Tag Archives: RKS literature

RKS Literature: The Kiss of Death (Yukio Mishima)

“For Ryuji the kiss was death, the very death in love he always dreamed of. The softness of her lips, her mouth so crimson in the darkness he could see it with closed eyes, so infinitely moist, a tepid coral sea, her restless tongue quivering like seagrass….in the dark rapture of all this was somethingContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Kiss of Death (Yukio Mishima)”

RKS Literature: The Concept of Ideal Love (Yukio Mishima)

“Nor had he mentioned his concept of ideal love: a man encounters the perfect woman only once in a lifetime and in every case death interposes-an unseen Pandarus-and lures them into the preordained embrace. This fantasy was probably a product of the hyperbole of popular songs. But over the years it had taken on substanceContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Concept of Ideal Love (Yukio Mishima)”

RKS Literature: Of What Use Are Children’s Playthings (Vonnegut)

“As anyone who has experimented extensively with life in the home and community, using real people in true-life situations, I doubt that any playthings could prepare a child for one millionth of what is going to hit him in the teeth, ready or not.” Kurt Vonnegut Jr., “Mother Night”, 1961

RKS Literature: Schizophrenia a Boon to Mankind (Vonnegut)

“The experience of sitting there in the dark, hearing the things I said, didn’t shock me. It might be helpful in my defence to say that I broke into a cold sweat, or some such nonsense. But I’ve always known what I did. I’ve always been able to live with what I did. How? ThroughContinue reading “RKS Literature: Schizophrenia a Boon to Mankind (Vonnegut)”

RKS Literature: The World Will Never Be White Again (James Baldwin)

“One of the things that distinguishes Americans from other people is that no other people have ever been so deeply involved in the lives of black men, and vice versa. This fact faced, with all its implications, it can be seen that the history of the American Negro problem is not merely shameful, it isContinue reading “RKS Literature: The World Will Never Be White Again (James Baldwin)”

RKS Literature: Playing the Poverty Game in Paris (James Baldwin)

“In those days in Paris, though I floated, so to speak, on a sea of acquaintances. I knew almost no one. Many people were eliminated from my orbit by virtue of the fact that they had more money than I did which placed me, in my own eyes, in the humiliating role of a freeContinue reading “RKS Literature: Playing the Poverty Game in Paris (James Baldwin)”

RKS Literature: Playing the Poverty Game in Paris (James Baldwin)

“In those days in Paris, though I floated, so to speak, on a sea of acquaintances. I knew almost no one. Many people were eliminated from my orbit by virtue of the fact that they had more money than I did which placed me, in my own eyes, in the humiliating role of a freeContinue reading “RKS Literature: Playing the Poverty Game in Paris (James Baldwin)”

RKS Literature: The American Bohemian in Paris (James Baldwin)

“They are charmed by the reflection that Paris is more than a thousand years old, but it escapes them that the Parisian has been in the making just about that long, and does not, therefore, become Parisian by a Parisian address. This little band of bohemians, as grimly single-minded as any evangelical sect, illustrate, byContinue reading “RKS Literature: The American Bohemian in Paris (James Baldwin)”

RKS Literature: The Splendid Parisian Air (James Baldwin)

“…it is perfectly possible to be enamoured of Paris while remaining totally indifferent, or even hostile to the French. And this is made possible by the one person in Paris whom the legend seems least not to affect, who is not living it all, that is, the Parisian himself. Him with his impenetrable politesse, andContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Splendid Parisian Air (James Baldwin)”

RKS Literature: A Furious and Bewildered Rage in America (James Baldwin)

“I am not one of the people who believe that oppression imbues a people with wisdom or insight or sweet charity: though the survival of the Negro in this country would simply not have been possible if this bitterness had been all that he felt. In America life seems to move faster than anywhere elseContinue reading “RKS Literature: A Furious and Bewildered Rage in America (James Baldwin)”