--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you look closely, there is no book…" description: "\"If you look closely, there is no book more visual than Three Trapped Tigers, in that it is filled with blank pages, dark pages, it has stars made of wo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06b/guillermo-cabrera-infante-1238_blank_if-you-look-closely-there-is-no-book-mor_3107322.jpg" --- # If you look closely, there is no book more visual than… ![“If you look closely, there is no book more visual than Three Trapped Tigers, in that it is filled with blank pages, dark pages, it has stars made of words, the famous magical cube made of numbers, and there is even a page which is a mirror.” quote by Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06b/guillermo-cabrera-infante-1238_blank_if-you-look-closely-there-is-no-book-mor_3107322.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06b/guillermo-cabrera-infante-1238_blank_if-you-look-closely-there-is-no-book-mor_3107322.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06b/guillermo-cabrera-infante-1238_blank_if-you-look-closely-there-is-no-book-mor_3107322.jpg) > “If you look closely, there is no book more visual than Three Trapped Tigers, in that it is filled with blank pages, dark pages, it has stars made of words, the famous magical cube made of numbers, and there is even a page which is a mirror.” [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The book uses empty and dark pages, word‑stars, and numeric cubes to illustrate that imagination fills voids. **In simple terms:** Imagination fills empty spaces. Key Takeaway Embrace creative emptiness. Themes imagination literature visuality Mood curious analytical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - art criticism - creative writing - design brainstorming Key Concepts postmodernism metafiction visual metaphor Questions to Reflect On - How do you interpret blank pages? - What does a word‑star suggest? A Different Perspective The visual emptiness may alienate readers seeking narrative. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blank/) [Blank page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blank-page/) [Blank pages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blank-pages/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Book Visual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-visual-3116261/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Cubes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cubes/) [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Fame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fame/) [Filled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/filled/) [Looks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looks/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Mirrors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirrors/) [Numbers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/numbers/) [Pages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pages/) [Pages Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pages-stars-5412542/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Three](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/three/) [Tigers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tigers/) [Tigers Filled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tigers-filled-5412541/) [Trapped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trapped/) [Trapped Tigers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trapped-tigers-5412540/) [Visuals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/visuals/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [I've always thought of the book as a visual art form, and it should represent a single artistic idea, which it does if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-van-allsburg/i-ve-always-thought-of-the-book-as-a-visual-art-form-and-it-should/) [Chris Van Allsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-van-allsburg/) > [When you are adapting a book to a visual medium, you tend to leave a few things and add a few new ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vetrimaaran/when-you-are-adapting-a-book-to-a-visual-medium-you-tend-to-leave-a/) [Vetrimaaran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vetrimaaran/) > [When I write, the first blank page, or any blank page, means nothing to me. What means something is a page that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/when-i-write-the-first-blank-page-or-any-blank-page-means-nothing-to/) [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) > [You are just in the middle of a struggle with words which are really very stubborn things, with a blank page, with the damn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/you-are-just-in-the-middle-of-a-struggle-with-words-which-are-really/) [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) > [When you can no longer differentiate between the insanity spewed onto the blank page, and the madness evident in the all-but shattered mirror...that's when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-can-no-longer-differentiate-between-the-insanity-spewed-onto/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There are no blank words. Just blank pages.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hadinet-tekie/there-are-no-blank-words-just-blank-pages/) [Hadinet Tekie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hadinet-tekie/) > [Your life is a blank page. You write on it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/your-life-is-a-blank-page-you-write-on-it/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [By the time I sit down and face the blank page I am raring to go. I tell it as if I'm talking to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-morpurgo/by-the-time-i-sit-down-and-face-the-blank-page-i-am-raring-to-go-i/) [Michael Morpurgo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-morpurgo/) > [The best tip for writing is just to write; to sit down and write, to begin doing it and not to be scared by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-almond/the-best-tip-for-writing-is-just-to-write-to-sit-down-and-write-to/) [David Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-almond/) > [Writer's block.. when one curses the blinking cursor on the blank page.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/regina-brett/writer-s-block-when-one-curses-the-blinking-cursor-on-the-blank-page/) [Regina Brett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/regina-brett/) > [You can fix anything but a blank page.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/you-can-fix-anything-but-a-blank-page/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [Actually, who hasn't been through the ghastly experience of sitting in front of a blank page, with its toothless mouth grinning at you: Go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-oz/actually-who-hasn-t-been-through-the-ghastly-experience-of-sitting-in/) [Amos Oz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-oz/) > [You can't edit a blank page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/you-can-t-edit-a-blank-page/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [Staring at the blank page before you, Open up the dirty window, Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-bedingfield/staring-at-the-blank-page-before-you-open-up-the-dirty-window-let-the/) [Natasha Bedingfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-bedingfield/) > [The acting background helped a lot when I started writing. I was training for it. In acting class they teach you about the stakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-higgins-clark/the-acting-background-helped-a-lot-when-i-started-writing-i-was/) [Carol Higgins Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-higgins-clark/) ## More by Guillermo Cabrera Infante > [Watching a movie from beginning to end is like reading, because even though what you see are images, they are telling you a story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/watching-a-movie-from-beginning-to-end-is-like-reading-because-even/) [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) > [I read the Odyssey because it was the story of a man who returned home after being absent for more than twenty years and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-read-the-odyssey-because-it-was-the-story-of-a-man-who-returned/) [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) > [Dialogue in fiction is always written to be read in silence. The page is the limit. Dialogue on stage and on the screen is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/dialogue-in-fiction-is-always-written-to-be-read-in-silence-the-page/) [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) > [I am a writer of fragments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-am-a-writer-of-fragments/) [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) > [No, absolutely not, writing doesn't have to be like a jigsaw puzzle, it can be a very linear undertaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/no-absolutely-not-writing-doesn-t-have-to-be-like-a-jigsaw-puzzle-it/) [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) > [Well, I write in exile because I cannot return to my country, so I have no choice but to see myself as an exiled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/well-i-write-in-exile-because-i-cannot-return-to-my-country-so-i-have/) [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) > [For me, literature is a complex game, both mental and concrete, which is acted out in a physical manner on the page.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/for-me-literature-is-a-complex-game-both-mental-and-concrete-which-is/) [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) > [I know that many writers have had to write under censorship and yet produced good novels; for instance, Cervantes wrote Don Quixote under Catholic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-know-that-many-writers-have-had-to-write-under-censorship-and-yet/) [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) > [I do not consider myself a Hispanic writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-do-not-consider-myself-a-hispanic-writer/) [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) > [The relationship between reader and characters is very difficult. It is even more peculiar than the relationship between the writer and his characters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/the-relationship-between-reader-and-characters-is-very-difficult-it/) [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) > [I think writers rush in where everybody is very frightened to tread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-think-writers-rush-in-where-everybody-is-very-frightened-to-tread/) [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) > [I was never a true journalist, I was a movie critic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-was-never-a-true-journalist-i-was-a-movie-critic/) [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) > [A good smoker, like a good lover, always takes his time with a cigar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/a-good-smoker-like-a-good-lover-always-takes-his-time-with-a-cigar/) [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) > [I do not believe in inspiration, but I must have a title in order to work, otherwise I am lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/i-do-not-believe-in-inspiration-but-i-must-have-a-title-in-order-to/) [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) > [You are just in the middle of a struggle with words which are really very stubborn things, with a blank page, with the damn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/you-are-just-in-the-middle-of-a-struggle-with-words-which-are-really/) [Guillermo Cabrera Infante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) [Explore all 54 Guillermo Cabrera Infante quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/) ## More Blank quotes > [I have often wondered how they manage to get return envelopes which miss, by one-quarter of an inch, fitting the blank you are supposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-benchley/i-have-often-wondered-how-they-manage-to-get-return-envelopes-which/) [Robert Benchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-benchley/) > [But that quickly faded, and he frowned. "You're bleeding," he said. "What happened?" Claire sighed and held up her wrist to show him the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-caine/but-that-quickly-faded-and-he-frowned-you-re-bleeding-he-said-what/) [Rachel Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-caine/) > [I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-ve-always-been-a-very-restless-person-i-work-hard-spend-too-much/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“When I came back, they gave me blank looks. Some said, 'I don't think I've seen you for days.' Some not even that. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/me-a-selimovi/when-i-came-back-they-gave-me-blank-looks-some-said-i-don-t-think-i/) [Meša Selimović](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/me-a-selimovi/) > [Every man is a missionary, now and forever, for good or for evil, whether he intends or designs it or not. He may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-chalmers/every-man-is-a-missionary-now-and-forever-for-good-or-for-evil/) [Thomas Chalmers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-chalmers/) > [The acting background helped a lot when I started writing. I was training for it. In acting class they teach you about the stakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-higgins-clark/the-acting-background-helped-a-lot-when-i-started-writing-i-was/) [Carol Higgins Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-higgins-clark/) > [The American people reject the idea of giving Washington a blank check to increase the debt limit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-roby/the-american-people-reject-the-idea-of-giving-washington-a-blank/) [Martha Roby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-roby/) > [You wind up creating from silence, like painting a picture on a blank canvas that could bring tears to somebody's eyes. As songwriters, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-atkins/you-wind-up-creating-from-silence-like-painting-a-picture-on-a-blank/) [Rodney Atkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-atkins/) > [“As I stare at the blank page, I am at once awash inwords but unable to find the ones I want to use.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-ryan/as-i-stare-at-the-blank-page-i-am-at-once-awash-inwords-but-unable-to/) [Carrie Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-ryan/) > [Staring at the blank page before you, Open up the dirty window, Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-bedingfield/staring-at-the-blank-page-before-you-open-up-the-dirty-window-let-the/) [Natasha Bedingfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-bedingfield/) > [Bullies enjoy dark happiness; these are the blank parts that eventually fill their minds with nothingness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-shanks/bullies-enjoy-dark-happiness-these-are-the-blank-parts-that/) [Emily Shanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-shanks/) > [History is full of blank spaces, but good stories, invariably, are not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-sheridan/history-is-full-of-blank-spaces-but-good-stories-invariably-are-not/) [Sara Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-sheridan/) > [If men's minds were like dominoes, surely his would be the double blank.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-g-wodehouse-2/if-men-s-minds-were-like-dominoes-surely-his-would-be-the-double-blank/) [P. G. Wodehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-g-wodehouse-2/) > [“There isn’t any way to be. I will meet you where you’ve gone. The cards are blank; the cards are empty there. If I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-notley/there-isn-t-any-way-to-be-i-will-meet-you-where-you-ve-gone-the-cards/) [Alice Notley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-notley/) > [I always thought I'd like my own tombstone to be blank. No epitaph, and no name. Well, actually, I'd like it to say 'figment.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/i-always-thought-i-d-like-my-own-tombstone-to-be-blank-no-epitaph-and/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) [Browse all 832 Blank quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blank/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you look closely, there is no book more visual than Three Trapped Tigers, in that it is filled with blank pages, dark pages, it has stars made of words, the famous magical cube made of numbers, and there is even a page which is a mirror.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Guillermo Cabrera Infante" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/if-you-look-closely-there-is-no-book-more-visual-than-three-trapped/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Blank" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/if-you-look-closely-there-is-no-book-more-visual-than-three-trapped/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06b/guillermo-cabrera-infante-1238_blank_if-you-look-closely-there-is-no-book-mor_3107322.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06b/guillermo-cabrera-infante-1238_blank_if-you-look-closely-there-is-no-book-mor_3107322.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06b/guillermo-cabrera-infante-1238_blank_if-you-look-closely-there-is-no-book-mor_3107322.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you look closely, there is no book more visual than Three Trapped Tigers, in that it is filled with blank…” — Guillermo Cabrera Infante", "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": "Guillermo Cabrera Infante", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillermo-cabrera-infante/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you look closely, there is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/if-you-look-closely-there-is-no-book-more-visual-than-three-trapped/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillermo-cabrera-infante/if-you-look-closely-there-is-no-book-more-visual-than-three-trapped/#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 } } ] } ```