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Quote by Graham Swift

Work

Waterland

In Waterland, the reader is transported to an era defined by social customs and personal struggles. The story delves into the lives of characters who navigate the challenges of their time, intertwining their fates in a tapestry of romance and betrayal. more

Author

Graham Swift
Graham Swift

Graham Swift is a renowned British screenwriter known for his profound psychological portrayals and unique narrative style. His works often delve into the relationship between personal memory and history, as well as profound insights into modern society. more

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“Realism; fatalism; phlegm. To live in the Fens is to receive strong doses of reality. The great flat monotony of reality; the wide empty space of reality. Melancholia and self-murder are not unknown in the Fens. Heavy drinking, madness and sudden acts of violence are not uncommon. How do you surmount reality, children? How do you acquire, in a flat country, the tonic of elevated feelings?”

ChildrenSelfCountryFeelingsRealityStrongSpaceViolenceEmptyMadnessMurderDrinkingHeavyWideAcquireFlatsRealismDoseUncommonEmpty SpaceMonotonyActs Of ViolenceFatalismHeavy DrinkingDose Of Reality
Book:Waterland
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“There’s this thing called progress. But it doesn’t progress. It doesn’t go anywhere. Because as progress progresses the world can slip away. It’s progress if you can stop the world slipping away. My humble model for progress I the reclamation of land. Which is repeatedly, never-ending retrieving what it lost. A dogged and vigilant business. A dull yet valuable business. A hard, inglorious business. But you shouldn’t go mistaking the reclamation of land for the building of empires.”

IfsWorldHardLostProgressLandBuildingModelsHumbleValuableDullEmpiresSlipsNever EndingSlippingVigilantSlipping AwayReclamation
Author:Graham Swift
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“Structure that really pays off is all based on emotion. I don't write down an elaborate plan. It's really done by feel. It's one area of my writing that I think I've got surer at as I've evolved. In my work you often get an abrupt shift in time, a jolt. But the emotional logic will take the reader on. I hope. I trust. After all, our memories do not work with any sequential logic.”

ThinkingFeelsWritingDoneMemoriesPayEmotionPlansEmotionalReaderAreasLogicStructureOur Memories
Author:Graham Swift
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