"We need myths to get by. We need story, otherwise the tremendous randomness of experience overwhelms us.
Story is what penetrates."
- Robert Coover
Jack Edwards found “Pride and Prejudice” disappointing and says that he hates Dickens. But that has not stopped him becoming the most influential man in the book world.
On the Cumulative Power of Human Ingenuity The Sense of an Ending
“Chloé Zhao recovered from looking shellshocked to quote Paul Mescal, saying that making Hamnet made him realize that being an artist is about being vulnerable and being seen for who we are, not who we ought to be, and giving ourselves fully to the world.” - The New York Times
It was not long before people began poking holes in Joan Lowell’s story. But the book didn’t sink—it was a great success, in part for reasons new to her era and familiar to ours. - The New Yorker
“Ambition is everything. Fiction isn’t ballet. It’s not marathoning. You don’t have to start small, with drills or exercises; there’s nothing you need to perfect before moving on. Your budget for characters and sets and props and visual effects is infinite.” - The Guardian (UK)
The round-up includes books translated from French, Danish, Bulgarian, and Japanese, but the critic says, “for my money, contemporary Chinese writing is the most interesting literature being produced today.” - Irish Times (Archive Today)