Certainly the details of our life are unique. Spending time thinking of how I am different from someone else, however, does not tend to be very productive. Akhil Sharma More Quotes by Akhil Sharma More Quotes From Akhil Sharma Intern will resonate not only with doctors, but with anyone who has struggled with the grand question 'What should I do with my life?' In a voice of profound honesty and intelligence, Sandeep Jauhar gives us an insider's look at the medical profession and also a dramatic account of the psychological challenges of early adulthood. Akhil Sharma doctorshonestyvoice For me, a lot of the humor comes not from innocence but from characters trying to figure out how to get what they need. I don't try to be funny, but am relieved when an opportunity comes up for humor. Akhil Sharma opportunitytryingcharacter Ernest Hemingway has been the most important influence on me as a writer. But at a certain point as a writer, I realized that he was writing about good people doing good things. This did not match my experience of life and so I found my sentences stretching and becoming less plain. Akhil Sharma importantwritingpeople As a teacher, I can help my students see what is working and not working. I can show them certain solutions. I can guide them to books that will serve as role models. Largely, though, one learns to write almost like developing muscle memory, and this requires years of effort. Akhil Sharma teachermemoriesbook I think that books are fundamentally educational. Akhil Sharma fundamentallyi-thinkbooksthink I know how to write fiction well. Akhil Sharma wellhowknowfiction I don't really revise. I tend to rewrite. Akhil Sharma revisetendreallyrewrite When you read Chekhov, everything has an even gray tone. When you read 'Family Life', everything has an even white tone. It is almost like when you paint on paper, and you can see the paper through the paint. Akhil Sharma youfamilywhitelife I think immigrants, when they're stressed, think that there's something wrong with America, when it's really just difficult to leave a country and all that you know. Akhil Sharma thinkknowyoucountry I thought it was quite wonderful coming to America. I think immigration is a very difficult thing, but America is a very wonderful place. Akhil Sharma placethoughtthinkamerica 'Family Life' is a blueprint of my life. It was horrible and physically gruesome in a way the book doesn't attempt to capture. It was emotionally very bleak. Akhil Sharma my-lifefamilylifebook During my breakdown, many things, tiny things I had not even registered before, had begun to torment me with guilt. I used to steal Splenda from Starbucks. I would go into a Starbucks whenever I needed the sweetener and would take a fistful of packets, even when I didn't buy a coffee. Akhil Sharma gomecoffeeguilt I had written a book. For various reasons, the publishing industry had decided that my book was going to be 'important.' The novel had taken me 12-and-a-half years to write, and after being with the book for so long, I had no real perspective on the merits or demerits of what I had written. I hoped it was good, but feared that it wasn't. Akhil Sharma goodmeperspectivelong My wife is the most wonderful woman in the world, and my parents are the most extraordinary father and mother. Akhil Sharma womanwifemotherfather I am shamelessly biased about the people in my life, and it makes sense to me that other people are the same. Akhil Sharma i-ammy-lifemelife Writing about what happened to my brother and to my family was awful. It was hard to look back at how much suffering there was and at how certain bad situations were made worse by our decisions. Akhil Sharma lookfamilybrothersuffering I think one can be more honest in fiction than in a memoir. Akhil Sharma i-thinkmorethinkhonest We are all human beings, immigrant or non-immigrant. We all feel fear. We all love and become confused when we don't act as well as we would like to. We all get depressed and have feelings of uselessness. All of these things are true and have always been true. Akhil Sharma feelconfusedfearlove We are often unaware of how much we love the people around us. This is true for everyone. We may think that we love certain people, but we don't know how profoundly we love them. Akhil Sharma truethinklovepeople
