Word: vodka
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Russian, flow steadily and unendingly through Limonov's rocky prose. These have been translated with a singular lack of inspiration into either "fuck" or "shit," and serve rather to dull one's sensibilities than to shock them. Likewise, Eddie's staggering feats of drinking become banal with repetition. Thankfully, vodka does not interfere with the lucidity of either his narration or his pain. Although he describes his own unhappiness and self-degradation with the same unsentimental gusto he might use on approaching a pot of hearty Russian cabbage soup, he never lets his explication of these problems degenerate into...
...when she said, "Whatever happens, we've got to play the game." But then, French Communists are adept at using bourgeois ways for their own ends. Commercialism at the fair gushed from 450 concession stands, hawking everything from television sets and encyclopedias to mussels and, of course, Russian vodka. Juxtaposed against such enterprising capitalism were signs and banners proclaiming WE ARE LEADING THE ANTIRACIST STRUGGLE and STOP YANKEE INTERVENTION IN CENTRAL AMERICA...
...Soviet woman who is freezing in her new apartment discovers that shreds from a quilted workman's jacket and some cigarette butts have been stuffed into the walls instead of insulation. A laborer falls from scaffolding because someone has, in exchange for a bottle of vodka, sold the wooden planks that he should be standing on and replaced them with rotting boards. A drunkard who is supposed to be demoted for causing an uproar in the factory holds on to his job because the boss fears he might walk out and leave the place understaffed...
...rules, workers who are away from their jobs without a good excuse will lose a day of vacation for each day they play hooky. If they miss more than three hours of work, it will be treated as a full day's absence. The penalties for overindulging in vodka are just as harsh. Anyone found drunk on the job may be summarily fired and will have to pay for damaged goods or lost production. Describing the new decrees, the party daily Pravda blamed not only workers but also managers who did not "set an example of discipline, proper organization...
...keep a secret, if two of them are dead"; "The used key is always bright." Emerson thought proverbs "the sanctuary of the intuitions." Tolstoy's knowledge of common tradition led him to an encyclopedia of wisdom. Eastern European sayings have always assumed the clarity and force of vodka: "Where the needle goes, the thread follows"; "The devil pours honey into other men's wives"; "The Russian has three strong principles: perhaps, somehow and never mind." In the epoch of the Romanoffs, wisdom was the only thing that was shared equally. Cossacks who conducted pogroms and victims...