John le Carre Quotes

We believed that to understand literature, you had to understand its place in history and culture.

I'm definitely more influenced by European writers than I am by American writers, there's no doubt about that.

I studied literature and Italian at Yale. I wrote my thesis about Italo Svevo, one of my heroes.

Learning to read the Bible in the light of the times in which it was written is critical. Reading it uncritically, without understanding the cultural and historical setting of the text, leaves us forced to accept scientific and sociological norms of the ancient Near East from 3,000 years ago.

Perhaps that is why the novel flourished in England. You had these communities that would stay put and people would see one another all the time and cause one another to change and have the opportunity to observe the changes over time.

At Cornell University, my professor of European literature, Vladimir Nabokov, changed the way I read and the way I write. Words could paint pictures, I learned from him. Choosing the right word, and the right word order, he illustrated, could make an enormous difference in conveying an image or an idea.

Literature is a far more ancient and viable thing than any social formation or state. And just as the state interferes in literature, literature has the right to interfere in the affairs of state.

The Germans call him 'Our Shakespeare' because we love him.

What I realized is that my interest in literature has more deeply structured my practice than I thought.

I wasn't a very good writer before college. I don't think I was a very good reader.

My mother, with a Master's in English Literature, taught me to appreciate language and that words matter.

Anne Carson and Angela Carter are folks I hold close to my heart because they have such unique ways of telling stories.

I liked Hemingway better before I began to be called 'Hemingwayesque.'

In German, there are only so many things you can write about.

I want to contribute to the culture and keep great writers alive by telling the stories of their lives.

What I find remarkable is that so much of the 18th century literature that I read is more accessible than reading your alternative weekly from ten years ago. People really aspired to write clearly.

There was always this idea that I would work on Shakespeare and some of the other classics, but it never came to be.

I tried to fortify myself with the best nonfiction and fiction I could lay my hands on, from the essays of James Baldwin and Joan Didion, to the stories and novels of Ralph Ellison, Roberto Bolano and Celine. Distinctive voices like these were a source of constant nourishment on all range of matters, from punctuation to philosophy.

Can fiction teach us? Absolutely. Fiction has the power to illustrate place, era, and atmosphere in vivid detail. But it is not Anthropology for Dummies.

I was reading some Raymond Carver. I really liked how he did that 'slice of life' thing. Because I'm not much of a reader I end up finding out about these things a long time after other people.

Russian literature got me interested in what literature means.

I'm German! Actually, I love my countr, ;I love the language. The German language is very special because it is so precise. There is a word for everything. There are so many wonderful words that other languages don't have. It is impressive to have such a rich language, and I love to work in that language.

At first I was glad for the help. My freshmen English class, "Mythology and Archetypal Experience," confounded me. I didn't understand why we couldn't just read books without forcing contorted interpretations on then

I'm not sure at all that literature should be studied on the university level. ... Why should people study books? Isn't it rather silly to study Pride and Prejudice. Either you get it or you don't.

The happiest and most glorious hours of my life with books have been with German books.