A Quote by Jane Smiley
Not every novel that wants to be a tragedy gets to be one.
Related Quotes
My hope and my intention was that people would experience the tragedy of what Chernobyl was in every regard: a scientific tragedy, a political tragedy, an emotional and personal tragedy, all of that.
The DNA of the novel - which, if I begin to write nonfiction, I will write about this - is that: the title of the novel is the whole novel. The first line of the novel is the whole novel. The point of view is the whole novel. Every subplot is the whole novel. The verb tense is the whole novel.
I like to eat a whole lot. I have an inner chubby girl, and her name is Mabel, and I feed Mabel a lot. I give her what she wants. If Mabel wants a honey bun, she gets it. If Mabel wants Krispy Kreme, she gets it. If Mabel wants fried chicken or ham hocks, she gets what she wants.
The tragedy of this world is that no one is happy, whether stuck in atime of pain or of joy. The tragedy of this world is that everyone is alone. For a life in the past cannot be shared with the present. Each person who gets stuck in time gets stuck alone.
If you try to nail anything down, in the novel, either it kills the novel, or the novel gets up and walks away with the nail.
What I'm interested in is happiness with a full awareness of the tragedy of life, the potential tragedy that lurks around every corner and the tragedy that actually is life.
Although every novel is derived directly from another novel, there is really only one novel, the Quixote.
The millennial generation wants to express every feeling to feel like you're connected to it, and there's something very dark about tragedy that people are drawn to.
She comes to me when she wants to be fed. And after I feed her -- guess what -- she's off to wherever she wants to be in the house, until the next time she gets hungry. She's smart enough to know she can't feed herself. She's actually a very smart cat. She gets loved. She gets adoration. She gets petted. She gets fed. And she doesn't have to do anything for it, which is why I say this cat's taught me more about women, than anything my whole life.
What is a defeat? It is just a good opportunity to make a new start, nothing else! Defeat is by no means a tragedy, but to consider it as a tragedy is in fact the greatest tragedy! In your every defeat, you must know that the paths of the victory never disappear; try those roads again!
In the end, for me, the sole single goal is to write the best novel that I can. Whether or not it gets made or gets purchased.
The rules seem to be these: If you have written a successful novel, everyone invites you to write short stories. If you have written some good short stories, everyone wants you to write a novel. But nobody wants anything until you have already proved yourself by being published somewhere else.
One wants to move through life with elegance and grace, blossoming infrequently but with exquisite taste, and perfect timing, like a rare bloom, a zebra orchid... One wants... But one so seldom gets what one wants, does one?
The tragedy of the man not set up for tragedy ? that is every man?s tragedy.
The novel since its origins has been the privatization of history... the history of private life ... and in that sense every novel is an historical novel.
The thing is to be happy, no matter what. Just try that. You can. It gets to be easier and easier. It's nothing to do with circumstances. You wouldn't believe how good it is. Accept everything and then tragedy disappears. Or tragedy lightens, anyway, you're just there, going along easy in the world.
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