RKS Literature: The Death of a Lying and Comfort Loving Europe (Albert Camus)

“Let us rejoice, indeed, at having witnessed the death of a lying and comfortable Europe and being faced by cruel truths. Let us rejoice as men because a prolonged hoax has collapsed and we see clearly what threatens us.” Albert Camus, “Create Dangerously”, 1957.

RKS Literature: The Justification of a Writer (Albert Camus)

“We must know that we can never escape the common misery and that our only justification, if indeed there is any justification, is to speak up, insofar as we can, for those who cannot do so. But we must do so for all those that are suffering at the moment, whatever may be the glories,Continue reading “RKS Literature: The Justification of a Writer (Albert Camus)”

RKS Poetry Anthology (All We Get Are The Coffee Grinds): “Cheap eats”

Cheap eats Bill and Mona went to McDonalds for the all-American meal Disguised hamburger with cereal Hamburgers and shakes It weren’t but minutes later until Bill was seized with the quakes And Mona began to groana Apparently the deal on Big Meal Had their stomachs screaming for an appeal for the inhuman squeal The painContinue reading “RKS Poetry Anthology (All We Get Are The Coffee Grinds): “Cheap eats””

RKS Literature: What Can Art Speak of? (Albert Camus)

“Of what could art speak, indeed? If it adapts itself to what the majority of our society wants, art will be meaningless recreation. If it blindly rejects that society, if the artist makes up his mind to take refuge in his dream, art will express nothing but a negation. In this way we shall haveContinue reading “RKS Literature: What Can Art Speak of? (Albert Camus)”

RKS Literature: The Wretched Condition of the Masses (Albert Camus)

“The questioning of art by the artist has many reasons, and only the loftiest need be considered. Amongst the best explanations is the feeling the contemporary artist has of lying or of indulging in useless words if he pays no attention to history’s woes. What characterizes our time, indeed, is the way masses and theirContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Wretched Condition of the Masses (Albert Camus)”

RKS Literature: On the Abyss: Murder and Suicide (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)

“They say that people standing on a height are drawn downwards, as it were, on their own accord, to the abyss. I think that a lot of suicides and murders have been committed merely because the revolver was already in hand. There’s an abyss here as well, there’s a forty-five-degree slope down which you can’tContinue reading “RKS Literature: On the Abyss: Murder and Suicide (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)”

RKS Literature: Parisian Backstabbers: “The Atheist’s Mass” (Honoré de Balzac)

“In Paris, when certain people see you ready to put your foot in the stirrup, some of them pull you back by the coattail, others loosen the buckle of the saddle-girth so that you’ll fall and break your head; this one takes the shoes of your horse, that one steals your whip. The least treacherousContinue reading “RKS Literature: Parisian Backstabbers: “The Atheist’s Mass” (Honoré de Balzac)”

RKS Literature: Desperate Poverty and Great Talent: “The Atheist’s Mass” (Honoré de Balzac)

“There this poor young man experienced that desperate poverty which is a kind of melting-pot whence great talents emerge pure and incorruptible, just as diamonds can be subjected to any kind of shock without breaking. In the violence of unleashed passions, they acquire the most unshakeable honesty, and by dint of the constant labour withContinue reading “RKS Literature: Desperate Poverty and Great Talent: “The Atheist’s Mass” (Honoré de Balzac)”

RKS Literature: “Trimalchio’s Feast”: Circumcision and Snoring in Ancient Rome (Petronious)

“He’s never had any real training. I just had him taught by sending him along to peddlers on the street corner. There’s no one equal to him if he wants to imitate mule-drivers or hawkers. He’s terribly clever, really. He’s a cobbler, a cook, a confectioner-a man that can turn his head to anything. ButContinue reading “RKS Literature: “Trimalchio’s Feast”: Circumcision and Snoring in Ancient Rome (Petronious)”

RKS Literature: The Torment of Holding Yourself In: “Trimalchio’s Feast” (Petronious)

“Excuse me, dear people, my inside has not been answering the call for several days now. The doctors are puzzled. But some pomegranate rind in water and resin in vinegar has dome me good. But I hope now it will be back in good behaviour. Otherwise my stomach rumbles like a bull. So if anyContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Torment of Holding Yourself In: “Trimalchio’s Feast” (Petronious)”