RKS Literature: The Cancer Patient in the Hospital a Grain of Sand (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)

“You, see, you start from a completely false position. No sooner does a patient come to you than you begin to do all his thinking for him. After that, the thinking’s done by your standing orders, your five-minute conferences, your program, your plan and the honor of your medical department. And once again I becomeContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Cancer Patient in the Hospital a Grain of Sand (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)”

RKS Literature: Physicians are of the Highest Order (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)

“The sternest and most solemn of all was that of the nurse Olympiada Vladislanova. For her the morning rounds were like a divine service for a deacon. She was a nurse for whom the doctors were of a higher order. She knew that doctors understood everything, never made mistakes and never gave wrong instructions. SheContinue reading “RKS Literature: Physicians are of the Highest Order (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)”

RKS Literature: Crossing the Threshold of Death While Still Living (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)

“This autumn I Iearned from experience that a man can cross the threshold of death even when his body is still not dead. Your blood still circulates and your stomach digests, while you yourself have gone through the whole psychological preparation for death-and lived through death itself. Everything around you, you see as if inContinue reading “RKS Literature: Crossing the Threshold of Death While Still Living (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)”

RKS Literature:  Party Bigwig Pavel Nikolayevich’s Neck Tumour and Forced Equality of The Cancer Ward (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)

“The hard lump of his tumor-unexpected, meaningless and quite without use-had dragged him like a fish on a hook and had flung him into this iron bed-a narrow, mean bed, with creaking springs and an apology for a mattress. Having once undressed under the stairs, said good-bye to this family and come up to theContinue reading “RKS Literature:  Party Bigwig Pavel Nikolayevich’s Neck Tumour and Forced Equality of The Cancer Ward (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)”

RKS Literature: The Boss Man and Thievery at the Gulag (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)

“What the boss man doles out is all you will get. Only you won’t get even that, what with the cooks and their stoolies and trusties. There’s thieving on the site, there’s thieving in the camp, and there was thieving before the food ever left the store.” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, “One Day in the Life ofContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Boss Man and Thievery at the Gulag (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)”

RKS Literature: Thoughts of a Convict (Aleksander Solzhenitsyn)

“A convict’s thoughts are no freer than he is: they come back to the same place, worry over the same thing continually. Will they poke around in my mattress and find my bread ration? Can I get off work if I report sick tonight. Will the captain be put in the hole, or won’t he?Continue reading “RKS Literature: Thoughts of a Convict (Aleksander Solzhenitsyn)”

RKS Literature: In the Mood of Money (Kurt Vonnegut)

“Quinn sat down in the booth next to the bandmaster. He was a bachelor, a small, dark, humorless man. He wasn’t a well man. He couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t stop working, he couldn’t smile warmly. He had only two moods: one suspicious and self-pitying, the other arrogant and boastful. The first mood applied when heContinue reading “RKS Literature: In the Mood of Money (Kurt Vonnegut)”

RKS Literature: Beauty and Restless Beagles (Kurt Vonnegut)

“Susanna’s feathery hair and saucer eyes were as black as midnight. Her skin was the color of cream. Her hips were like a lyre, and her bosom made men dream of peace and plenty for ever and ever. She wore barbaric golden hoops on her shell pink ears, and around her ankles were chains withContinue reading “RKS Literature: Beauty and Restless Beagles (Kurt Vonnegut)”

RKS Literature: Brain Control in the Name of Equality (Kurt Vonnegut)

“Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn’t think about anything except in short bursts, and George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a government transmitter. Every twentyContinue reading “RKS Literature: Brain Control in the Name of Equality (Kurt Vonnegut)”

RKS Literature: Finally Equality in the United States in 2081 (Kurt Vonnegut)

“The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren’t only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anyone else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anyone else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th and 213th Amendments to the Constitution and toContinue reading “RKS Literature: Finally Equality in the United States in 2081 (Kurt Vonnegut)”