Donna Tartt Quotes

We shouldn't teach great books; we should teach a love of reading. Knowing the contents of a few works of literature is a trivial achievement. Being inclined to go on reading is a great achievement.

I used to just sit down and read the dictionary, and I read the Bible and Shakespeare from cover to cover.

For years, I had heard about the lack of interest in literature in the U.S. and I had complained about it. I failed to understand how people could fail to be moved by art.

I'm not an academic; I'm just a bookish Joe who gets passionate about certain writers and suddenly wants to read everything they've ever written and find out why they wrote it.

I am trying to concentrate on books. You know, I love Dostoevsky; he's my favourite writer.

I think that good writing is based on good reading. Maybe it's not about writing today, maybe it's about reading today. Maybe it's about finding the sort of book you would never read.

People like to complain about the state of contemporary literature, but I can only assume they don't read it very widely.

I mean, when you're tired of book reviews, you're tired of life.

I don't even know how people read new fiction anymore because there's so much old fiction that exists that seems great that's unread. It's overwhelming to me. But, I mean, I do read. But there probably haven't been many people less literate than me that have been in 'The Paris Review.'

Literature is capable of being a subject that people want to catch up on or discuss, whether at a coffee shop or a watercooler. It can become an intrinsic part of their dialogue.

He knew everything about literature except how to enjoy it.

A surprising number of people - including many students of literature - will tell you they haven't really lived in a book since they were children. Sadly, being taught literature often destroys the life of the books.

I read, therefore I'm interested in writers.

When I was a kid, I went through the whole process of reading great literature and trying to be very widely read.

I don't read a lot of books.

Like most authors, I also love to read.

I think that whenever a book is not a challenge, I'm telling the wrong story.

I, personally, have found reading a continual support to writing.

For example, Americans seem reluctant to take on Shakespeare because you don't think you're very good at it - which is rubbish. You're missing out here.

When a new book is published, read an old one.

I read all the time. People ask, 'Do you read while you work?' And I say, 'I better.' I take two or three years to finish one of my enormous books, and I can't go that long without reading.

You hear all this whining going on, 'Where are our great writers?' The thing I might feel doleful about is: Where are the readers?

As society diversifies, the number of people who read literature is decreasing. It will be difficult for readers to digest my ideas through literature.

The society of dead authors has this advantage over that of the living: they never flatter us to our faces, nor slander us behind our backs, nor intrude upon our privacy, nor quit their shelves until we take them down.

I don't think of myself as a critic at all. I'm a reviewer and essayist. I mainly hope to share with others my pleasure in the books and authors I write about, though sometimes I do need to cavil and point out shortcomings.