A dead dog is more quiet than a house on the steppes, a chair in a empty room. Per Petterson More Quotes by Per Petterson More Quotes From Per Petterson To say that a family is happy I think is to diminish it, taking out what is interesting. Growing up, I don't think my family was any happier or unhappier than anyone else's. My mother and father should have been divorced or never even married. On the other hand, I remember many moments of happiness. Per Petterson familymotherhappinessfather I don't know if nature is a direct literary influence on my writing, but it is certainly important to me. I take great joy in writing about it. It is something I have taken with me from my childhood; the body exposed to the threat of the physical world and at the same time being at home in it. Per Petterson mechildhoodnaturetime I come from a working-class family. They're the people I know and the people I love, I guess. I do not write about them for political reasons, but because, as I see it, most interesting things - social, political, emotional - take place there. It's a bottomless well for an author like me. Per Petterson mefamilylovepeople Philosophically I am, or at least have been, a follower of Sartre. I am very interested in the choices we make, or don't make, in life-defining matters. That moment of 'angst' and its consequences can be such a cruel thing. Per Petterson consequencesi-ammomentchoices Some critics said, 'Hey, why are you writing historical novels?' I say they're not historical, they're contemporary, because people walking around who lived through this, even a little bit, they carry it inside. The contemporary isn't just what you can see now. Per Petterson youwalkingwritingpeople I'm a family-based person, even though we didn't exactly have a very happy family. I was never in any doubt that this was a centre of writing. Per Petterson neverfamilywritinghappy If you're a Norwegian writer, you are not visible in the world. The door of the English language is very hard to open for a Norwegian writer. Per Petterson dooryoulanguageworld When my mother talked about her brother, there was this light in her eyes. I thought, 'This is the basis of a novel.' Per Petterson eyeslightbrothermother I hate plots. Per Petterson plotshate 'In the Wake' was a very bleak book. This relationship was not too good, the father and son. This time around, I wanted a father and a son who really loved each other, which would be visible on the first page and would still be there on the last page. Per Petterson goodtimerelationshipson When you are a sentence-based writer, they have to be good. They have to be really on the spot. Because when you don't have a plot, really, what shall you rely on? Just language. And sometimes I am so afraid of writing the wrong thing, I just sit and wait for the right thing to come. Per Petterson i-amgoodyousometimes 1989 was such a very, very important year in Europe. The wall fell, the Soviet Union was crumbling, and so many things happened - in 15 minutes, the world changed. Per Petterson yearthingsimportantworld Making sentences is what I do. I mean, the story will come as I write. Per Petterson writewillstorymean Living here where I live, on a farm way out in the countryside, in the woods, in fact, I have plenty of time to be alone, and I like it. I always have. I like my own company. And I am not the only one who feels this way; a high percentage of the Norwegian population feel as I do. Per Petterson i-amalonefeeltime
