Love is made by two people, in different kinds of solitude. It can be in a crowd, but in an oblivious crowd.
Louis AragonRead
I demand that my books be judged with utmost severity, by knowledgeable people who know the rules of grammar and of logic, and who will seek beneath the footsteps of my commas the lice of my thought in the head of my style.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the author's desire for an in-depth and critical evaluation of their work by knowledgeable critics.
Louis Aragon emphasizes the importance of rigorous and thoughtful critique in literature. He implores seasoned critics to not only focus on the surface elements of his writing, such as grammar and syntax, but also to delve deeply into the underlying ideas and emotions that shape his style. This reflects a broader belief that true understanding of artistic work requires more than mere technical assessment—it requires a recognition of the complexities of thought and intention behind the words.
Themes
CritiqueLiteratureEvaluationThoughtStyleGrammarLogic
In practice
Example use cases
In a literary discussion group, to highlight the need for deep analysis of a new book.
More from Louis Aragon
All quotes →And there are loners in rural communities who, at the equinox, are said to don new garments and stroll down to the cities, where great beasts await them, fat and docile.
Louis AragonRead
Similar quotes
Perhaps the story in the book is just the lid on a pan: It always stays the same, but underneath there's a whole world that goes on - developing and changing like our own world.
Cornelia FunkeRead
From the beginnings of literature, poets and writers have based their narratives on crossing borders, on wandering, on exile, on encounters beyond the familiar. The stranger is an archetype in epic poetry, in novels. The tension between alienation and assimilation has always been a basic theme.
Jhumpa LahiriRead
I have this belief that we are so vulnerable when we open ourselves up to literature. We're reminded of these real parts of ourselves.
Tracy K. SmithRead
I have said that each aspect of the novel demands a different quality of the reader. Well, the prophetic aspect demands two qualities: humility and the suspension of the sense of humour.
E. M. ForsterRead
Most contemporary novels are not really "written." They obtain what reality they have largely from an accurate rendering of the noises that human beings currently make in their daily simple needs of communication; and what part of a novel is not composed of these noises consists of a prose which is no more alive than that of a competent newspaper writer or government official. A prose that is altogether alive demands something of the reader that the ordinary novel-reader is not prepared to give.
T. S. EliotRead
If a secret history of books could be written, and the author's private thoughts and meanings noted down alongside of his story, how many insipid volumes would become interesting, and dull tales excite the reader!
William Makepeace ThackerayRead