Probably all of us, writers and readers alike, set out into exile, or at least into a certain kind of exile, when we leave childhood behind...The immigrant, the nomad, the traveler, the sleepwalker all exist, but not the exile, since every writer becomes an exile simply by venturing into literature, and every reader becomes an exile simply by opening a book.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the transformative journey of writers and readers, suggesting that engaging with literature takes them away from their childhood and into a new realm of experience.
Roberto Bolano's quote delves into the idea that literature acts as a form of exile from the innocence and simplicity of childhood. Both writers and readers embark on a journey that disconnects them from their past selves, entering a world that involves complex narratives and emotions. This form of exile is not one of physical displacement, but rather a metaphorical transition into a deeper understanding of life, where the exploration of different perspectives can lead to self-discovery and growth.
In practice
At a literary event discussing the impact of reading on personal growth.
Coincidence obeys no laws and if it does we don't know what they are. Coincidence, if you'll permit me the simile, is like the manifestation of God at every moment on our planet. A senseless God making senseless gestures at his senseless creatures. In that hurricane, in that osseous implosion, we find communion.
The sky, at sunset, looked like a carnivorous flower.
I'd obviously never heard of the group, but my ignorance in literary matters is to blame for that (every book in the world is out there waiting to be read by me).
Every book in the world is out there waiting to be read by me.
Bright colours in the west, giant butterflies dancing as night crept like a cripple toward the east.
Being alone makes us stronger. That’s the honest truth. But it’s cold comfort, since even if I wanted company no one will come near me anymore.
By God, if women had written stories, As clerks had within here oratories, They would have written of men more wickedness Than all the mark of Adam may redress.
You have started the book with this bubble over your head that contains a cathedral full of fire - that contains a novel so vast and great and penetrating and bright and dark that it will put all other novels ever written to shame. And then, as you get towards the end, you begin to realise, no, it's just this book.
I think that an author who speaks about his own books is almost as bad as a mother who talks about her own children.
Literature is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to people who have none
To Southerners like my mother, 'Gone With the Wind' was not just a book; it was an answer, a clenched fist raised to the North, an anthem of defiance.
Dialogue is the place that books are most alive and forge the most direct connection with readers. It is also where we as writers discover our characters and allow them to become real.
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