--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reading a newspaper is like reading…" description: "\"Reading a newspaper is like reading someone's letters, as opposed to a biography or a history. The writer really does not know what will happen. A nove..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa9/a-s-byatt-2-7553_biography_reading-a-newspaper-is-like-reading-some_2378062.jpg" --- # Reading a newspaper is like reading someone's letters, as… ![“Reading a newspaper is like reading someone's letters, as opposed to a biography or a history. The writer really does not know what will happen. A novelist needs to feel what that is like.” quote by A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa9/a-s-byatt-2-7553_biography_reading-a-newspaper-is-like-reading-some_2378062.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa9/a-s-byatt-2-7553_biography_reading-a-newspaper-is-like-reading-some_2378062.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa9/a-s-byatt-2-7553_biography_reading-a-newspaper-is-like-reading-some_2378062.jpg) > “Reading a newspaper is like reading someone's letters, as opposed to a biography or a history. The writer really does not know what will happen. A novelist needs to feel what that is like.” [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Newspapers provide immediate, personal perspectives unlike the broader view of biographies or histories. **In simple terms:** Newspapers give current, personal snapshots; biographies offer broader narratives. Key Takeaway Seek diverse sources for fuller understanding. Themes media perspective history Mood curious analytical Type informational reflective When to use this quote - current events - research - writing Key Concepts journalism literature Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance immediacy with depth? - What sources complement newspaper reading? A Different Perspective Newspapers may lack depth and context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Biography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biography/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Novelist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novelist/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [When you're a kid, you see your parents reading the newspaper and you're like, 'God, why are they reading the newspaper?' 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You go to battle not when you are ready, but when action offers itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/writing-for-a-newspaper-is-like-running-a-revolutionary-war-you-go-to/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [A city with one newspaper... is like a man with one eye, and often the eye is glass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-liebling/a-city-with-one-newspaper-is-like-a-man-with-one-eye-and-often-the/) [A. J. Liebling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-liebling/) > [Anyone anywhere - as long as you live in a country that does not censor the Internet - can now read this newspaper. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-boot/anyone-anywhere-as-long-as-you-live-in-a-country-that-does-not-censor/) [Max Boot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-boot/) > [Trying to be a first-rate reporter on the average American newspaper is like trying to play Bach's St Matthew Passion on a ukulele: The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-bagdikian/trying-to-be-a-first-rate-reporter-on-the-average-american-newspaper/) [Ben Bagdikian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-bagdikian/) > [The relationship between truth and a newspaper is like the relationship between the color green and the number seven. 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You can't both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-evans/we-always-talk-about-how-everyone-is-unifocal-you-can-t-possibly-be/) [Harold Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-evans/) > [That abominable and sensual act called reading the newspaper, thanks to which all the misfortunes and cataclysms in the universe over the last twenty-four…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/that-abominable-and-sensual-act-called-reading-the-newspaper-thanks/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [When you're reading a newspaper and you're seeing ads on the page, it's not kind of invasive. Like, it's on the page next to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-gross/when-you-re-reading-a-newspaper-and-you-re-seeing-ads-on-the-page-it/) [Terry Gross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-gross/) ## More by A. S. 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Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I'm more interested in books than people, and I always expect everybody else to be, but they're not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-m-more-interested-in-books-than-people-and-i-always-expect/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I watch a lot of sport on television. I only watch certain sports, and I only watch them live - I don't think I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-watch-a-lot-of-sport-on-television-i-only-watch-certain-sports-and/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [“When the morning light came into the room it found them curled together in a nest of red and white sheets. It revealed also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/when-the-morning-light-came-into-the-room-it-found-them-curled/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I think there are a lot more important things than art in the world. But not to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-think-there-are-a-lot-more-important-things-than-art-in-the-world/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [For a long time, I felt instinctively irritated - sometimes repelled - by scientific friends' automatic use of the word 'mechanism' for automatic bodily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/for-a-long-time-i-felt-instinctively-irritated-sometimes-repelled-by/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I was no good at being a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/i-was-no-good-at-being-a-child/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) [Explore all 90 A. S. Byatt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) ## More Biography quotes > [I have my own biography of Gram Parsons - I don't want to be part of somebody else's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmylou-harris/i-have-my-own-biography-of-gram-parsons-i-don-t-want-to-be-part-of/) [Emmylou Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmylou-harris/) > [“If you can choose your way into a cage, you can choose your way out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kempton/if-you-can-choose-your-way-into-a-cage-you-can-choose-your-way-out/) [Beth Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kempton/) > [All Philosophy is Biography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-j-carroll/all-philosophy-is-biography/) [Peter J. Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-j-carroll/) > [I've read every Madonna biography. I've also looked up every pop star to see how they first made it. 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