“Death had size an color and shape, texture and grace. There was something concrete to it. In that room, Death had come and gone, swept by, and left behind a mirage of life--it was possible, he realized, to find life… — Téa Obreht Copy Share
“I felt my voice had fallen through and through me, and I couldn't summon it back to tell him or myself anything at all.” — Téa Obreht Copy Share Image
I grew up in Cyprus and Egypt, these fantastic places I remember fondly. — Tea Obreht Copy Share Image
Everything necessary to understand my grandfather lies between two stories: the story of the tiger’s wife, and the story of the deathless man. These stories run like secret rivers through all the other stories of his life – of my grandfather’s days in the army; his great love for my grandmother; the years he spent as a surgeon and a… — Tea Obreht Copy Share
“People become very upset,' Gavo tells me, 'when they find out they are going to die' . . . 'They behave very strangely,' he says. 'They are suddenly filled with life. Suddenly they want to fight for things, ask questions. They want to throw hot water in your face, or beat you senseless with an umbrella, or hit you in… — Téa Obreht Copy Share
“By the time I got to high school, I had learned to be more cautious about revealing my dreams. I was reading—and therefore writing—adventure stories. This was before I’d read Isak Dinesen and Mikhail Bulgakov, before Ernest Hemingway and T. Coraghessan Boyle, before I’d read something and really felt it, when writing was still just a compulsion, and my teen-age… — Téa Obreht Copy Share
No matter how grave the secret, how imperative absolute silence, someone would always feel the urge to confess, and an unleashed secret is a… — Tea Obreht Copy Share Image
“To me, the persistence of my grandfather's rituals meant that he was unchanged, running on discipline and continuance and stoicism. I didn't notice, and… — Téa Obreht Copy Share Image
At the end of the day, it's about the reader's attachment to and belief in the magical elements that make or break magical realism. — Tea Obreht Copy Share Image
“I started to feel that nagging sense of shame again, an acute awareness of my own inability to share in his [my grandfather's] optimism.” — Téa Obreht Copy Share Image
I think the mythology of death really ran away with me when I was very young. — Tea Obreht Copy Share Image
A lot of writers that I know have told me that the first book you write, you write about your childhood, whether you want… — Tea Obreht Copy Share Image
When you're in a place, the details you focus on are different than details you focus on when you're writing about it. — Tea Obreht Copy Share Image
![“I started to feel that nagging sense of shame again, an acute awareness of my own inability to share in his [my grandfather's] optimism.” quote by Téa Obreht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/1bd/t-a-obreht-11276_shame_i-started-to-feel-that-nagging-sense-of_499840.jpg)
