The experienced writer says to the anguished novice: 'Just do it; get something, anything, on to the screen or page, just establish a flow of words, and criticise them later.' You give this advice but can't always take it.
Hilary MantelRead
But an experienced reader is also a self-aware and critical reader. I can't remember ever reading a story without judging it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of being a critical and self-aware reader while engaging with literature.
Hilary Mantel suggests that an experienced reader not only absorbs the story but also actively evaluates and critiques it. This reflective process enhances the reading experience and fosters a deeper understanding of the text, showing that reading is not just passive consumption but an interactive dialogue between the reader and the narrative.
Themes
ReadingCritiqueSelf-AwarenessLiteratureEvaluation
In practice
Example use cases
During a book club discussion, you might reference this quote to highlight the importance of analyzing the text.
More from Hilary Mantel
All quotes βHistory is always changing behind us, and the past changes a little every time we retell it.
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Why are we so attached to the severities of the past? Why are we so proud of having endured our fathers and our mothers, the fireless days and the meatless days, the cold winters and the sharp tongues? It's not as if we had a choice.
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He is careful to deny responsibility for September, but he does not, you notice, condemn the killings. He also refrains from killing words, sparing Roland and Buzot, as if they were beneath his notice. August 10 was illegal, he says; so too was the taking of the Bastille. What account can we take of that, in revolution? It is the nature of revolutions to break laws. We are not justices of the peace; we are legislators to a new world.
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It is the absence of facts that frightens people: the gap you open, into which they pour their fears, fantasies, desires.
Hilary MantelRead
History offers us vicarious experience. It allows the youngest student to possess the ground equally with his elders; without a knowledge of history to give him a context for present events, he is at the mercy of every social misdiagnosis handed to him.
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