“I don't like the word 'allegorical', I don't like the word 'symbolic' - the word I really like is 'mythic', and people always think that means 'full of lies', whereas of course what it really means is 'full of truth which cannot be told in any other way but a story'.” StoriesTruthLiesWordsMythic Author:William Golding
“I am not a theologian or a philosopher. I am a story teller.” StoriesPhilosopherTheologian Author:William Golding
“I wouldn't have thought that the techniques of story-telling, which is what the novel is after all, can vary much because there are two things involved.There's a story and there's a listener, whose attention you have to keep. Now the only way in which you can keep a reader's attention to a story is in his wanting to know what is going to happen next. This puts a fairly close restriction on the method you must use.” KnowsWayTwoStoriesUseHappensNextAttentionNovelReaderInvolvedMethodTechniqueTwo ThingsListenersRestrictionVary Author:William Golding
“When you take a child who's hollering like hell, sit him on your knee, and say "once upon a time", you stop him hollering. As long as you go on telling him a story, he will listen. Novelists who neglect this fundamental effect do so at their peril. They become what is known as the experimental novelist, and an experimental novel is not really a novel at all.” ChildrenLongStoriesKnownNovelHellEffectsGoes OnFundamentalsKneesNovelistsNeglectPerilOnce Upon A Time Author:William Golding
“Experimental novels are sometimes terribly clever and very seldom read. But the story that appeals to the child sitting on your knee is the one that satisfies the curiosity we all have about what happened then, and then, and then. This is the final restriction put on the technique of telling a story. A basic thing called story is built into the human condition. It's what we are; it's something to which we react.” HumansChildrenSometimesStoriesNovelHappenedConditionsSittingBuiltFinalsCuriosityTechniqueCleverAppealsKneesHuman ConditionRestrictionBasic Things Author:William Golding
“Even if you got rid of paper, you would still have story-tellers. In fact, you had the story-tellers before you had the paper.” IfsStillsFactsStoriesPaper Author:William Golding
