I was dropped by my publisher after my first two books. But I always believed in myself. John Boyne More Quotes by John Boyne More Quotes From John Boyne It occurs to me that even though Zoya and I are both still alive, my life is already over. She will be taken from me soon and there will be no reason for me to continue without her. We are one person, you see. We are GeorgyandZoya. John Boyne alivetakenlife-is War today is such a more visible thing. We see it on television, on CNN. In 1914, war was a concept. John Boyne cnnwartelevision The first thing he noticed was how quiet it was. This was nothing like the kind of quiet he heard when he woke up in the middle of the night after a bad dream. When that happened, there were always strange, unidentifiable sounds seeping into his room from the tiny gaps where the windowpanes weren't sealed together correctly. At those moments he could always tell there was life outside, even if all that life was fast asleep. It was a silence that wasn't silence at all. John Boyne silencedreamnight And I have tried to forget him, I have tried to convince myself that it was just one of those things, but it’s difficult to do that when my body is standing here, eight feet deep in the earth of northern France, while my heart remains by a stream in a clearing in England where I left it weeks ago. John Boyne eightfeetheart He suddenly became convinced that if he didn’t do something sensible, something to put his mind to some use, then before he knew it he would be wondering round the streets having fights with himself and inviting domestic animals to social occasions too. John Boyne fightingmindanimal But still there are moments when a brother and sister can lay down their instruments of torture for a moment and speak as civilized human beings and Bruno decided to make this one of those moments. John Boyne momentsspeakbrother Do you see the irony at all, Tristan?’ I stare at him and shake my head. He seems determined not to speak again until I do. ‘What irony?’ I ask eventually, the words tumbling out in a hurried heap. ‘That I am to be shot as a coward while you get to live as one. John Boyne tumblingironycoward We all are [normal]. Their idea of normal just happens to be different to some other people's idea of normal. But this is the world we live in. Some people simply cannot accept something that is outside of their experience. John Boyne differentpeopleideas There is cruelty in the world Eliza, you can see that, can't you? It surrounds us. It breathes on us. We spend our life trying to escape it. John Boyne breathetryingworld The dot that became a speck that became a blob that became a figure that became a boy John Boyne dotsfiguresboys It's not easy making a living as a writer, and for many years I worked at a Waterstones in Dublin. It was a good environment for an aspiring writer, with lots of events and authors appearing. John Boyne dublineventsyears I was a very quiet child, quite introverted, really. Independent, yes; I didn't need a lot of supervision. Less so than I did when I got older, maybe. But I was a bookish child, not surprisingly. I could sit quite happily in a corner for hours and entertain myself with books. John Boyne independentbookchildren Children's authors don't talk down or patronise their younger readers. John Boyne youngerdowntalkchildren People try to glorify war, particularly those who aren't actually fighting in them. People tend to make heroes of those who are fighting in them. John Boyne tryfightingwarpeople I am opposed to war, to killing people, to any kind of hatred and violence. John Boyne i-amviolencewarpeople It's a wonderful thing to write for children. John Boyne thingwritewonderfulchildren I move between the two: I write an adult novel, and then I write a children's book. I quite enjoy that. It's a nice change of pace each time. John Boyne enjoychangetimechildren I can remember being eight, and I like writing about that age of innocence when children still have a sense of wonder. John Boyne i-canagerememberchildren I wrote my first book at 20, but my whole focus from about the age of 12 was to be a writer. John Boyne firstfocusagebook I suppose books are my real passion in life. John Boyne bookspassionreallife
