It is very difficult for a writer of my generation, if he is honest, to pretend indifference to the work of Somerset Maugham. He was always so entirely there.
Interpretation
Gore Vidal expresses the profound influence that Somerset Maugham had on writers of his time.
In this quote, Gore Vidal reflects on the significant impact of Somerset Maugham's writing on his generation. He acknowledges the challenge of remaining indifferent to Maugham's work, emphasizing how Maugham's presence and authenticity in his writing has left an indelible mark on those who write after him. This suggests a deep respect for Maugham's craft and highlights the interconnectedness of literary influences across generations.
In practice
In a speech about literary influences, one could reference this quote to highlight the significance of past writers.
We must declare ourselves, become known; allow the world to discover this subterranean life of ours which connects kings and farm boys, artists and clerks. Let them see that the important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
American writers want to be not good but great; and so are neither.
Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith.
The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
For the average American, freedom of speech is simply the freedom to repeat what everyone else is saying and no more.
Ayn Rand's 'philosophy' is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society.... To justify and extol human greed and egotism is to my mind not only immoral, but evil.
I don't know where people got the idea that characters in books are supposed to be likable. Books are not in the business of creating merely likeable characters with whom you can have some simple identification with. Books are in the business of creating great stories that make you're brain go ahhbdgbdmerhbergurhbudgerbudbaaarr.
Nobody reads a mystery to get to the middle. They read it to get to the end. If it's a letdown, they won't buy anymore. The first page sells that book. The last page sells your next book.
I am not going to get into it myself, except to say (1) if I am writing "boy fiction," who are all those boys with breasts who keep turning up by the hundreds at my signings and readings? and (2) thank you, geek girls! I love you all.
The only imaginative prose writer of the slightest value who has appeared among the English-speaking races for some years past.
A bookβ¦ itβs a world all on its own too. A world made of words, where you live for a while.
In literature, you know only what you imagine
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