I like the idea of a big caesura between the narratives, a space which readers can fill in with their own speculative history. Jonathan Coe More Quotes by Jonathan Coe More Quotes From Jonathan Coe I was going to say 'my friend Stuart', but I suppose he's not a friend any more. I seem to have lost a number of friends in the last few years. I don't mean that I've fallen out with them, in any dramatic way. We've just decided not to stay in touch. And that's what it's been: a decision, a conscious decision, because it's not difficult to stay in touch with people nowadays, there are so many different ways of doing it. But as you get older, I think that some friendships start to feel increasingly redundant. You just find yourself asking, "What's the point?" And then you stop. Jonathan Coe mean years thinking I have two ideas for novels at the moment, neither of them all that conventional, but I'm not ready to choose between them yet, let alone settle down to the process of writing. Jonathan Coe writing two ideas The writer I feel the most affinity with - you said you felt my books are 19th century novels, I think they're 18th century novels - is Fielding, Henry Fielding, he's the guy who does it for me. Jonathan Coe guy book thinking Thatcherism has become bigger than she ever was. Jonathan Coe bigger But you can try to read books at the wrong time or for the wrong reasons. Jonathan Coe reason trying book My only regret is that I signed away the world rights and in America they've been far and away my most successful books, but I never saw a cent from any of it. Jonathan Coe regret successful book As I said, I had no publisher for What a Carve Up! while I was writing it, so all we had to live off was my wife's money and little bits I was picking up for journalism. Jonathan Coe wife writing littles Writers never feel comfortable having labels attached to them, however accurate they are. Jonathan Coe accurate labels feels The more melancholy side of my literary personality is much in tune with BS Johnson's. Jonathan Coe tunes personality sides You would go mad if you began to speculate about the impact your novel might have while you were still writing it. Jonathan Coe impact mad writing It seems to me that you would have to write a novel on a very small, intimate scale for it not to become political. Jonathan Coe intimate political writing It's only a drawback in the States, where most people seem to have no real interest in other countries and the notion of a novel which might offer insight into life in the UK doesn't seem to appeal very widely. Jonathan Coe only real life people I became quite taken over by Johnson's personality at some points while writing the biography, and since I went straight on to The Closed Circle afterwards, I did sometimes feel I could hear him whispering in my ear while I was working on it. Jonathan Coe feel personality writing sometimes But we are entitled to look for continuity in politics. Jonathan Coe look continuity entitled politics Luckily, in my case, I have managed, by writing, to do the one thing that I always wanted to do. Jonathan Coe thing always one-thing writing I think it's also the case that I'm not as widely travelled, or as well-educated in history, as most of the other novelists I meet: so I have to write about my own country, at the present time, because it's more or less all I know about! Jonathan Coe think time country history They were written in the early '90s when I was strapped for cash. Jonathan Coe were early cash written
