Quotes About Literature

I loved reading Roald Dahl when I was young but I had forgotten a lot about the books. I read the 'BFG' on the iPad the other day and it was so interesting to see his descriptions of clothes and places.

I've gotten into doing electronic books and audiobooks, so I have an iPad. I still love reading a real book, but when you travel, it's better than carrying around a bunch of books.

The central question driving literary aesthetics in the age of the iPad is no longer 'How should novels be?' but 'Why write novels at all?'

For me, the iPhone is harder than reading Faust.

Two must-haves for me are a great book and my iPod.

I just downloaded '1984' for my iPod, but I've read that before. It just hearkens back to the 'romance' of my high-school days. I really liked the space I was in when I was reading it.

I'm very keenly aware that there aren't very many women writing literary fiction in Ireland and so that gives me a sense that what I say matters, in some small way.

Ireland, once you live there, you're seduced by it.

I was an avid reader as a child because we didn't have television in Ireland until the mid-'60s.

I had a very happy childhood, which is unsuitable if you're going to be an Irish writer.

The Ireland I now inhabit is one that these Irish contemporaries have helped to imagine.

Whether it's Shakespeare or Moliere, irony is a key component in the construction of theatre. A script would be pretty bad if it was devoid of irony.

Don't make generalisations about any group of children. For years I have felt angry with those who argue that Shakespeare and the rest of the classic canon are irrelevant to inner-city kids.

Being a fiction writer makes you someone who works with irresponsibility.

I've read everything that Isaac Asimov ever wrote, for a start. I'm massively into my fantasy genre, anything by R.A. Salvatore or David Gemmell. I've read every single book those writers have written.

If you read Islamic creationist literature, it's pretty much lifted from American evangelical literature.

I tend to read mostly 20th-century fiction, 20th-, 21st-century fiction in Italian.

I have a few close friends with whom I can practice speaking Italian, but I mostly maintain fluency through reading.

I have the feeling of being a very small item on this planet, and literature enables me to express that.

Jack Reacher is one of the sexiest characters in fiction.

I've been a fan of Jack Vance since before I was in high school.

I really like the character of Jack Reacher - I thought he was interesting.

I think Jack Thorne is an exceptional writer.

I'm really into short-story collections and essays; they're my jam.