#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 never even had the time to read novels. ↗

— George McGovern

#had #i #never #novels #read

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

The end of secrecy would be the end of the novel - especially the English novel. The English novel requires social secrecy, personal secrecy. ↗

— Ian Mcewan

#english #especially #novel #personal #requires

You could say that all novels are spy novels and all novelists are spy masters. ↗

— Ian Mcewan

#masters #novelists #novels #say #spy

Before trying a novel I wrote a couple of plays. ↗

— James Merrill

#couple #i #novel #plays #trying

In a novel, I could submerge my ego in a character's and let his perceptions take over. ↗

— Elizabeth Moon

#could #ego #his #i #novel