Mario Vargas Llosa Professions : WriterBorn : March 28, 1936 Browse All Authors Top 80 quotes by Mario Vargas Llosa I always write a draft version of the novel in which I try to develop, not the story, not the plot, but the possibilities of the plot. I write without thinking much, trying to overcome all kinds of self-criticism, without stopping, without giving any consideration to the style or structure of the novel, only putting down on paper everything that can be used as raw material, very crude material for later development in the story. Mario Vargas Llosa selfwritingthinking I couldn't imagine any other way of living, outside of books, outside my work. Which doesn't mean I am not interested in other things, of course - I am interested in many things. But the center, the crux, is always literature. Mario Vargas Llosa literaturemeanbook Journalism is a way of voicing opinion, of participating in the political, social, or cultural debate. Mario Vargas Llosa opinionpoliticalway North American society could not have reached its state of high development and modernity had it not been an open society. Mario Vargas Llosa american-societystatesdevelopment The writer’s job is to write with rigor, with commitment, to defend what they believe with all the talent they have. I think that’s part of the moral obligation of a writer, which cannot be only purely artistic. I think a writer has some kind of responsibility at least to participate in the civic debate. I think literature is impoverished, if it becomes cut from the main agenda of people, of society, of life. Mario Vargas Llosa writingjobsbelieve Literature is dangerous: it awakens a rebellious attitude in us. Mario Vargas Llosa usdangerousliteratureattitude Good literature is absolutely necessary for a society that wants to be free. Mario Vargas Llosa freegoodsocietyliterature I don't want to finish my life not being alive. I think that is the saddest thing that can happen to a person. I want to keep living to the end. Mario Vargas Llosa my-lifeendthinklife Faulkner was the first novelist I read with pen and paper in hand because his technique stunned me. Mario Vargas Llosa penfirstmepaper Good novel is a conjunction of many factors, the main of which is, without a doubt, hard work. There are many things behind a good novel, but in particular, there is a lot of work - a lot of patience, a lot of stubbornness, and a critical spirit. Mario Vargas Llosa goodhard-workworkpatience Today, everybody is more or less conscious of the total failure of the Cuban revolution to produce wealth, to produce a better standard of living for the Cubans. With the exception of small radical parties, Latin Americans know that it's a brutal dictatorship and the longest in Latin American history. Mario Vargas Llosa betterfailuretodayhistory To write is a relief from life's problems. It is a way in which you revenge yourself. In art, the writer achieves utopia. But any attempt to achieve social utopia is bound to catastrophe. If you want a society of saints, the result is hell, repression, totalitarianism, and persecution. Mario Vargas Llosa yourselfyoulifeart In 1975, I went to the Dominican Republic for eight months during the shooting of a film based on my novel 'Captain Pantoja and the Special Service.' It was during this period I heard and read about Trujillo. Mario Vargas Llosa captainserviceshootingspecial I think yellow journalism is something that appears everywhere, in the underdeveloped and developed worlds alike. Mario Vargas Llosa somethingthinkjournalismyellow If you live in a country where there is nothing comparable to free information, often literature becomes the only way to be more or less informed about what's going on. Mario Vargas Llosa liveyoucountryway Good literature always ends up showing those who read it... the inevitable limitation of all power to fulfill human aspirations and desires. Mario Vargas Llosa goodalwayspowerliterature The novels that have fascinated me most are the ones that have reached me less through the channels of the intellect or reason than bewitched me. Mario Vargas Llosa thanthroughmereason When I was young, I was a passionate reader of Sartre. I've read the American novelists, in particular the lost generation - Faulkner, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Dos Passos - especially Faulkner. Of the authors I read when I was young, he is one of the few who still means a lot to me. Mario Vargas Llosa americangenerationmelost I wouldn't reread Sartre today. Compared to everything I've read since, his fiction seems dated and has lost much of its value. Mario Vargas Llosa valueeverythinglosttoday Eroticism is born at a time in civilisation when sexual instinct becomes deanimalised and enriched with contributions from art and from literature. A world of theatricality emerges around the act of love. Mario Vargas Llosa timeloveworldart Similar Authors Ihab Hassan writer Ingmar Bergman writer Isabella Bird writer Ivan E. Coyote writer Al Feldstein writer Bert Sugar writerAll Authors
