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Reader Quotes

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Reader Quotes

“Fictional characters exist in only two places, neither of which is on the printed page. They exist, first, in the mind of the writer and, second, in the mind of the reader.”

Mind Firsts Two Character Reader Pages Printed Fictional Character

Author:Maren Elwood

“Remember, when the writers refer to themselves as 'we' and to the reader as 'you,' this is two against one.”

Two Remember Reader Remember When

Author:Judith Rascoe

“Prolonged travel in the alternate world of books can also make a reader more prone to fantasy thinking and estranged from his or her “real” life.”

Thinking World Book Real Fantasy Reader Real Life

Book:Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books

Source: Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books

“To be honest, Im not that much of a reader of Korean fiction, since so little is translated.”

Littles Fiction Honest Reader Being Honest Korean

Author:Chang-Rae Lee

“The subject, however various and important, has already been so frequently, so ably, and so successfully discussed, that it is now grown familiar to the reader, and difficult to the writer.”

Important Difficult History Subjects Reader Various Familiar Roman Empire

Book:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Source: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

“This variety of objects will suspend, for some time, the course of the narrative; but the interruption will be censured only by those readers who are insensible to the importance of laws and manners, while they peruse, with eager curiosity, the transient intrigues of a court, or the accidental event of a battle.”

Law Courses History Events Objects Reader Battle Importance Court Curiosity Variety Manners Narrative Intrigue Roman Empire Transient Interruptions Insensible

Book:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Source: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

“The philosopher, who with calm suspicion examines the dreams and omens, the miracles and prodigies, of profane or even of ecclesiastical history, will probably conclude that, if the eyes of the spectators have sometimes been deceived by fraud, the understanding of the readers has much more frequently been insulted by fiction.”

Source: History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire V2: the History Focus

“The simple circumstantial narrative (did such a narrative exist) of the ruin of a single town, of the misfortunes of a single family, might exhibit an interesting and instructive picture of human manners; but the tedious repetition of vague and declamatory complaints would fatigue the attention of the most patient reader.”

Source: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

“As far as nonviolence and Spiritual Activism, Marshall Rosenberg is it! Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life, is essential reading for anyone who wants to improve their communication skills. Applying the concepts within the book will help guide the reader towards a more loving, compassionate, and nonviolent way of understanding and functioning with others, and foster more compassion in the world. I highly recommend this book.”

“To make the reader afraid, I had to be afraid.”

Book:The Demonologist: A Novel

Source: The Demonologist: A Novel

“If the hairs on my neck stand up while Im writing, I figure the reader will get the same kind of shock.”

Ifs Writing Kind Figures Hair Reader Necks Shock

Author:Andrew Pyper

“I think the further away you get from completing a book, the more responses you see to it from readers, the more your own tastes and opinions shift and the more you start to see things you could have written differently in the detail, or done differently on the broader scale of plot and character.”

Thinking Book Done Character Opinion Written Reader Taste Response Details Scales Plot Completing

Author:Joe Abercrombie

“I like the idea of readers feeling a familiarity, whether its with Africa or childhood.”

Ideas Feelings Childhood Reader Familiarity

Author:Binyavanga Wainaina

“Study me, reader, if you delight in me, because on very few occasions shall I return to the world, and because the patience for this profession is found in very few, and only in those who wish to compose things anew. Come, oh men, to see the miracles that such studies will disclose to nature.”

Ifs Men World Found Wish Study Return Reader Miracle Delight Profession Occasions

Author:Leonardo da Vinci

“Eat your heart out, Rowling. Maybe you have billions of dollars and my Hugo, but you don't have readers like these.”

Reader Dollars Billions

Author:George R. R. Martin

“Mention the gothic, and many readers will probably picture gloomy castles and an assortment of sinister Victoriana. However, the truth is that the gothic genre has continued to flourish and evolve since the days of Bram Stoker, producing some of its most interesting and accomplished examples in the 20th century - in literature, film and beyond.”

Film Literature Interesting Century Example Reader Truth Is Evolve Genre Accomplished 20th Century Castles Gothic Most Interesting Gloomy Sinister Stoker

Author:Carlos Ruiz Zafon

“I do not write for the reader to come, but for him who is here, short of reading the text on my shoulder.”

Writing Reading Reader Shoulders

Author:Mario Benedetti

“My platform has been to reach reluctant readers. And one of the best ways I found to motivate them is to connect them with reading that interests them, to expand the definition of reading to include humor, science fiction/fantasy, nonfiction, graphic novels, wordless books, audio books and comic books.”

“I want all my books to provoke some kind of response in the reader, to make them think something or feel something or both, and for that to become a part of them and work into their own lives.”

Thinking Want Feels Kind Book Reader Response Provoking

Author:Linda Sue Park

“I can give advice to anyone interested in writing in one word: Read! I think it's much more important to be a reader than to be a writer!”

Thinking Giving Writing I Can Important Advice Reader One Word

Author:Linda Sue Park

“And at some point I would like to talk my publisher into doing an anthology of my poetry alongside some teen readers poetry. It would be fun, and really wonderful to get their stuff out there.”

Would Be Fun Stuff Wonderful Reader Publishers Anthology

Author:Ellen Hopkins

“Readers embrace all kinds of characters as long as they are written with emotional truth.”

Kind Long Character Written Emotional Reader Embrace All Kinds

Author:David Levithan

“In a culture defined by shades of gray, I think the absolute black and white choices in dark young adult novels are incredibly satisfying for readers.”

Thinking Young Choices Culture Black Dark White Novel Reader Adults Absolutes Young Adult Defined Gray Shade Satisfying Black And White Shades Of Gray

Author:Maggie Stiefvater

“Affect, Imagery, Consciousness, a four-volume work so dense that its readers were evenly divided between those who understood it and thought it was brilliant and those who did not understand it and thought it was brilliant.”

Consciousness Four Reader Understood Brilliant Divided Volume Imagery Dense

Author:Malcolm Gladwell

“Every poet has his dream reader: mine keeps a look out for curious prosodic fauna like bacchics and choriambs.”

Looks Dream Mines Poet Reader Curious

Author:W. H. Auden

“To read is to translate, for no two persons' experiences are the same. A bad reader is like a bad translator: he interprets literally when he ought to paraphrase and paraphrases when he ought to interpret literally.”

Persons Two Ought Reader Translate Translators Paraphrase

Author:W. H. Auden

“I want to say that I really appreciate that readers are willing to work with my tendency to write in several different genres and for different age groups.”

Want Writing Different Age Groups Willing Reader Appreciate Tendencies Genre Different Genres Different Ages

Author:Melissa Marr

“As a lifelong romance reader, its always satisfying to get to talk to other romance readers!”

Romance Reader Satisfying Lifelong

Author:Melissa Marr

“Though the immediate impression of rebellion may obscure the fact, the task of authentic literature is nevertheless only conceivable in terms of a desire for fundamental communication with the reader.”

May Facts Desire Literature Term Communication Reader Tasks Fundamentals Impression Rebellion Nevertheless Obscure

Author:Georges Bataille

“I wonder if I ever thought of an ideal reader... I guess when I was in my 20s and in New York and maybe even in my early 30s, I would write for my wife Janice... mainly for my poet friends and my wife, who was very smart about poetry.”

Ifs Writing Wonder Wife New York Poet Reader Smart Ideals My Wife Very Smart

Author:Kenneth Koch

“But, in the end, we editors just pass through. We all know that you, the readers, are the real carriers of the flame.”

Knows Real Ends Reader Flames Editors Carrier

Author:Alan Rusbridger

“I wanted to write a voice that for me, as a reader, had been missing from the chorus: the voice of an angry woman.”

Writing Wanted Voice Missing Reader Angry Chorus Angry Women

Author:Claire Messud

“All writers should strive to deliver something fresh-something editors or readers won't know they want until they see it.”

Knows Want Should Reader Strive Editors Want U

Author:William Zinsser

“Readers must be given room to bring their own emotions to a piece so crammed with emotional content; the writer must tenaciously resist explaining why the material is so moving.”

Moving Given Rooms Emotion Pieces Emotional Materials Reader Explaining

Author:William Zinsser

“Respect and love your readers. Write for the reader.”

Writing Love You Reader And Love Love And Respect

Author:Janet Evanovich

“When I wrote The Interestings, I wanted to let time unspool, to give the book the feeling of time passing. I had to allow myself the freedom to move back and forth in time freely, and to trust that readers would accept this.”

Giving Book Feelings Wanted Moving Accepting Reader Passing Passings Back And Forth Time Passing Time Passes

Author:Meg Wolitzer

“The novel...creates a bemusing effect. The short story, on the other hand wakes the reader up. Not only that, it answers the primitive craving for art, the wit, paradox and beauty of shape, the longing to see a dramatic pattern and significance in our experience.”

Art Stories Hands Answers Novel Effects Reader Shapes Longing Patterns Wit Dramatic Significance Paradox Short Story Primitive Craving

Author:V. S. Pritchett

“Rather than a teaching tool, I think a novel is more of a witnessing entity. A witnessing entity? What is that? I just want the reader to step in and experience it as a story.”

Thinking Want Stories Steps Novel Teaching Reader Tools Entity

Author:Lorrie Moore

“An e-mail from a reader says that liberals like to take the moral high ground, even though their own moral relativism means that there is no moral high ground.”

Mean Moral Reader Mail Relativism Moral Relativism High Ground Moral High Ground

Author:Thomas Sowell

“No one can teach writing, but classes may stimulate the urge to write. If you are born a writer, you will inevitably and helplessly write. A born writer has self-knowledge. Read, read, read. And if you are a fiction writer, dont confine yourself to reading fiction. Every writer is first a wide reader.”

Ifs Writing Firsts May Self Reading Born Fiction Class Teach Reader Wide Urges Self Knowledge Fiction Writers Reading Fiction

Author:Cynthia Ozick

“Not to make him blush, but any story illustrated by Mike Mignola does things that prose alone cant accomplish. The illustrations create mood and atmosphere, drawing the reader more deeply into the story than words could do on their own.”

Doe Stories Reader Accomplish Drawing Mood Atmosphere Prose Cant Mike Illustration

Author:Christopher Golden

“Therefore, no matter how the world makes out in the next few centuries, a large class of readers at least will not be too surprised at anything. They will have been through it all before in fictional form, and will not be too paralyzed with astonishment to try to cope with contingencies as they arise.”

World Trying Has Beens Matter Form Next Class Century Reader Arise Astonishment Paralyzed Make Out Contingency

Author:L. Sprague de Camp

“That I can read and be happy while I am reading, is a great blessing. Could I have remembered, as some men do, what I read, I should have been able to call myself an educated man. But that power I have never possessed. Something is always left--something dim and inaccurate--but still something sufficient to preserve the taste for more. I am inclined to think that it is so with most readers.”

Source: Anthony Trollope: The Chronicles of Barsetshire & The Palliser Novels (Unabridged): The Warden + The Barchester Towers + Doctor Thorne + Framley Parsonage + The Small House at Allington + The Last Chronicle of Barset + Can You Forgive Her? + The Prime Minister + Eustace Diamonds...

“As a writer, its important to stay true to your story without giving a hoot about publishers, critics and readers. You should do your karma as an author the way you want to, and rest is up to God.”

Way Want Giving Should Important Stories Reader Critics Karma Publishers Stay True Hoot

Author:Amish Tripathi

“I loved history in my school days, and I have always been a voracious reader. But in India, you end up doing MBA, engineering or medicine.”

Ends School Reader India Medicine Engineering Mba School Days

Author:Amish Tripathi

“Whenever I go to Germany I find that my readers have T-shirts with my book covers printed on them. They come to all the events, they have gifts and they come with their families. They are always very open to sharing their personal stories.”

Book Stories Events Reader Shirts Germany T Shirt Printed Personal Stories Book Covers

Author:Cecelia Ahern

“I love the fact that you collaborate with your readers when you write a book.”

Writing Book Facts Reader

Author:Robert Crais

“Part of me becomes the characters I'm writing about. I think readers feel like they are there, the way I am, as a result.”

Thinking Way Feels Writing Character Results Reader

Author:Louis Sachar

“I feel free and strong. If I were not a reader of books I could not feel this way. Whatever may happen to me, thank God that I can read, that I have truly touched the minds of other men.”

Ifs Men Way Feels Mind May I Can Book Happens Strong Reader Touched Thank God I Can Read

Author:Walter Tevis

“The shimmering, lucid tones and silver melancholy of I'll Be Right There give readers a South Korea peopled with citizens fighting for honor and intellectual freedom, and longing for love and solace. Kyung-Sook Shin's characters have unforgettable voices-it's no wonder she has so many fans.”

Giving Character Fighting Voice Wonder Fans Reader Citizens Honor Intellectual Longing South Tone Silver Melancholy Korea Solace Unforgettable South Korea Intellectual Freedom

Author:Susan Straight