“I've always loved writing emotionally rich, character-driven novels that explore the way people fall in love and deal with life's triumphs and tragedies. I enjoy writing the contemporary and historical books equally, though perhaps 'enjoy' is the wrong word.” PeopleWayWritingBookCharacterFallEnjoyDealsNovelRichTragedyHistoricalFalling In LoveDrivenContemporaryTriumphWrong Words Author:Susan Wiggs
“It has long been a tradition among novel writers that a book must end by everybody getting just what they wanted, or if the conventional happy ending was impossible, then it must be a tragedy in which one or both should die. In real life very few of us get what we want, our tragedies don't kill us, but we go on living them year after year, carrying them with us like a scar on an old wound.” IfsWantShouldWritingYearsLongBookRealEndsWantedDiesNovelImpossibleGoes OnTraditionTragedyWoundsReal LifeScarConventionalHappy EndingsOld Wounds Author:Willa Cather
“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
“A pornographic novelist is one who exploits the sexual instinct as a prostitute does. A legitimate sex novel elucidates it or brings out its poetry, tragedy, or comedy.” DoeSexNovelComedyTragedyInstinctNovelistsPornographyExploits Author:George Bernard Shaw
“Life for women in ancient Greece was hard - you had to fight for every inch of ground you got. Both Thetis and Briseis are strong, passionate women and in another time and place their lives would have been very different. Part of the tragedy of their characters is how much they have to offer - and how little of that they get to realize. Thetis spends the whole novel fighting the limitations placed on her, desperately trying to eke out the best she can from a bad situation. This makes her fierce and terrifying.” TryingLittlesHas BeensDifferentHardWholeCharacterFightingStrongRealizingSituationNovelOffersTragedyAncientPassionateLimitationInchesFierceGreeceAnother TimeAncient GreeceBad SituationsPassionate Woman Author:Madeline Miller
“If Shakespeare's great plays are variants of stories, even novels, you can see how each character is telling his story from his perspective; each is vying with the others for dominance, but in the end, in tragedy, most of these voices will die, to be replaced by the yet more vigorous voice of a younger generation.” IfsEndsPlayCharacterStoriesDiesVoiceNovelGenerationsPerspectiveTragedyReplacedVigorousDominanceYounger Generation Author:Joyce Carol Oates