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Colum McCann

Colum McCann Quotes

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Famous Colum McCann Quotes

“It's strange but as I grow older, I find myself developing more optimism. I keep inching toward the point where I believe that it's more difficult to have hope than it is to embrace cynicism. In the deep dark end, there's no point unless we have at least a modicum of hope. We trawl our way through the darkness hoping to find a pinpoint of light. But isn't it remarkable that the cynics of this world—the politicians, the corporations, the squinty-eyed critics—seem to think that they have a claim on intelligence? They seem to think that it's cooler, more intellectually engaging, to be miserable, that there's some sort of moral heft in cynicism. But I think a good novel can be a doorstop to despair. I also think the real bravery comes with those who are prepared to go through that door and look at the world in all its grime and torment, and still find something of value, no matter how small.”

NovelOptimismCynicism
Book:Let The Great World Spin
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“Whenever summer rolls around I begin to realize that I'm a complete and utter book snob. In relation to reading, I have absolutely no guilty pleasures at all. No graphic novels. No murder mysteries. My summer read is really no different from my winter read. I know many bookshops and magazines would have me believe that our summer forays are different, but literature is literature, and unfortunately snobbery is snobbery.”

KnowsBelieveBookDifferentReadingLiteratureRealizingPleasureNovelMysterySummerRelationMurderWinterGuiltyMagazinesGraphicSnobSnobberyGraphic NovelsBookshopsGuilty PleasureMurder Mysteries
Author:Colum McCann
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“I love short stories. They're like small imploding universes. They are very tightly bound and controlled. I'd been wanting to write one for ages but just got tangled up in novels. The novel is the same in the sense that it is also a universe, but it explodes outwards with all that shrapnel going in several different directions. I don't see too much difference in the forms except for the fact that writing short stories is like sprinting rather than long-distance running.”

WritingLongDifferentFactsStoriesRunningAgeFormUniverseDifferencesNovelToo MuchDistanceBoundsControlledShort StoryLong DistanceTangledDifferent DirectionsShort LoveDistance RunningWriting ShortWriting Short StoriesLong Distance Running
Author:Colum McCann
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