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Quote by Paul Auster

“There are certain phrases in books of mine, and I don't know where they came from, or how I was capable of thinking up these formulations. It's only in the heat of composition that these things occur to you.”

Quote by Paul Auster

Author

Paul Auster is an American author known for his unique narrative style and philosophical reflections. His works often explore themes of identity, memory, and reality, and have won him a wide audience. more

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“I sometimes feel that my goal as a novelist would be to write a novel in which the language was so transparent that the reader would forget that language was the medium of understanding. Of course that's not possible, but it's some sort of idealized goal.”

Feels Writing Sometimes Would Be Courses Language Understanding Goal Forget Novel Reader Mediums Novelists Transparent

Author:Paul Auster

“My characters, I find them as I'm writing. It's quite incredible how fully realized they are in my mind, how many details I know about each of them.”

Knows Writing Mind Character Incredibles Details

Book:Conversations with Paul Auster

Source: Conversations with Paul Auster

“I don't think about the stories so much, as the characters themselves. They live on, and they are almost as real as I am.”

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Author:Paul Auster

“I was very moved to see that the name of the boat was Hamlet - an imaginary character becomes so important to people, we think about them so much that we name a ship after them. The imaginary lives on in the real.”

People Thinking Important Real Character Names Moved Ships Boat Imaginary Imaginary Life

Author:Paul Auster

“In my books, there are a lot of people stuck in rooms. Or, conversely, out in the wide open. It seems that, in a funny way, when people are cooped up in rooms they are freer than when they are wandering about in the world.”

People World Way Book Seems Rooms Wide Stuck Wander

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“Cities - I'm attracted to them, and I have a special attachment to New York...it's my place.”

Cities Special New York Attachment

Author:Paul Auster

“In my life, I've lived in very different kinds of places - very tiny rooms when I was young. And you do learn to cope with it. The funny thing is, as you begin to inhabit larger places, it's very interesting how quickly you adapt to your space. What seems enormous at first becomes natural after a few weeks.”

Firsts Kind Different Seems Young Natural Space Interesting Rooms Week Tiny Enormous Different Kinds Very Interesting Funny Things

Author:Paul Auster

“Brooklyn has a bit of everything - some of the most beautiful things in America, and some of the most wretched, ugly, impoverished things.”

America Beautiful Bits Ugly Beautiful Things Wretched Brooklyn

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“I've written books that have taken me fifteen years, from first sentence to last, and some that only take three or four months.”

Years Firsts Book Lasts Three Taken Four Written Months Sentences Fifteen Fifteen Years

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“After something crystallizes, I can write ferociously and write novels in six months, which in the past would have taken me two years.”

Writing Years I Can Two Past Novel Taken Months Six Two Years Six Months

Book:Conversations with Paul Auster

Source: Conversations with Paul Auster