“It was one of those Russian kisses, the sort that are exchanged in that vast, soulful land at high Christmas feasts, as a token and a seal of love. But even as we record this kiss exchanged between a notoriously ‘subtle’ young man and a charming, slinking, and still equally young woman, we cannot helpContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Russian Kiss”
Tag Archives: RKS literature
RKS Literature: Schools as Coercion?
“The masses had long since learned that for the education and discipline needed in the battle against the decaying bourgeoisie they should look elsewhere than to coercive schools imposed by the authorities; and by now every idiot knew that the school system developed by the cloisters of the Middle Ages was as anachronistic and absurdContinue reading “RKS Literature: Schools as Coercion?”
RKS Literature: Snow Being More Than One Can Stand!
“And all the guests declared they could not stand to see any more snow, it disgusted them, summer alone had more than satisfied them in that regard, nothing but masses of snow, day in, day out, mounds of snow, whole slopes of snow-it was more than any human being could stand, deadly to both mindContinue reading “RKS Literature: Snow Being More Than One Can Stand!”
RKS Literature: Looking Forward to Funerals!
“I think of a coffin as an absolutely lovely piece of furniture, even when it’s empty, and if there is someone lying in it, it’s quite sublime in my eyes. There’s something so edifying about funerals-I’ve sometime thought that when we need a little spiritual uplift, we should attend funerals rather than church. People wearContinue reading “RKS Literature: Looking Forward to Funerals!”
RKS Literature: A Tobacco Addict in 1924 Speaks
“ I don’t understand how someone can not be a smoker-why it’s like robbing oneself of the best part of life, so as to speak, or at least of an absolutely first-rate pleasure. When I wake up I look forward to be able to smoke all day, and when I eat, I look forward toContinue reading “RKS Literature: A Tobacco Addict in 1924 Speaks”
RKS Literature: White Men and The Ravages of Their Diseases!
“It has been said, that the greatest curse to each of the South Sea Islands, was the first man that discovered it; and everyone who knows anything of the history of our commerce in these parts, knows how much truth there is in this; and that the white men, with their vices, have brought inContinue reading “RKS Literature: White Men and The Ravages of Their Diseases!”
RKS Literature: Revolutions in California!
“Revolutions in California are matters of constant occurrence in California. They are got up by men who are at the foot of the ladder and in desperate circumstances, just as a new political party is started by such men in our own country. The only object, of course, is the loaves and fishes; and insteadContinue reading “RKS Literature: Revolutions in California!”
RKS Literature: A Sailor’s Leave
“A sailor’s liberty is but for one day: yet while it lasts it is perfect. He is under no one’s eye, and can do whatever, and go wherever he pleases. This day, for the first time, I may truly say, in my whole life, I felt the meaning of a term I had often heard-theContinue reading “RKS Literature: A Sailor’s Leave”
RKS Literature: “Two Years Before the Mast”: The Captain Flogs a Sailor
“A man-a human being, made in God’s likeness-fastened up and flogged like a beast. A man, too whom I had lived with and eaten with for months and knew almost as well as a brother. The first and almost uncontrollable impulse was resistance. But what was to be done? The time for it had goneContinue reading “RKS Literature: “Two Years Before the Mast”: The Captain Flogs a Sailor”
RKS Literature: Monterey in the 1830’s
“Monterey is also a great place for cock–fighting, gambling of all sorts, fandangos, and every kind of amusement and knavery. Trappers and hunters, who occasionally arrive here from over the Rocky mountains, with their valuable skins and furs, are often entertained with every sort of amusement and dissipation, until they have wasted their time andContinue reading “RKS Literature: Monterey in the 1830’s”
