Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by John Irving

Quote by John Irving

“When (The World According To) Garp was published, people who’d lost children wrote to me. ‘’I lost one, too,’’ they told me. I confessed to them that I hadn’t lost any children. I’m just a father with a good imagination. In my imagination, I lose my children every day. (afterword)”

Quote by John Irving

Book:The world according to Garp
Create image

Work

The world according to Garp

In this acclaimed novel, the narrative weaves together the personal and the historical, chronicling the life of T.S. Garp, a complex and intriguing figure who navigates the complexities of life and relationships. The story delves into the author's exploration of various themes, including the nature of storytelling and the impact of personal experiences on one's identity. more

Author

John Irving
John Irving

John Irving is an American novelist known for his intricate narrative structures and profound character development. His works often explore themes of family, love, morality, and identity, enjoying great popularity among readers. more

You May Also Like

“The seeming nation, unified for centuries, was a stew of uncoordinated principalities, towns, villages, 'pseudo-feudal tribal economic units', a sprawl and splatter of vigorous, competent, quarrelsome individualities over which a grid of authority was insecurely and lightly laid. Nothing, I thought, could ever unite Karhide as a nation. Total diffusion of rapid communication devices, which is supposed to bring about nationalism almost inevitably, had not done so.”

PoliticsSocietyNationalismNationSeparatism
Book:The Left Hand of Darkness
Create image

“They (orcas) certainly display extraordinary levels of social support, including babysitting for each other's calves and caring for disabled individuals. Giles told me of a male orca from a transient mammal-eating pod, outside of the southern residents that has scolioses, yet is a thriving member of his family. 'They bring him food' she told me. 'It's hard for him to keep up with them, bur they loop back and bring him chunks of seal or whatever it is they've just killed. In a lot of human cultures they would leave that individual behind.' I can't help but think about how many of our human leaders would benefit from a paralimbic lobe transplant - to become more like these wise and compassionate matriarchs, with their unfathomable emotions and supportive, socially inclusive society.”

SocietySocialismDisabilityOrcasBetter Humans
Book:Bitch: On the Female of the Species
Create image

“There was a story often told. Perhaps you’ve heard this one. Don’t stop me if you have, though, ha ha (I dearly love to tell it): Little boy’s grousing: doesn’t like cars. Because of “the pollution,” you know where this one’s going, I bet. The father pulls the car over to the side of the road. “Then I suppose you’ll want to walk.” End of objections from el kiddo. Your choice, Jacques. Dying in the back of a horse cart stuck in the mud? Or zinging toward help, air-con blasting? Anyone with a lick of sense would choose the latter. We had. The world had. That was what was so damn stupid about it. People forgot the empty larder. Forgot drought, forgot famine. Forgot what it was like to be at the mercy of the world. The Nesbitts’d brought over a charity basket. During that lean period. After the hay burned up, the little feeder stream went dry, Bremer refused to re-up their loan. You best believe I was drooling. Father shot me a look. Move the slightest muscle toward that basket, my young swain, his eyes were saying, you’ll find yourself bunking down in the barn with the heifers. The bread in that basket was rock-hard and the bacon stringy and the apples home to more than a few worms. But to us it was a feast. Whereas nowadays folks padded past climate-controlled cases of out-of-season vegetables and fish from faraway seas and meat from animals who fed in meadows under mountain ranges whose names a person could hardly pronounce, thinking, Yap, yap, yap, big deal, pork from Denmark, salmon from the Bering Strait, loaves of woven bread from Ferrara, all of this is my right. When what it was, was a goddamn miracle.”

Society
Book:Vigil
Create image