Robert K. Stephen – Page 6 – A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity

RKS Literature: Soaking up Cheap Wine in the Slums of Paris (George Orwell)

“There was R., an Englishman who lived six months of the year in Putney with his parents and six months in France. During his time in France he drank four litres of wine a day, and six litres on Saturday; he once had travelled to the Azores, because the wine there is cheaper than anywhereContinue reading “RKS Literature: Soaking up Cheap Wine in the Slums of Paris (George Orwell)”

RKS Wines Of Greece: Xinomavro a Most Difficult Grape Unless….

Xinomavro, a Greek red grape, is problematic. It can be highly tannic and grape quality aside, if not sufficiently aged, your mouth is in for a battle. For this reason, I largely avoid Xinomavro. Yet I have had the pleasure of Xinomavro aged some twenty years and it was remarkable. I was at the TorontoContinue reading “RKS Wines Of Greece: Xinomavro a Most Difficult Grape Unless….”

RKS Films of China: “The Butcher’s Blade”: Death, Redemption and Noodles in the Song Dynasty

Why so many Kung Fu films from China in North America? Surely there are more Chinese films of a non martial arts ilk deserving release in North America? Do I have to fly on Cathay Pacific to see them? But until and if that occurs enjoy “The Butcher’s Blade”. “The Butcher’s Blade” packs in plentyContinue reading “RKS Films of China: “The Butcher’s Blade”: Death, Redemption and Noodles in the Song Dynasty”

RKS Literature: Buying Pornographic Postcards in Paris? (George Orwell)

“There were the Rougiers, for instance, an old ragged, dwarfish couple who plied an extraordinary trade. They used to sell postcards on the Boulevard St. Michel. The curious thing is that the postcards were sold in sealed packets as pornographic ones, but were actually photographs of châteaux on the Loire; the buyers did not discoverContinue reading “RKS Literature: Buying Pornographic Postcards in Paris? (George Orwell)”

RKS Japanese Literature: The Merest Whiff of the West Makes Tomada Gag (Tanizaki Jun’Ichiro)

“I did everything I could to resist the voice. But I could do nothing about the fear that gripped me tighter with each day that passed. By now, every aspect of my life in the West revolted me. I shuddered every time I had to walk past a high-rise building or get in a liftContinue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: The Merest Whiff of the West Makes Tomada Gag (Tanizaki Jun’Ichiro)”

RKS Literature: The Less than Luxurious Hotel des Trois Moineaux in Paris (George Orwell)

“The walls were as thin as matchwood, and to hide the cracks they had been covered with layer after layer of pink paper, which had come loose and housed innumerable bugs. Near the ceiling long lines of bugs marched all day like columns of soldiers, and at night came down ravenously hungry, so that oneContinue reading “RKS Literature: The Less than Luxurious Hotel des Trois Moineaux in Paris (George Orwell)”

RKS Japanese Literature: Tomada’s Transformation into a Westerner (Tanizaki Jun’Ichiro)

‘I was Japanese no longer! I had been transformed into a Westerner! To get there (Japan) you’d have to travel down to Marseilles and board a ship for the Orient. Eastward and eastward you’d sail crossing the seas for six weeks or more until you’d finally reached a small island country called Japan, where theContinue reading “RKS Japanese Literature: Tomada’s Transformation into a Westerner (Tanizaki Jun’Ichiro)”

RKS Literature: A Representative Paris Slum (George Orwell)

“It was a very narrow street-a ravine of tall leprous houses. Lurching toward one another in queer attitudes, as though they had been frozen in the act of collapse. All the houses were hotels and packed to the tiles with lodgers, mostly Poles, Arabs and Italians. At the foot of the hotels were tiny bistrosContinue reading “RKS Literature: A Representative Paris Slum (George Orwell)”

RKS Literature: Pretty, Undefended and Natural Daisy Miller (Henry James)

“Winterbourne was not pleased with what he had heard: but when, coming out upon the great steps of the church, he saw Daisy, who had emerged before him, get into an open cab with her accomplice and roll away through the cynical streets of Rome, he could not deny himself that she was going veryContinue reading “RKS Literature: Pretty, Undefended and Natural Daisy Miller (Henry James)”