QuoteProject
One always tends to overpraise a long book, because one has got through it.
E. M. Forster
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Long books often receive more praise simply because readers feel accomplished for finishing them.

E. M. Forster's quote highlights a common phenomenon in literary critique where the length of a book can skew a reader's perception of its quality. When a reader invests significant time and effort into reading a lengthy work, they may be inclined to praise it more than it may objectively deserve, simply due to their sense of achievement in finishing it. This reflects how personal experience can affect judgment and appreciation in literature.

Themes

BooksReadingLiterary CritiquePraiseLength

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a book club discussion to encourage critical thinking about the books we read.

More from E. M. Forster

Personal relations are the important thing for ever and ever, and not this outer life of telegrams and anger.
E. M. ForsterRead
A poem is true if it hangs together. Information points to something else. A poem points to nothing but itself.
E. M. ForsterRead
One must be fond of people and trust them if one is not to make a mess of life.
E. M. ForsterRead
Oxford is Oxford: not a mere receptacle for youth, like Cambridge. Perhaps it wants its inmates to love it rather than to love one another.
E. M. ForsterRead
The fact is we can only love what we know personally. And we cannot know much. In public affairs, in the rebuilding of civilization, something less dramatic and emotional is needed, namely tolerance.
E. M. ForsterRead
One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested.
E. M. ForsterRead

Similar quotes

The only imaginative prose writer of the slightest value who has appeared among the English-speaking races for some years past.
George OrwellRead
A Christian novelist tries to describe the world as it is.
John UpdikeRead
One cannot be too careful in the selection of adjectives for descriptions. Words or compounds which describe precisely, and which convey exactly the right suggestions to the mind of the reader, are essential.
H. P. LovecraftRead
If a writer knows what he or she is doing, I'll go along for the ride. If he or she doesn't... well, I'm in my fifties now, and there are a lot of books out there. I don't have time to waste with the poorly written ones.
Stephen KingRead
All the world knows me in my book, and my book in me.
Michel De MontaigneRead
Listen closely. There’s a remote possibility that you might learn something: First, I don’t give a damn if my work is commercial or not…I’m the writer. If what I write is good, then people will read it. That’s why literature exists. An author puts his heart and guts on the page. For your information, a good novel can change the world. Keep that in mind before you attempt to sit down at a typewriter. Never waste time on something you don’t believe in yourself.
John FanteRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.