I belong to the middle class that grew up very influenced by the Catholic church. The people of the novel are from a more pagan and practical world in which the Christianity is just a veneer.

Quote by John McGahern

Topics: John McGahern Quotes

Yes, though I have nothing but gratitude for my upbringing in the church.

Yes, though I have nothing but gratitude for my upbringing in the church.

Yes, but also one of the problems for a novelist in Ireland is the fact...

Yes, but also one of the problems for a novelist in Ireland is the fact...

My father was very outwardly religious.

My father was very outwardly religious.

I think there's a great difference in consciousness in that same way in that when...

I think there's a great difference in consciousness in that same way in that when...

I've never written anything that hasn't been in my mind for a long time -...

I've never written anything that hasn't been in my mind for a long time -...

I feel I grew up in a different century than I live in. I think...

I feel I grew up in a different century than I live in. I think...

For example, it's only about 20 years ago the people in that community would have...

For example, it's only about 20 years ago the people in that community would have...

I think it's linked to the realisation that we're not going to live forever and...

I think it's linked to the realisation that we're not going to live forever and...

Everything that we inherit, the rain, the skies, the speech, and anybody who works in...

Everything that we inherit, the rain, the skies, the speech, and anybody who works in...

I think fiction is a very serious thing, that while it is fiction, it is...

I think fiction is a very serious thing, that while it is fiction, it is...

When I start to write, words have become physical presence. It was to see if...

When I start to write, words have become physical presence. It was to see if...

But that private world, once it's dramatised, doesn't live again until it finds a reader.

But that private world, once it's dramatised, doesn't live again until it finds a reader.

I used to take five or six books away and bring five or six books...

I used to take five or six books away and bring five or six books...

Ireland is a peculiar society in the sense that it was a nineteenth century society...

Ireland is a peculiar society in the sense that it was a nineteenth century society...

We absolutely believed in Heaven and Hell, Purgatory, and even Limbo. I mean, they were...

We absolutely believed in Heaven and Hell, Purgatory, and even Limbo. I mean, they were...

I think technique can be taught but I think the only way to learn to...

I think technique can be taught but I think the only way to learn to...

When I was in my 20s it did occur to me that there was something...

When I was in my 20s it did occur to me that there was something...

I read all the time. I was reading a book I admire very much by...

I read all the time. I was reading a book I admire very much by...

Amongst Women concentrated on the family, and the new book concentrates on a small community....

Amongst Women concentrated on the family, and the new book concentrates on a small community....

The way I see it is that all the ol' guff about being Irish is...

The way I see it is that all the ol' guff about being Irish is...