I think there is often a 'what if' proposition that gets me thinking about all my novels. — John Irving Copy Share Image
Plot is a map and I begin with it. It is what made me admire the novels of the 19th century; that… — John Irving Copy Share Image
'Great Expectations' was an important novel in my adolescence. It was very much one of those emblematic novels that made me wish… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“Writing a novel is actually searching for victims. As I write I keep looking for casualties. The stories uncover the casualties." (Interview… — John Irving Copy Share Image
“A novel is always more complicated than it seems at the beginning. Indeed a novel should be more complicated than it seems… — John Irving Copy Share Image
I grew up around books - my grandmother's house, where I lived as a small child, was full of books. My father… — John Irving Copy Share Image
I find screenplays easy to write, my novels being very visual. You see what people look like. The physical action is described. — John Irving Copy Share Image
You don't want to dwell on your enemies, you know. I basically feel so superior to my critics for the simple reason… — John Irving Copy Share Image
My first attraction to writing novels was the plot, that almost extinct animal. Those novels I read which made me want to… — John Irving Copy Share Image
For most of my life, when I've finished the book I'm writing, there've always been as many as two or three other… — John Irving Copy Share Image
Your memory is a monster; you forget - it doesn't. It simply files things away. It keeps things for you, or hides things from… — John Irving Copy Share
… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life. — John Irving Copy Share
Watch out for people who call themselves religious; make sure you know what they mean––make sure they know what they mean! — John Irving Copy Share
The desire to never leave your side, the desire to never see you again. The desire to see your face asleep on the pillow… — John Irving Copy Share
I had been a student in Vienna, and one of the neat little things I had found out was about that zoo. It was… — John Irving Copy Share
“God, I think I just hit a high E-flat - and I really held it!" Esmeralda said, after one of her more prolonged orgasms,… — John Irving Copy Share
“Nostalgia!" Miss Frost cried. "You´re nostalgic!" She repeated. "Just how old are you, William?" She asked. "Seventeen, " I told her. "Seventeen!" Miss Frost… — John Irving Copy Share
“JUST BECAUSE A BUNCH OF ATHEISTS ARE BETTER WRITERS THAN THE GUYS WHO WROTE THE BIBLE DOESN'T NECESSARILY MAKE THEM RIGHT!" [Owen Meany] said… — John Irving Copy Share
It is much easier to be flexible about where a story begins than it ever was for me to change my mind about where… — John Irving Copy Share
“Only the chicken-lover will understand me. He will give me a kindly look, maybe mildly desirous. His eyes will tell me: You might look… — John Irving Copy Share
You're nice,' Cushie told him, squeezing his hand. 'And you're my oldest friend.' But they both must have known that you can know someone… — John Irving Copy Share
“Because of A Prayer for Owen Meany, many of my readers assume I am “religious.” I go to church only occasionally—like a lot of… — John Irving Copy Share
“Did anyone who was in love and was unsatisfied with how he was loved in return ever feel saved?” — John Irving Copy Share
“I TRUST THAT GOD WILL HELP ME, BECAUSE WHAT I’M SUPPOSED TO DO LOOKS VERY HARD.” — John Irving Copy Share
