Best Novels Quotes

15 quotes from 14 authors

Deciding the ‘best’ novel sparks lively disagreement, and these quotes capture that tension. Some dismiss rankings outright, while others point to beloved titles like Pride and Prejudice or Anna Karenina as benchmarks. If you enjoy literary sparring, you may also like Classic Literature and Reading Lists pages for broader debates and recommendations.

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When someone asks me to list the 10 best novels ever written, I always refuse to answer.

Henning Mankell

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I have been a film buff all my life and believe that the finest cinema is fully the equal of the best…

Salman Rushdie

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“Anna Karenina, Anna Karenina, Anna Karenina" when asked the three best novels of all time.”

William Faulkner

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I prefer all but the very worst travel books, to all but the very best novels.

Evelyn Waugh

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I save the best of myself for novels, and I believe it shows

Anne Tyler

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I give people 'If You Came Softly' when they demand proof that novels for teens can be as good as the best…

Justine Larbalestier

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The best novels are those that are important without being like medicine; they have something to say, are expansive and intelligent but…

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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All the best novels are about one thing: how we go on. The characters must survive the fallout of their own cowardice,…

Julia Glass

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The highest praise a writer can give another is to say he wishes he had written his book. I wish I had…

Tony Hillerman

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“The revisiting of an especially admired or loved book can become, perhaps, a five-year ritual, marking the passage of time in your…

Ella Berthoud & Susan Elderkin

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A Heart So White is simply one of the best novels I know. I'm also thrilled by Javier Marías sentences, by how…

Garth Greenwell

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I do not think novels are necessarily more worthwhile than games. A novel can be a trivial waste of time, and a…

Allegra Goodman

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Steve Yarbrough is a writer of many gifts, but what makes Safe from the Neighbors such a magnificent achievement is its moral…

Ron Rash

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Nabokov can be almost too delicate at times, but in 'Lolita,' he puts his aristocratic sensitivity to use in such a dark…

Hallgrimur Helgason

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“When The Journal of Words compiled its list of the one hundred best novels written in English, do you know that Pride…

Michael Thomas Ford

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