“I think the novel is the American form because people read it in private, and the only valuable things that happen in America happen in private life, because public life is a dead loss.” PeopleThinkingHappensAmericaFormLife IsLossNovelValuablePrivate LifePublic LifeValuable Things Author:David Hare
“I think, on both sides of the camera or the novel: Distraction. I'm obsessed with: Can I get this actress or my third act to work? I'm distracted. I'm interested in that so I don't sit home and think, "Gee, life is meaningless. We're all going to die. The universe is pulling apart at breakneck speed."” ThinkingHomeLife IsDiesUniverseSidesNovelThirdsCamerasSpeedActressesObsessedDistractionMeaninglessPullingBoth SidesDistracted Author:Woody Allen
“I think the novel is essentially a comic form (tragedy is for the theatre), not meaning by that full of jokes, but that it is about the absurd detail of human life, the way in which one cannot fully understand what is happening. Life is muddle and jumble and ends inconclusively, and when this is presented with great comic art the sorrows of human life can be truthfully conveyed; one is moved by the spectacle, and feels that something truthful has been told in a magic way.” ThinkingWayFeelsHumansHas BeensArtEndsFormLife IsNovelMagicSorrowHappeningsJokesTragedyMovedDetailsTheatreAbsurdComicHuman LifeTruthfulBeing TruthfulMuddleComic Art Author:Iris Murdoch
“More often than not, real life is so rich, complex and unpredictable that it would seem completely implausible in the pages of a novel.” RealSeemsLife IsNovelRichPagesComplexesReal LifeUnpredictable Author:Candice Millard
“The object is very clear in the fight against racism; you have reasons why you're opposed to it. But when you're writing a novel, you don't want the reader to come out of it voting yes or no to some question. Life is more complicated than that.” WantWritingReasonLife IsFightingNovelClearObjectsReaderRacismComplicatedReason WhyVotingYes Or NoAgainst Racism Author:Margaret Atwood
“I think that setting a novel in a small town taps into a sense of nostalgia among readers. People tend to believe life is different in small towns, and frankly, it is different.” PeopleThinkingBelieveDifferentLife IsNovelReaderTownsNostalgiaSettingSettingsSmall Town Author:Nicholas Sparks
“Despite the war, and bombings, and all the big things that happen to us, the stuff of our lives is small and always will be. During a war it is different, but even then, it is perfectly possible to write novels during a major war, which are about those thing which endure. It is what makes us human and the thing which is going to keep going.” WritingHumansDifferentWarBigsHappensLife IsStuffNovelOur LivesMajorsEndureDespiteKeep GoingBig ThingsBombing Author:Robert Dessaix
“Our life is a book that writes itself and whose principal themes sometimes escape us. We are like characters in a novel who do not always understand what the author wants of them.” WantWritingBookSometimesCharacterLife IsNovelOur LivesThemePrincipal Book:Diary, 1928-1957 Source: Diary, 1928-1957
“Almost any tale of our doings is comic. We are bottomlessly comic to each other. Even the most adored and beloved person is comic to his lover. The novel is a comic form. Language is a comic form, and makes jokes in its sleep. God, if He existed, would laugh at His creation. Yet it is also the case that life is horrible, without metaphysical sense, wrecked by chance, pain and the close prospect of death. Out of this is born irony, our dangerous and necessary tool.” IfsPersonsPainFormLife IsLanguageBornChanceSleepCasesNovelLaughingDangerousCreationLoversJokesToolsHorribleTalesComicIronyBelovedMetaphysicalDoingsBeloved Person Book:The Black Prince Source: The Black Prince
“The older books were quite light-hearted. But I think most of my novels do end on a deep note of pessimism. Shadows seem to be closing in. The final conclusion isn't that life is wonderful and everything is bright and cheery and in the garden.” ThinkingBookEndsLightSeemsLife IsNovelWonderfulShadowGardenNotesFinalsConclusionPessimismClosingHeartedLight HeartedLife Is Wonderful Author:Ruth Prawer Jhabvala