#novel

I belong to the middle class that grew up very influenced by the Catholic church. The people of the novel are from a more pagan and practical world in which the Christianity is just a veneer. ↗

— John McGahern

#catholic #catholic church #christianity #church #class

Yes, but also one of the problems for a novelist in Ireland is the fact that there are no formal manners. I mean some people have beautiful manners but there's no kind of agreed form of manners. ↗

— John McGahern

#also #beautiful #fact #form #formal

I actually find novels that are determined to be funny at every turn quite oppressive. ↗

— Ian Mcewan

#determined #every #find #funny #i

I think of novels in architectural terms. You have to enter at the gate, and this gate must be constructed in such a way that the reader has immediate confidence in the strength of the building. ↗

— Ian Mcewan

#building #confidence #constructed #enter #gate

Novelists have to be adept at controlling the flow of information, and, most crucially, they have to be in charge of the narrative. ↗

— Ian Mcewan

#charge #controlling #crucially #flow #information

A screenplay is not a finished product; a novel is. A screenplay is a blueprint for something - for a building that will most likely never be built. ↗

— Nicholas Meyer

#building #built #finished #finished product #likely

What makes literature interesting is that it does not survive its translation. The characters in a novel are made out of the sentences. That's what their substance is. ↗

— Jonathan Miller

#does #interesting #literature #made #makes

Look at it this way: if you write the novel of 'Cold Mountain,' it costs exactly the same to produce and market as a novel set in a room. If you make the film, the disparity of costs is huge. ↗

— Anthony Minghella

#costs #disparity #exactly #film #his way

I wonder why there is a designated hitter in baseball after all these years? As an experiment, it seemed like a swell enough idea, but you would think the novelty would have worn off by now and everyone would get back to playing baseball. ↗

— Jay Mohr

#back #baseball #designated #enough #everyone

Writers of novels and romance in general bring a double loss to their readers; robbing them of their time and money; representing men, manners, and things, that never have been, or are likely to be. ↗

— Mary Wortley Montagu

#bring #double #general #likely #loss