#nov

But there is no doubt that to attempt a novel of ideas is to give oneself a handicap: the parochialism of our culture is intense. For instance, decade after decade bright young men and women emerge from their universities able to say proudly: 'Of course I know nothing about German literature.' It is the mode. The Victorians knew everything about German literature, but were able with a clear conscience not to know much about the French. ↗

— Doris Lessing

#novel #writing #education

Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse. ↗

— Winston Churchill

#corpse #flock #innovation #sheep #shepherd

My grandmother, who passed away at the beginning of November, had a core adage in her life that 'life is not about what happens to you but about what you do with what happens to you.' She recently had been cajoling me and challenging me to do more with my life. To lead more of a purposefully public life. ↗

— Chelsea Clinton

#adage #away #been #beginning #challenging

The president and Republicans in Congress have repeatedly promised to revisit Social Security privatization after November. But Americans have already said, loud and clear, that they don't want Social Security to be privatized or dismantled. ↗

— Jim Clyburn

#already #clear #congress #dismantled #loud

'Caught' is a novel of forgiveness, and the past and the present - who should be and who shouldn't be forgiven. None of my books are ever just about thrills, or it won't work. ↗

— Harlan Coben

#books #caught #ever #forgiven #forgiveness

In real life, coincidences happen all the time. In novels, they are leapt upon with fury. ↗

— Harlan Coben

#fury #happen #life #novels #real

You know, people call mystery novels or thrillers 'puzzles.' I never understood that, because when I buy a puzzle, I already know what it is. It's on the box. And even if I don't, if it's a 5,000-piece puzzle of the 'Mona Lisa', it's not like I put the last piece in and go, 'I had no idea it's the 'Mona Lisa'!' ↗

— Harlan Coben

#because #box #buy #call #even

It's only a drawback in the States, where most people seem to have no real interest in other countries and the notion of a novel which might offer insight into life in the UK doesn't seem to appeal very widely. ↗

— Jonathan Coe

#countries #drawback #insight #interest #into

At a certain point my novels set. They set just as hard as that jam jar. And then I know they are finished. ↗

— Ivy Compton-Burnett

#certain point #finished #hard #i #jam

I wrote eight full-length adult novels in my twenties. None of them were published. ↗

— Caroline B. Cooney

#eight #i #none #novels #published