Quotes About Literature

When I was eleven, my mother gave me Robert K. Massie's 'Nicholas and Alexandra.' It was the first 'grownup' book I read, and I loved it.

Robert Browning - I like his dramatic revelations, his allegorical form.

I've got to believe I'm the first person to win the Newbery who has written a Harlequin romance!

I love period dramas - be it romance or philosophy.

There are people out there who would enjoy my books but wouldn't pick them up because they think it's not going to be for them. I find it infuriating.There's a lot more going on in my books than just romance.

Literature led me to freedom, not the other way round.

I don't see how you can write well if you're not reading well at the same time. I think the only risk is reading too many books of one 'type' in a row.

But I'm not the first person in the Royal Family to bring out a book.

Most books are three-thirds rubbish.

I read Russian literature a lot.

I always thought I was going to be an artist. I used to draw, and I would read Russian novels until 3 or 4 in the morning.

I fell in love with 19th-century Russian plays.

It's very difficult to write in Russian for someone who has never been schooled in Russian.

My father was a teacher of the Russian language and literature in high school.

Russian literature got me interested in what literature means.

The books are funny and sad, and that's what people respond to.

I think the only safe medium are books, because people like to hold books in their hand.

The Ancient Mariner would not have taken so well if it had been called The Old Sailor.

Literature is for the sake of humanity.

My book sales make 'real writers' possible.

In my experience, great reviews almost always ensure no sales.

As a kid, books were my great escape and my salvation.

Without Merlin, there would be no Gandalf, so I see them as the same thing, one a continuation of the other.

I sat down to try to write 'Edinburgh,' an autobiographical novel, and that took five years to write and two years to sell.