“The Anglo-American tradition is much more linear than the European tradition. If you think about writers like Borges, Calvino, Perec or Marquez, they're not bound in the same sort of way. They don't come out of the classic 19th-century novel, which is where all the problems start. 19th-century novels are fabulous and we should all read them, but we shouldn't write them.” IfsThinkingWayShouldWritingProblemNovelCenturyTraditionBoundsClassicFabulous19th CenturyLinearBorgesAmerican TraditionMarquez Author:Jeanette Winterson
“Historically the belief in heaven and the belief in utopia are like compensatory buckets in a well: when one goes down the other comes up. When the classic religions decayed, communistic agitation rose in Athens (430 B.C.), and revolution began in Rome (133 B.C.); when these movements failed, resurrection faiths succeeded, culminating in Christianity; when, in our eighteenth century, Christian belief weakened, communism reappeared. In this perspective the future of religion is secure.” WellsChristianReligionBeliefHeavenChristianityCenturyMovementRevolutionPerspectiveRoseCome UpSecureCommunismClassicRomeResurrectionUtopiaBucketsAgitationAthens Author:Will Durant
“Like any classic you hope to get rid of all the varnish that's built up over the centuries where people expect it to be in a certain way. It's a mighty play. It's about a very old king who also happens to be a very old father, so you've got the state and the domestic levels in there together. It's a story in extremis. Everyone knows the end, there's only two people left alive.” PeopleKnowsWayTwoEndsStatesPlayStoriesHappensTogetherCertainFatherLeftLevelsAliveCenturyKingsBuiltClassic Author:Geoffrey Rush
“One of the regrets of my life is that I did not study Latin. I'm absolutely convinced, the more I understand these eighteenth-century people, that it was that grounding in Greek and Latin that gave them their sense of the classic virtues: the classic ideals of honor, virtue, the good society, and their historic examples of what they could try to live up to.” PeopleTryingLife IsVirtueStudyCenturyExampleRegretHonorIdealsConvincedGreekClassicLatinHistoricGrounding Author:David McCullough
“The instant you say All Quiet On The Western Front people remember that great 20th century classic book on war, a book about a school boy turned into a soldier overnight.” PeopleBookWarSchoolRememberBoysCenturyFrontsQuietWesternSoldierClassicInstant20th CenturyClassic Book Author:Ann Widdecombe