There is such a thing as the poetry of a mistake, and when you say, "Mistakes were made," you deprive an action of its poetry, and you sound like a weasel.
Charles BaxterRead
Say what you want about it, Hell is story-friendly... The mechanisms of hell are nicely attuned to the mechanisms of narrative. Not so the pleasures of Paradise. Paradise is not a story. It's about what happens when the stories are over.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote discusses the nature of storytelling in relation to hell and paradise, suggesting that narratives thrive in conflict and suffering rather than in blissful existence.
Charles Baxter's quote highlights the idea that narratives and stories often revolve around conflict, suffering, and what we might call 'hell.' In contrast, he argues that paradise lacks the compelling elements that make a story engaging, as it represents a state of being beyond narrative – a place without struggles or stories. Thus, while hell provides fertile ground for storytelling due to its inherent drama, paradise represents an absence of conflict that is less relatable and engaging.
Themes
StoryHellParadiseNarrativeConflict
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the nature of conflict in literature, this quote can emphasize the role of suffering in storytelling.
More from Charles Baxter
All quotes →A novel is not a summary of its plot but a collection of instances, of luminous specific details that take us in the direction of the unsaid and unseen.
Charles BaxterRead
The problem with love and God, the two of them, is how to say anything about them that doesn’t annihilate them instantly with the wrong words, with untruth. . . . In this sense, love and God are equivalents. We feel both, but because we cannot speak clearly about them, we end up–wordless, inarticulate—by denying their existence altogether, and, pfffffft, they die.
Charles BaxterRead
When all the details fit in perfectly, something is probably wrong with the story.
Charles BaxterRead
You know, there's something heartsick about parties like this. Look at us. We're all pretending to be smart, as if intelligence were the cure for our anguish.
Charles BaxterRead
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