I used to take five or six books away and bring five or six books back. Nobody gave me direction or advice and I read much in the way that a boy might watch television.

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.

The rosary was said every evening. I always liked that sentence about the medieval Churches,...

The rosary was said every evening. I always liked that sentence about the medieval Churches,...

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...

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 belong to the middle class that grew up very influenced by the Catholic church....

I belong to the middle class that grew up very influenced by the Catholic church....

I love the description of Gothic churches before the printed word, that they were the...

I love the description of Gothic churches before the printed word, that they were the...

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...

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...

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...

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...

My father was very outwardly religious.

My father was very outwardly religious.

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 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...

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...

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...

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...

I think that each of us inhabits a private world that others cannot see. The...

I think that each of us inhabits a private world that others cannot see. The...

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.