I mean, every novel's a historical novel anyway. But calling something a historical novel seems to put mittens on it, right? It puts manners on it. And you don't want your novels to be mannered.
Colum MccannRead
The job of the writer is to look at where he is now and make some sort of emotional sense of it, not only for that moment but for years to come.
Interpretation
Writers capture and interpret emotions and experiences to resonate with readers over time.
In this quote, Colum McCann emphasizes the essential role of a writer in understanding and articulating the complexities of their current experiences. A writer is tasked with not only capturing the emotional essence of a moment but also providing insight and meaning that can endure, allowing both the writer and the reader to reflect on those experiences for many years into the future.
In practice
In a speech about the impact of literature on society, this quote can underline the significance of a writer's role.
I mean, every novel's a historical novel anyway. But calling something a historical novel seems to put mittens on it, right? It puts manners on it. And you don't want your novels to be mannered.
Goodness was more difficult than evil. Evil men knew that more than good men. That's why they became evil. That's why it stuck with them. Evil was for those who could never reach the truth. It was a mask for stupidity and lack of love. Even if people laughed at the notion of goodness, if they found it sentimental, or nostalgic, it didn't matter -- it was none of those things, he said, and it had to be fought for.
She takes another long haul, lets the smoke settle in her lungs-- she has heard somewhere that cigarettes are good for grief. One long drag and you forget how to cry. The body too busy dealing with the poison.
It was a silence that heard itself, awful and beautiful.
It struck me that distant cities are designed precisely so you can know where you came from.
And I suddenly think, as I look across the table at him, that these are the days as they will be. This is the future as we see it. The swerve and the static. The confidence and the doubt.
The stuff I'm passionate about is what I write; it isn't multi-million-dollar franchise movies.
Every age has its own poetry; in every age the circumstances of history choose a nation, a race, a class to take up the torch by creating situations that can be expressed or transcended only through poetry.
Poetry is for me Eucharistic. You take someone else's suffering into your body, their passion comes into your body, and in doing that you commune, you take communion, you make a community with others.
When I'm stuck for a closing to a lyric, I will drag out my last resort: overwhelming illogic.
You don't write for success. That takes part of your attention away from the writing. If you're really doing it, that's all you're doing: writing.
Writing is exhilarating, but reading reviews is not. I've been really devastated by 'good' reviews because they misunderstand the project of the book. It can be strangely galvanising to get a 'bad' one.
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