I think of myself as more of a maker than a thinker. Janet Malcolm More Quotes by Janet Malcolm More Quotes From Janet Malcolm The 'I' character in journalism is almost pure invention. Janet Malcolm invention journalism character Malice remains its animating impulse. Janet Malcolm impulse remains malice The ‘I’ character in journalism is almost pure invention. Unlike the ‘I’ of autobiography, who is meant to be seen as a representation of the writer, the ‘I’ of journalism is connected to the writer only in a tenuous way—the way, say, that Superman is connected to Clark Kent. The journalistic ‘I’ is an overreliable narrator, a functionary to whom crucial tasks of narration and argument and tone have been entrusted, an ad hoc creation, like the chorus of Greek tragedy. He is an emblematic figure, an embodiment of the idea of the dispassionate observer of life. Janet Malcolm greek character ideas A lawsuit is to ordinary life what war is to peacetime. In a lawsuit, everybody on the other side is bad. A trial transcript is a discourse in malevolence. Janet Malcolm law ordinary war My living room has an oak-wood floor, Persian carpets, floor-to-ceiling bookcases, a large ficus and large fern, a fireplace with a group of photographs and drawings over it, a glass-top coffee table with a bowl of dried pomegranates on it, and sofas and chairs covered in off-white linen. Janet Malcolm room group living coffee The autobiographer works in a treacherous terrain. The journalist has a much safer job. Janet Malcolm much job terrain journalist Although psychoanalysis has influenced me personally, it has had curiously little influence on my writing. This may be because writers learn from other writers, not from theories. Janet Malcolm learn me influence writing The journalist must do his work in a kind of deliberately induced state of moral anarchy. Janet Malcolm anarchy moral kind work 'The Rachel Maddow Show' is a piece of sleight of hand presented as a cable news show. It is TV entertainment at its finest. Janet Malcolm show hand news entertainment The letters and journals we leave behind and the impressions we have made on our contemporaries are the mere husk of the kernel of our essential life. When we die, the kernel is buried with us. This is the horror and pity of death and the reason for the inescapable triviality of biography. Janet Malcolm behind die life death You could say that any book that takes a position is not fair, unless you keep saying, 'On the one hand, on the other...' and take a great deal of trouble to present both sides. That kind of journalism tends not to be very interesting. Janet Malcolm great you journalism book Biographies never feel as real as the best fiction. There is such a discontinuity between the narrative and the material it comes from, which is always such a mixed bag of letters, recollections, and other data. Janet Malcolm bag feel never best Keeping one's eyes open, listening, watching, being quiet, adopting some of the techniques of the psychoanalyst in talking to people, will bring you that surface from which something more comes. Janet Malcolm eyes will you people The journalist cannot create his subjects any more than the analyst can create his patients. Janet Malcolm than cannot more create The journalist confines himself to the clean, gentlemanly work of exposing the griefs and shames of others. Janet Malcolm himself others clean work Journalists who swallow the subject's account whole and publish it are not journalists but publicists. Janet Malcolm swallow who publish whole I don't go out of my way to be friendly, because it's completely unnecessary. People tell you what they are going to tell you no matter what. Janet Malcolm you matter people way I'm a very laboured writer. I hammer it out sentence by sentence, and it takes a long time. That's what the work is, right? To make the reader think it is not hard to do. Janet Malcolm long-time work time long If I write a page a day, I feel very good about it. Janet Malcolm write feel day good As an observer, I'm analysing my reactions, I guess, and my thinking; but about the process of writing... I am not very talented at talking about what I do as a writer. Janet Malcolm i-am writing talking thinking
