Human sexuality makes farcical our most serious intentions. John Irving More Quotes by John Irving More Quotes From John Irving The book works better if I know everything I can about the ending. Not just what happens, but how it happens and what the language is; not just the last sentence, but enough of the sentences surrounding that last sentence to know what the tone of voice is. I imagined it as something almost musical. Then you are writing toward something; you know the sound of your voice at the end of the story. That's how you want to sound in those final sentences: the degree that it is uplifting or not, the degree that it is melancholic or not. John Irving upliftingwritingbook Grown-ups shouldn’t finish books they’re not enjoying. When you’re no longer a child, and you no longer live at home, you don’t have to finish everything on your plate. One reward of leaving school is that you don’t have to finish books you don’t like. John Irving homebookchildren Like many successful people he made good use of disappointments - responding to them with energy, with near-frenzied activity, rather than needing to recover from them. John Irving disappointmentsuccessfulpeople In a school community, someone who reads a book for some secretive purpose, other than discussing it, is strange. What was she reading for? John Irving readingbookschool No one could have fathomed what a life he'd led, for it was chiefly a life lived in his mind. John Irving mind I don't want you to describe to me—not ever—what you were doing to that poor boy to make him sound like that; but if you ever do it again, please cover his mouth with your hand. John Irving soundboyshands She felt detached from her family, and thought it strange how they had lavished so much attention on her, as a child, and then at some appointed, prearranged time they seemed to stop the flow of affection and being the expectations - as if, for a brief phrase, you were expected to absorb love (and get enough), and then, for a much longer and more serious phase, you were expected to fulfill certain obligations. John Irving expectationsattentionchildren And never forget, there is memory. John Irving never-forgetforgetmemories The concept of writing a novel and not knowing where it's going - I don't know how to do that. Novels are plot- and character-driven, so if I don't know what becomes of people, how can I know where it should begin? John Irving knowingwritingcharacter It's a no-win argument - that business of what we're born with and what our environment does to us. And it's a boring argument, because it simplifies the mysteries that attend both our birth and our growth. John Irving growthwinningdoe Every American should be forced to live outside the United States for a year or two. Americans should be forced to see how ridiculous they appear to the rest of the world! They should listen to someone else's version of themselves--to anyone else's version! Every country knows more about America than Americans know about themselves! And Americans know absolutely nothing about any other country! John Irving twocountryyears I have stood aside to see the phantoms of those days go by me. They are gone, and I resume the journey of my story.’ (David Copperfield) “But all that night he lay awake because the phantoms of those days were not gone. Like the tiny, terrible holes in the prophylactics, the phantoms of those days were not easy to detect—and their meaning was unknown—but they were there. John Irving journeygonenight A novel is a piece of architecture. It's not random wallowings or confessional diaries. It's a building-it has to have walls and floors and the bathrooms have to work. John Irving walldiarieswriting Maybe television causes cancer, Garp thinks; but his real irritation is a writer's irritation: he knows that wherever the TV glows, there sits someone who isn't reading. John Irving cancerrealreading My dear boy, please don’t put a label on me—don’t make me a category before you get to know me! John Irving categorieslabelsboys Because who can describe that look that triggers the memory of loved ones? Who can anticipate the frown, the smile, or the misplaced lock of hair that sends a swift, undeniable signal from the past? Who can ever estimate the power of association, which is always strongest in moments of love and in memories of death? John Irving hairmemoriespast There's a lot of ignorance about how long it takes to write a novel. There's a lot of ignorance about how long a novel is in your head before you start to write it. John Irving ignorancewritinglong Thus we try to keep our heroes alive; hence we remember them. John Irving aliveherotrying The characters in my novels, from the very first one, are always on some quixotic effort of attempting to control something that is uncontrollable - some element of the world that is essentially random and out of control. John Irving elementseffortcharacter Whereas she wished more of the population were better educated, she also believed that education was largely wasted on the majority of the people she met. John Irving populationmajoritypeople
