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Past Quotes

“The Novelist As Teacher”: “I would be quite satisfied if my novels (especially the ones I set in the past) did no more than teach my readers that their past – with all its imperfections – was not one long night of savagery from which the first Europeans acting on God’s behalf delivered them.”

Ifs Firsts Long Would Be Past Night Acting Teach Novel Teacher Reader Satisfied Novelists Imperfection Behalf Savagery Long Nights

Book:Things Fall Apart: Authoritative Text, Contexts and Criticism

Source: Things Fall Apart: Authoritative Text, Contexts and Criticism

“My first two novels were set in the past, and that freed me up in a lot of ways; it allowed me to find my way into my story and my characters through research.”

Way Firsts Two Character Stories Past Novel Research My Way

Author:Jennifer Gilmore

“Chevy Stevens is in top form. ALWAYS WATCHING is a tense and twisty exploration of dark memories, hidden pasts, and a place that seems like heaven but might be hell. This is a deep and exciting novel, as unsettling as it is gripping.”

Seems Might Past Form Heaven Memories Dark Novel Hell Exciting Exploration Tense Gripping Chevy

Author:Lisa Unger

“Our past is a novel that we are constantly revising.”

Past Novel Our Past Revising

Author:Eric G. Wilson

“Safe from the Neighbors is a novel of unusual richness and depth, one that's as wise about the small shocks within a marriage as it is about the troubled history of Mississippi. Steve Yarbrough is a formidably talented novelist, shuttling between the past and present with a grace that feels effortless.”

Feels Past Novel Grace Wise Safe Depth Neighbor Novelists Shock Unusual Richness Mississippi Past And Present Effortless

Author:Tom Perrotta

“One of the major challenges facing creative individuals is that of building upon the continuity of human knowledge while achieving novel insights. ... On the one hand, to intensify an inquiry and develop a sense of commitment to a creative life, the learner needs models, teachers, and collaborators. On the other hand, the individual, while building upon the past, needs to transform it, and thus broaden his or her choices.”

“Novels help us to resist the temptation to think of the past as deficient.”

Thinking Helping Past Novel Temptation

Book:Conversations with Ian McEwan

Source: Conversations with Ian McEwan

“A seamlessly told and scrupulously detailed history of the Hartsoe clan of Haw County, North Carolina, Love and Lament is that rare novel that brings the gritty, rural past to vivid life. I could very nearly smell the moonshine (the moonshiners too!). Pass a few hours with Mary Bet Hartsoe and family. You won't regret it.”

Past Hours Novel Regret Smell Mary Vivid County Carolina Lament North Carolina Clans Moonshine

Author:T. R. Pearson

“I enjoy the research element. There are so many stories from the past that interest me, that I want to learn more about, just as an interested person. And if I'm going to learn, if I'm going to research, it's probably going to lead me to writing a novel.”

Ifs Want Writing Persons Stories Past Enjoy Interest Novel Elements Research Leading Me

Author:John Boyne

“My remembrance of the past is a novel I am constantly recomposing; and it would not be a historical novel, but sheer fiction, if the material events which mark and ballast my career had not their public dates and characters scientifically discoverable.”

Ifs Character Past Fiction Careers Novel Events Materials Mark Historical Sheer Remembrance Historical Novels Ballast

Book:The Essential Santayana: Selected Writings

Source: The Essential Santayana: Selected Writings