--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Books and novels in particular that…" description: "\"Books and novels in particular that grapple with quite a few things are difficult to explain, so I think that first line can come in a substitute for t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/alice-sebold-999_book_books-and-novels-in-particular-that-grap_1657464.jpg" --- # Books and novels in particular that grapple with quite a… ![“Books and novels in particular that grapple with quite a few things are difficult to explain, so I think that first line can come in a substitute for trying to form a longer sense of what the book is about.” quote by Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/alice-sebold-999_book_books-and-novels-in-particular-that-grap_1657464.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/alice-sebold-999_book_books-and-novels-in-particular-that-grap_1657464.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/alice-sebold-999_book_books-and-novels-in-particular-that-grap_1657464.jpg) > “Books and novels in particular that grapple with quite a few things are difficult to explain, so I think that first line can come in a substitute for trying to form a longer sense of what the book is about.” [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Explaining complex books often requires a concise, representative line that captures their essence. **In simple terms:** A single line can summarize a book’s core ideas. Key Takeaway Use a strong opening line to convey a book’s theme. Themes literature interpretation communication Mood thoughtful analytical Type explanatory reflective When to use this quote - book reviews - teaching - marketing - personal reflection Key Concepts narrative thematic abstraction Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance brevity with depth? - What risks arise from reducing a story to one sentence? A Different Perspective A single line may oversimplify nuanced works. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novels/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [“Fiction in general holds little interest for me. Novels, in particular, arouse more suspicion than intrigue. It truly baffles me that any practitioner of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-garfat-pratt/fiction-in-general-holds-little-interest-for-me-novels-in-particular/) [Dan Garfat-Pratt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-garfat-pratt/) > [It's difficult to explain love. You want to explain water? You need a book for it. There are many different ways to explain what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ono/it-s-difficult-to-explain-love-you-want-to-explain-water-you-need-a/) [Yoko Ono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ono/) > [“Persephone flapped a hand as if it were too difficult for her to explain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/persephone-flapped-a-hand-as-if-it-were-too-difficult-for-her-to/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [Don't misunderstand me. I am not scoffing at goodness, which is far more difficult to explain than evil, and far more complicated. But sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/don-t-misunderstand-me-i-am-not-scoffing-at-goodness-which-is-far/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [It's very difficult for me to explain myself. I used to park blocks away from NBC when I went to work there so I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-berry/it-s-very-difficult-for-me-to-explain-myself-i-used-to-park-blocks/) [Ken Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-berry/) > [In acting process, it's very difficult to explain. It's something very intimate, very private](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-bellucci/in-acting-process-it-s-very-difficult-to-explain-it-s-something-very/) [Monica Bellucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-bellucci/) > [It's very difficult to explain to a normal working citizen the implications of what $18 trillion in debt means and what it means when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-wynn/it-s-very-difficult-to-explain-to-a-normal-working-citizen-the/) [Steve Wynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-wynn/) > [When you fall in love with someone you find it difficult to explain the reason for it because it is the reason itself. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoheb/when-you-fall-in-love-with-someone-you-find-it-difficult-to-explain/) [Zoheb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoheb/) > [I find it difficult to explain, but I'm quite ashamed of being an actress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-scott-thomas/i-find-it-difficult-to-explain-but-i-m-quite-ashamed-of-being-an/) [Kristin Scott Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-scott-thomas/) > [“Truth is simple but difficult to explain… Loving is easy but difficult to express.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hussain-rasheed/truth-is-simple-but-difficult-to-explain-loving-is-easy-but-difficult/) [Hussain Rasheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hussain-rasheed/) > [“Partners: Tied together by stuff too difficult to explain to someone new”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-andreas/partners-tied-together-by-stuff-too-difficult-to-explain-to-someone/) [Brian Andreas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-andreas/) > [“When you were trying to enforce law and order, it was difficult to explain that the rules did not actually apply to you personally.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-follett/when-you-were-trying-to-enforce-law-and-order-it-was-difficult-to/) [Ken Follett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-follett/) > [It's something that's difficult to explain but I think all writers work this way to some extent, whether we're aware of it or not.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-j-miller/it-s-something-that-s-difficult-to-explain-but-i-think-all-writers/) [Mary J. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-j-miller/) > [There's a real contradiction that's difficult to explain to the West and the outside world about China and about the Internet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-mackinnon/there-s-a-real-contradiction-that-s-difficult-to-explain-to-the-west/) [Rebecca MacKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-mackinnon/) > [He thought: How difficult it is to explain yourself to yourself. Sometimes there only is, and no knowing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aidan-chambers/he-thought-how-difficult-it-is-to-explain-yourself-to-yourself/) [Aidan Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aidan-chambers/) ## More by Alice Sebold > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [I left my mark on that man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/i-left-my-mark-on-that-man/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [These things, she felt, were not to be passed around like disingenuous party favors. She kept an honor code with her journals and her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/these-things-she-felt-were-not-to-be-passed-around-like-disingenuous/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [I don't think ignorance is a way that you gain distance on something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/i-don-t-think-ignorance-is-a-way-that-you-gain-distance-on-something/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [I was like I was in science class: I was curious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/i-was-like-i-was-in-science-class-i-was-curious/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“There are secret rooms inside us,” I had said to my therapist. “A relatively benign construct,” he said, and so I did not bother…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/there-are-secret-rooms-inside-us-i-had-said-to-my-therapist-a/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“This is just a temporary hell, not a permanent one”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/this-is-just-a-temporary-hell-not-a-permanent-one/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“And a soul would run by a living being, touch them softly on the shoulder or cheek, and continue on its way to heaven.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/and-a-soul-would-run-by-a-living-being-touch-them-softly-on-the/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [As if in the other side of his kiss there could ve a new life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/as-if-in-the-other-side-of-his-kiss-there-could-ve-a-new-life/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“My little brother's greatest fear was that the one person who meant so much to him would go away. He loved Lindsey and Grandma…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/my-little-brother-s-greatest-fear-was-that-the-one-person-who-meant/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“She listened for the pain in my words, not to the narrative itself. She was intuiting what it meant to me, what was most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/she-listened-for-the-pain-in-my-words-not-to-the-narrative-itself-she/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [The relationship with the words someone uses is more intimate and integrated than just a quick read and a blurb can ever be. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/the-relationship-with-the-words-someone-uses-is-more-intimate-and/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [Ruth hadn't talked to my sister since before my death, and then it was only to excuse herself in the hallway at school. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/ruth-hadn-t-talked-to-my-sister-since-before-my-death-and-then-it-was/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [Since then I've always thought that under rape in the dictionary it should tell the truth. It is not just forcible intercourse; rape means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/since-then-i-ve-always-thought-that-under-rape-in-the-dictionary-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [I live in a world where two truths coexist: where both hell and hope lie in the palm of my hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/i-live-in-a-world-where-two-truths-coexist-where-both-hell-and-hope/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) [Explore all 302 Alice Sebold quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Books and novels in particular that grapple with quite a few things are difficult to explain, so I think that first line can come in a substitute for trying to form a longer sense of what the book is about.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Sebold" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/books-and-novels-in-particular-that-grapple-with-quite-a-few-things/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Book" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/books-and-novels-in-particular-that-grapple-with-quite-a-few-things/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/alice-sebold-999_book_books-and-novels-in-particular-that-grap_1657464.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/alice-sebold-999_book_books-and-novels-in-particular-that-grap_1657464.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a98/alice-sebold-999_book_books-and-novels-in-particular-that-grap_1657464.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Books and novels in particular that grapple with quite a few things are difficult to explain, so I think…” — Alice Sebold", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alice Sebold", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Books and novels in particular that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/books-and-novels-in-particular-that-grapple-with-quite-a-few-things/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/books-and-novels-in-particular-that-grapple-with-quite-a-few-things/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```