Sometimes it's best to speak from ignorance: that way, you can see the wood without being distracted by the trees.
Howard JacobsonRead
For a lot of readers these days, a book is something you have to agree or disagree with. But you can't agree with a novel. For my generation, it was assumed that a book is a dramatic thing, that the eye of the book is not telling you what to think.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Books, especially novels, are meant to evoke feelings and thoughts rather than demand agreement or disagreement.
This quote by Howard Jacobson highlights the difference in how readers engage with literature across generations. It emphasizes that a novel should be perceived as a medium that stimulates thought and emotional response rather than a rigid argument that requires the reader to take a side. In an age where many approach reading with a dichotomous mindset of agreement or disagreement, Jacobson advocates for a deeper, more nuanced appreciation of the narrative and its emotional complexity.
Themes
BooksNovelsReadingLiteratureEmotionsEngagement
In practice
Example use cases
During a book club discussion about character development in novels.
More from Howard Jacobson
All quotes βI think one of the main reasons I write is to do better than ranting. The ranting is the opinion, and the writing is not the opinion. I always say that people's opinions are the worst things about them. The words demand a dignity.
Howard JacobsonRead
How do you explain to somebody who doesn't understand that you don't build a library to read. A library is a resource. Something you go to, for reference, as and when. But also something you simply look at, because it gives you succour, answers to some idea of who you are or, more to the point, who you would like to be, who you will be once you own every book you need to own.
Howard JacobsonRead
It is no judgement of a thing outside yourself to say it makes you ill. The wise reader knows that every pronouncement is, to some degree, an act of self-exposure; the book you find too challenging might only show how ill-equipped you are to face its challenge.
Howard JacobsonRead
In my experience, every book you write changes the conditions in which you write the next.
Howard JacobsonRead
It isn't only in the name of free speech that the views of an itchy polemicist should be tolerated - and I say itchy polemicist promoting thought, not itchy ideologue promoting violence - but because provocation is indispensable to the workings of a sound, creative culture.
Howard JacobsonRead
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I assume I don't need an introduction.
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