#literary

...reduction is precisely what a work of art opposes. Easy answers...annotations, arrows...an oudine of its design...very seriously mislead. ↗

— William H. Gass

#literary-criticism #the-recognitions #twentieth-century #art

The beliefs and behaviour of the Restoration reflect the theories of society put forward by Thomas Hobbes in The Leviathan, which was written in exile in Paris and published in 1651. Like many texts of the time, The Leviathan is an allegory. It recalls mediaeval rather than Renaissance thinking. The leviathan is the Commonwealth, society as a total organism, in which the individual is the absolute subject of state control, represented by the monarch. Man - motivated by self-interest - is acquisitive and lacks codes of behaviour. Hence the necessity for a strong controlling state, 'an artificial man', to keep discord at bay. Self-interest and stability become the keynotes of British society after 1660, the voice of the new middle-class bourgeoisie making itself heard more and more in the expression of values, ideals, and ethics. ↗

— Ronald Carter

#motivational

I know I will always be attracted to the unknown as it does often verify what I am or what else I could be. ↗

— Hollace M. Metzger

#hollace-m-metzger #inspirational #interview #literary #quote

I would rather be attacked than unnoticed. For the worst thing you can do to an author is to be silent as to his works. ↗

— Samuel Johnson

#literary-criticism #obscurity #writing #authority

If you show someone something you've written, you give them a sharpened stake, lie down in your coffin, and say, ‘When you’re ready’. ↗

— David Mitchell

#writing #criticism

I don't see how the study of language and literature can be separated from the question of free speech, which we all know is fundamental to our society. [p.92] ↗

— Northrop Frye

#literary-criticism #education

A Quote from Monty's journal in GOD MUST BE WEEPING. "I felt as anonymous as a grain of sand. ↗

— J.D. Winston

#historical-fiction #inspirational #literary-fiction #love-story #spiritual

Every literary critic believes he will outwit history and have the last word. ↗

— Mason Cooley

#critic #every #history #last #literary

Today, there are more opportunities for writers in terms of access to larger success, but it's more difficult to publish a literary novel in the lower ranges. In other words, you almost have to hit a home run. You can hit a triple, maybe, but nobody's interested in a single. ↗

— James Lee Burke

#almost #difficult #hit #home #home run

Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible, and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer. ↗

— J.R.R. Tolkien

#bad-reviews #boring #complain #literary-criticism #lotr