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Quote by Colson Whitehead

“There will be no redemption because the men who run this place do not want redemption. They want to be as near to hell as they can.”

Quote by Colson Whitehead

Book:The Intuitionist: A Novel

Work

The Intuitionist: A Novel

In 'The Intuitionist: A Novel,' the protagonist, Lila, navigates the complex world of intuitionism, a controversial approach to architecture that emphasizes instinct over logic. The story unfolds as Lila challenges the established norms and engages in a fierce debate with her rival, a proponent of the logical method. This thought-provoking novel examines the nature of creativity, the role of intuition, and the impact of personal beliefs on professional judgment. more

Author

Colson Whitehead

Colson Whitehead is an American novelist known for his distinctive literary style and profound insights into historical themes. His works cover a range of topics from slavery to modern urban life, with his 'New York Trilogy' and 'The Underground Railroad' being particularly notable. more

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“I can't blame modern technology for my predilection for distraction, not after all the hours I've spent watching lost balloons disappear into the clouds. I did it before the Internet, and I'll do it after the apocalypse, assuming we still have helium and weak-gripped children.”

Children Stills I Can Lost Hours Technology Modern Internet Weak Blame Assuming Clouds Disappear Distraction Apocalypse Balloons Modern Technology Helium

Author:Colson Whitehead

“Talking about New York is a way of talking about the world.”

World Way Talking New York Way Of Talking

Book:The Colossus of New York

Source: The Colossus of New York

“To put off the inevitable, we try to fix the city in place, remember it as it was, doing to the city what we would never allow to be done to ourselves. . . . New York City does not hold our former selves against us. Perhaps we can extend the same courtesy.”

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Author:Colson Whitehead

“You are a New Yorker when what was there before is more real and solid than what is here now.”

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Book:The Colossus of New York

Source: The Colossus of New York

“Don’t go searching for a subject, let your subject find you. You can’t rush inspiration. … Once your subject finds you, it’s like falling in love. It will be your constant companion. Shadowing you, peeping in your windows, calling you at all hours to leave messages like, Only you understand me.”

Inspiration Fall Hours Subjects Calling Messages Window Constant Falling In Love Companion Leaving Me Understand Me Peeping

Author:Colson Whitehead

“Most literary critics agree that fiction cannot be reduced to mere falsehood. Well-crafted protagonists come to life, pornography causes orgasms, and the pretense that life is what we want it to be may conceivably bring about the desired condition. Hence religious parables, socialist realism, Nazi propaganda. And if this story likewise crawls with reactionary supernaturalism, that might be because its author longs to see letters scuttling across ceilings, cautiously beginning to reify themselves into angels. For if they could only do that, then why not us?”

Source: Europe Central

“The only way to know whats possible is to venture past impossible.”

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Author:Mary Gaitskill

“But now all the natural secrets have been exposed, and it is likely that the turtles have been sold to laboratory scientists who want to remove their shells so that they can wire electrodes to the turtles' skin in order to monitor their increasing terror at the loss of their shells.”

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“Somebody once said to me if you want to be understood, don't write fiction.”

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“Tragedy was foresworn, in ritual denial of the ripe knowledge that we are drawing away from one another, that we share only one thing, share the fear of belonging to another, or to others, or to God; love or money, tender equated in advertising and the world, where only money is currency, and under dead trees and brittle ornaments prehensile hands exchange forgeries of what the heart dare not surrender.”

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Book:The Recognitions: A Novel

Source: The Recognitions: A Novel