Books Quote by Claire Messud

I know that for every reader who has lost the habit or can't find the time, there are people who've never enjoyed reading and…

— David Nicholls

“I often have the feeling that even at the best of times literary criticism is fraudulent, since in the absence of any accepted standards…

— George Orwell

The love of novels is the preference of sentiment to the senses.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

I divide all literary works into two categories: Those I like and those I don't like. No other criterion exists for me.

— Anton Chekhov

I sometimes think there is nothing really to be said about a novel but 'read the book.' I have a jaundiced view of literary…

— Mark Kurlansky

Don't get me wrong, I love literary fiction. It's faux literary fiction I can't stand.

— Dennis Lehane

There are people out there who genuinely love literature, who genuinely love to read and read widely, who will never like, or even necessarily…

— Lynn Coady

“There are two kinds of taste in the appreciation of imaginative literature: the taste for emotions of surprise and the taste for emotions of…

— Henry James

Writing fiction is not a profession that leaves one well-disposed toward reading fiction. One starts out loving books and stories, and then one becomes…

— Neil Gaiman

Every good book should be entertaining. A good book will be more; it must not be less. Entertainment…is like a qualifying examination. If a…

— Anonymous

“Think of literary fiction as a meal with intricate scents, flavors, and textures that you can’t recognize unless you chew with your eyes closed.”

— Jessica Bell

I'm trying to move a little more toward literary fiction while still retaining a popular feel.

— Frank Peretti