“We can't write a serious novel in the 21st century without acknowledging the inescapable self-awareness we're stuck with. The idea we're surrounded by falsehoods and lies. It's hard for the thinking person to believe in narratives. And yet we want some place to invest our belief.” ThinkingWantWritingBelievePersonsIdeasSelfHardLyingBeliefNovelCenturyAwarenessSeriousSelf AwarenessStuckNarrativeFalsehood21st CenturyThinking Person Author:Michael Helm
“I'm not even sure if empathy is an act, it could be a disposition.” IfsEmpathyDisposition Author:Michael Helm
“I do work a lot. I mean, most of my income, I would say, comes from live performances. And then you've got publishing, you've got record royalties.” MeanRecordsPerformancesIncomePublishingRoyaltyLive Performance Author:Elton John
“I like a great degree of compression. I like to mix lateral steps with forward ones. I don't want the prose ever to feel simply functional - at least not for any stretch.” WantFeelsStepsDegreesProseCompression Author:Michael Helm
“The novel's not the best form for disposing ideas, though that's one thing it can do. It likely is the best form, though, for conveying the experience of us each being alone, trapped in our skulls with only these bodies and this imperfect instrument of language to convey our state and to find meaning and connection.” IdeasStatesBodyFormLanguageCan DoNovelOne ThingConnectionsInstrumentsImperfectTrappedFind MeSkullsConveying Author:Michael Helm
“Novels seem to exist because of this need to know and connect, and so story becomes charged with necessity.” KnowsNeedsStoriesSeemsNovel Author:Michael Helm
“You can save the city, but having the city be in jeopardy is one thing and having the people you care about be in jeopardy is another.” PeopleCareCitiesOne ThingJeopardy Author:Marc Guggenheim
“Time has a certain current to it, and it wants to flow in a certain direction.” WantCertainFlowCurrents Author:Marc Guggenheim
“The attitude of the Catholic Church towards homosexuality is well known - it is treated as something unnatural, even as a disease.” WellsChurchAttitudeKnownDiseaseCatholicTreatedHomosexualityWell KnownCatholic ChurchUnnatural Author:Malgorzata Szumowska
“Poland and my roots are very important for me. That's why I decided to make a feature film in Poland, and with only Polish money.” ImportantFilmRootsDecidedFeaturesPolishPoland Author:Malgorzata Szumowska