barker)”