“He did not notice her faded cheeks, or the brick red blotches on her cheek-bones, the result of boredom and a certain amount of ill-health. His imagination seized, first of all, on those ardent eyes, those elegant curls that caught the candlelight, that dazzling whiteness – so many points of light that drew him likeContinue reading “RKS Literature: Infatuation: Balzac’s “Lost Illusions””
Tag Archives: RKS literature
RKS Literature: The Misfortune of a Great Intelligence (Balzac)
“One of the misfortunes to which great intelligence is subject is that of understanding everything too well. The standards by which these two men judged society were all the higher, because they themselves were low on the social scale, for unknown men are apt to revenge themselves by their lofty outlook. But their despair wasContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Misfortune of a Great Intelligence (Balzac)”
RKS Literature: A Swindler of a Man on the Run (Dickens)
“Shame, disappointment, and discomfiture gnawed at his heart: a constant apprehension of being overtaken or met – for he was groundlessly afraid even of travellers, who came towards him by the way he was going – oppressed him heavily. The same intolerable awe and dread that had come upon him in the night, returned unweakenedContinue reading “RKS Literature: A Swindler of a Man on the Run (Dickens)”
RKS Literature: A Hollow Woman in a Hollow World (Charles Dickens)
‘I am a woman.’ she said confronting him steadfastly, ‘who from her very childhood has been shamed and steeled. I have been offered and rejected, put up and appraised, until my very soul has sickened. I have not had an accomplishment or grace that might have been a resource to me, but it has beenContinue reading “RKS Literature: A Hollow Woman in a Hollow World (Charles Dickens)”
RKS Literature: Hatred of the Boss (Charles Dickens)
‘I tell you all’, said the manager, ‘that your hypocrisy and meekness – that all the hypocrisy and meekness of this place – is not worth that to me,’ snapping his thumb and finger, ‘and that I see through it as if it were air! There is not a man employed here, standing between myselfContinue reading “RKS Literature: Hatred of the Boss (Charles Dickens)”
RKS Literature: The Supreme Mr. Dombey (Charles Dickens)
“Mr. Dombey was resolved to show her that he was supreme. There must be no will but his. Proud he desired that she should be, but she must be proud for him, not against him. As he sat alone hardening he would often hear her go out and come home, treading the round of LondonContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Supreme Mr. Dombey (Charles Dickens)”
RKS Literature: Mrs. Dombey’s Mourning Period (Charles Dickens)
“That small world, like the great one out of doors, had the capacity of easily forgetting its dead; and when the cook had said it was the common lot, and the butler had said who’d have thought it, and the housemaid had said she couldn’t hardly believe it, and the footman had said it seemedContinue reading “RKS Literature: Mrs. Dombey’s Mourning Period (Charles Dickens)”
RKS Literature: Mr. Dombey’s Wife as a Chattel (Charles Dickens)
“He was not a man of whom it could properly be said that he was ever startled or shocked; but he certainly had a sense within him, that if his wife should sicken and decay, he would be very sorry and that he would find something gone from among his plate and furniture, and otherContinue reading “RKS Literature: Mr. Dombey’s Wife as a Chattel (Charles Dickens)”
RKS Literature: The Raunchy Prince Valkovsky (Dostoevsky)
“I love influence, honours, good hotels, a huge stake at cards (I adore cards). But the main, most important thing is women….women in all theirs shapes and forms. I even go for debauchery, that’s covert, secretive, and the more eccentric and depraved the better, even with a whiff of sordidness for extra delectation….HaHaHa! You shouldContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Raunchy Prince Valkovsky (Dostoevsky)”
RKS Literature: The Lost Soul of Russians (Dostoevsky)
“He was getting steadily more drunk and maudlin. Masloboyev had always been a fine fellow, level-headed but rather too clever by half; sly, astute, devious and a scallywag from his school days, but deep down quite a softie-a lost soul. There are many amongst the Russians. They’re often endowed with considerable talent, but somehow theyContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Lost Soul of Russians (Dostoevsky)”
