“You want a novel to tap as directly as possible into your most unspeakable preoccupations. And in America, in particular, cricket is pretty unspeakable.” WantAmericaNovelParticularCricketPreoccupationUnspeakable Author:Joseph O'Neill
“I'm always interested in the way people speak and move in their environment, in a very particular environment. I'm never interested in writing a kind of neutral, universal novel that could be set anywhere. To me, the any novel is a local thing always.” PeopleWayWritingKindMovingSpeakNovelEnvironmentParticularUniversalLocals Author:Zadie Smith
“My major preoccupation is the question, 'What is reality ?' Many of my stories and novels deal with psychotic states or drug-induced states by which I can present the concept of a multiverse rather than a universe. Music and sociology are themes in my novels, also radical political trends; in particular I've written about fascism and my fear of it.” I CanStatesStoriesRealityPoliticalUniverseDealsNovelWrittenParticularDrugMajorsConceptsRadicalThemeTrendsFascismSociologyPreoccupationPsychoticMultiverse Author:Philip K. Dick
“Jekyll and Hyde, in particular, is such an important novel in terms of suspense and setting a perfect scene for crime” ImportantTermPerfectNovelCrimeParticularSceneSettingSettingsSuspenseHydeJekyllJekyll And Hyde Author:Alanna Knight
“There are many things behind a good novel, but in particular there is a lot of work - a lot of patience, a lot of stubbornness, and a critical spirit.” SpiritBehindsNovelParticularCriticalStubbornnessCritical Spirit Author:Mario Vargas Llosa
“I'm superstitious about the paper that I use, for example. I've written all my novels on a paper of a particular size with lines of a particular distance apart and with two holes in the paper for the folder clip.” TwoUseLinesNovelWrittenExampleParticularPaperDistanceSizeHolesSuperstitiousClipFoldersDistance Apart Author:Philip Pullman
“I hope my novels will allow you to become lost in a world totally unlike the actual world we live in. I work hard to make the words evoke particular images, thoughts, feelings, the mystery of relationships.” WorldHardFeelingsLostNovelMysteryParticularHard WorkEvoke Author:Jay Neugeboren
“My novels are never truly finished, even if they're published and sitting on the shelf. While I may no longer be interested in spending time with that particular set of characters, I can't help but think about all the ways the book could be different, the small, insignificant tweaks that no one but me would ever notice.” IfsThinkingWayMayI CanBookDifferentCharacterHelpingNovelParticularSittingSpendingFinishedShelvesInsignificantSpending TimeTweak Author:Jillian Medoff
“The excitement of theatre is palpable but the frustrations, and the complete absence of a definitive evening - the play as text means practically nothing in a way - , there's no particular performance that is definitive in the way a novel is a solid object you hold in your hands and here it is. You can't say that about a play. If the novel gives us a sense of throbbing consciousness, theater is pure soul, beautiful and elusive.” IfsWayGivingMeanSoulPlayHandsBeautifulConsciousnessNovelObjectsParticularPurePerformancesTheaterTheatreAbsenceEveningExcitementFrustrationElusivePure Soul Author:Don DeLillo
“Books and novels in particular that grapple with quite a few things are difficult to explain, so I think that first line can come in a substitute for trying to form a longer sense of what the book is about.” ThinkingTryingFirstsBookFormDifficultLinesNovelParticularSubstitutes Author:Alice Sebold
“You, and in fact quite a lot of your generation, have in some way been exiled from that particular sanctuary. It's become almost impossible for someone to "go mad" in the classical sense. At one time people conveniently "went mad" and were never heard from again. Like a character in a romantic novel. But now you are too hip to yourself on a psychological level. You all are too intimate with too many of the symptoms of insanity to be caught completely off your guard.” PeopleWayCharacterFactsLevelsNovelImpossibleGenerationsHeardParticularMadCaughtPsychologicalHipsInsanityIntimateOne TimeSymptomsSanctuary Author:Ken Kesey
“I don't think any particular painters have inspired me, except in a general sense. It was more a matter of corroboration. The visual arts, from Manet onwards, seemed far more open to change and experiment than the novel, though that's only partly the fault of the writers. There's something about the novel that resists innovation.” ThinkingArtMatterNovelParticularInnovationFaultsInspiredExperimentsPainterVisualsVisual Art Author:J. G. Ballard
“For me, with any character, there are different ways that you approach understanding him, and in this film in particular, because I had the novel to refer to. It's always really helpful to have all of that information and all of those hundreds more words which give you an idea into the background and your character and all.” WayGivingIdeasDifferentCharacterFilmUnderstandingNovelInformationParticularApproachBackgroundsDifferent WaysHelpfulUnderstanding Him Author:Asa Butterfield
“If Fobbit leaves a reader feeling stranded in some bland in-between territory, then I haven't done my job. But having said all that, I didn't consciously write the book with a particular moral intent. I took what I experienced and processed it through the sausage factory of fiction. It's up to readers to interpret what's on the page - as is the case with any novel.” IfsWritingSaidBookDoneFeelingsJobsFictionMoralCasesNovelHavensParticularReaderPagesTerritoryFactoriesSausageBlandStranded Author:Dave Abrams
“Writing is a particular kind of frustration, which is why when I was making the structure for the novel I visualized it for myself with a color-coded board so I could see it.” WritingKindNovelParticularColorStructureBoardsFrustration Author:Rebecca Miller
“I know the Pollock novel. Read it last year and liked it. Daniel Woodrell is awesome. I especially like the book Winter's Bone, and the film made from it. Larry Brown is terrific, all his work, but for me Joe in particular, also a good film, but a much better novel.” KnowsYearsMadeBookLastsFilmNovelParticularWinterBonesBrownLast YearTerrificLarryGood FilmsPollock Author:Joe R. Lansdale
“We live in a sea of general ideas, so that's not a novel, since there are so many general ideas. But the moment a particular idea is linked to a character, it's like an engine moves it. Then you have a novel underway.” IdeasMomentsCharacterMovingNovelSeaParticularEnginesLinked Author:Chinua Achebe
“If a novel is written in a certain language with certain characters from a particular community and the story is very good or illuminating, then that work is translated into the language of another community - then they begin to see through their language that the problems described there are the same as the problems they are having. They can identify with characters from another language group.” IfsCharacterStoriesProblemCertainLanguageCommunityNovelWrittenGroupsParticularVery GoodIlluminating Author:Ngugi wa Thiong'o