Writers On Writers
“If I were to read, cold, something by Anaïs Nin, I would probably say that it was written by a man trying to write as a woman.”
Joan Didion
“Spinoza’s ‘human bondage’ is the condition of one who identifies himself with his own desires, emotions and thought processes.”
Patrick White
“I admire Salman for his work and his courage, and I respect his stand.”
John le Carré
“I was being forced to read Henry James at school. I hated it. With the result that James became one of my favourite writers.”
Jeffrey Eugenides
“One Whitman is miracle enough, and when he comes again it will be the end of the world.”
Randall Jarrell
“This general inspissation of the Sacks worldview can seem both stimulating and disturbing.”
Will Self
“I have often thought Ian McEwan a writer as unlike me as it is possible to be.”
Zadie Smith
“If you’re trying to finish a book, steer clear of Nabokov—he’ll make you feel like a clodhopper.”
David Mitchell
“Of all novelists in any country, Trollope best understands the role of money.”
W.H Auden
“Larkin was a person who had profound and unforgettable things to say about common experience.”
Andrew Motion
Sources: Guardian, Wikiquote, The Believer, The Paris Review
Book Me... 