Jack O'Brien Quotes

Was there ever such stuff as great as part of Shakespeare? Only one must not say so! But what think you? - What? - Is there not sad stuff? What? - What?

In school I really loved Shakespeare, and I participated in a country-wide Shakespeare competition.

I hate Shakespeare. I think Shakespeare's rubbish.

Vladimir Nabokov on 'Bleak House' or Henry James on 'The House of the Seven Gables' prove that reading can be an exciting subject in itself, full of passionate encounters, contradictory judgments, striking discoveries, and unexpected reversals.

We had five goats, two dogs, a cat and racks of commentaries on Shakespeare.

You have to learn the language of Hamlet.

I trained in Shakespeare, and that's all comedy, even when it's tragedy.

I've never really had a desire to do Shakespeare. For me, it's just too many lines.

Every literary critic believes he will outwit history and have the last word.

The writer studies literature, not the world.

I like Shakespeare. I like some of his work a lot.

Critic's delight: scolding the Mighty Dead.

If you're going to do Shakespeare, do Shakespeare. There's a reason why he's been performed for hundreds of years. His words affect people on a very deep level. He's the true humanist. That all comes through his text, his words.

Literature is analysis after the event.

The scholars and poets of an earlier time can be read only with a dictionary to help.

Out of respect to writers, you have to read the book in the way in which the author visualised it going out into the world.

One of the problems with Shakespeare is that you can never give him a ring.

If people aren't creating literature, there would be nothing for people to criticize.

Most people, even among those who know Shakespeare well and come into real contact with his mind, are inclined to isolate and exaggerate some one aspect of the tragic fact.

We have cut the text, but what remains are Shakespeare's words.

I don't think there's anything wrong with someone having to read a poem twice. Or even a book.

At my school, Shakespeare wasn't on the syllabus - at least not for me.

I don't read novels, but my semiotics study influenced everything about the way I read and edit and write.

The question of manuscript changes is very important for literary criticism, the psychology of creation and other aspects of the study of literature.

Sometimes I read reviews, and without exception I will read critical essays that are sent to me. The critical essays are interesting on their own terms.