I've always been a fan of the 19th century novel, of the novel that is plotted, character-driven, and where the passage of time is almost as central to the novel as a major minor character, the passage of time and…

Quote by John Irving

Topics: John Irving Quotes

Sigmund Freud was a novelist with a scientific background. He just didn't know he was...

Sigmund Freud was a novelist with a scientific background. He just didn't know he was...

Half my life is an act of revision.

Half my life is an act of revision.

There are few things as seemingly untouched by the real world as a child asleep.

There are few things as seemingly untouched by the real world as a child asleep.

More than a half, maybe as much as two-thirds of my life as a writer...

More than a half, maybe as much as two-thirds of my life as a writer...

No adult in my family would ever tell me anything about who my father was....

No adult in my family would ever tell me anything about who my father was....

Sometimes that's a year, sometimes it's 18 months, where all I'm doing is taking notes....

Sometimes that's a year, sometimes it's 18 months, where all I'm doing is taking notes....

You don't want to dwell on your enemies, you know. I basically feel so superior...

You don't want to dwell on your enemies, you know. I basically feel so superior...

Writing a novel is actually searching for victims. As I write I keep looking for...

Writing a novel is actually searching for victims. As I write I keep looking for...

And I don't want to begin something, I don't want to write that first sentence...

And I don't want to begin something, I don't want to write that first sentence...

There's no reason you should write any novel quickly.

There's no reason you should write any novel quickly.

The building of the architecture of a novel - the craft of it - is...

The building of the architecture of a novel - the craft of it - is...

To each other, we were as normal and nice as the smell of bread. We...

To each other, we were as normal and nice as the smell of bread. We...

I had been a student in Vienna, and one of the neat little things I...

I had been a student in Vienna, and one of the neat little things I...

There's no reason you shouldn't, as a writer, not be aware of the necessity to...

There's no reason you shouldn't, as a writer, not be aware of the necessity to...

You know, people think you have to be dumb to skip rope for 45 minutes....

You know, people think you have to be dumb to skip rope for 45 minutes....

Your memory is a monster; you forget - it doesn't. It simply files things away....

Your memory is a monster; you forget - it doesn't. It simply files things away....

Oh FUCK the longings and agonies of youth.

Oh FUCK the longings and agonies of youth.

A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more...

A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more...

There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you...

There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you...

I go to school - to youth - to learn the future

I go to school - to youth - to learn the future