--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I like to think that each book I start is…" description: "\"I like to think that each book I start is a completely new departure But I’ve learned that whatever you do, readers will have no difficulty assimilatin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/599/ian-mcewan-494_book_i-like-to-think-that-each-book-i-start-i_2432438.jpg" --- # I like to think that each book I start is a completely new… ![“I like to think that each book I start is a completely new departure But I’ve learned that whatever you do, readers will have no difficulty assimilating it into what you’ve done before.” quote by Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/599/ian-mcewan-494_book_i-like-to-think-that-each-book-i-start-i_2432438.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/599/ian-mcewan-494_book_i-like-to-think-that-each-book-i-start-i_2432438.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/599/ian-mcewan-494_book_i-like-to-think-that-each-book-i-start-i_2432438.jpg) > “I like to think that each book I start is a completely new departure But I’ve learned that whatever you do, readers will have no difficulty assimilating it into what you’ve done before.” [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Readers assimilate new works through familiar lenses, limiting novelty. **In simple terms:** Readers see new books through old frames. Key Takeaway Abrace familiar patterns. Themes literature creativity reader perception Mood thoughtful curious Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - book clubs - creative workshops - marketing books Key Concepts novel writing storytelling Questions to Reflect On - How can you challenge readers' expectations? - What fresh perspectives can you introduce? A Different Perspective Familiarity can aid comprehension. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Departure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/departure/) [Readers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/readers/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [I wanted to start over completely, to begin again as new people with nothing of the past left over. I wanted to run away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/i-wanted-to-start-over-completely-to-begin-again-as-new-people-with/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [I see every book as a problem that you have to solve. That is what dictates the form you use. It's not that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/i-see-every-book-as-a-problem-that-you-have-to-solve-that-is-what/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [I like to smell a book before I start it. I fold over the pages, write comments in the margins, leave it on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viv-albertine/i-like-to-smell-a-book-before-i-start-it-i-fold-over-the-pages-write/) [Viv Albertine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viv-albertine/) > [I'm a horribly chronic 'get half way through the book and start a new one' person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-polachek/i-m-a-horribly-chronic-get-half-way-through-the-book-and-start-a-new/) [Caroline Polachek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-polachek/) > [\*i open my math book\* \*i start to cry\* \*i close my math book\*](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-open-my-math-book-i-start-to-cry-i-close-my-math-book/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Publication is a marathon, not a sprint. Writing the book is only the start.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-linsdell/publication-is-a-marathon-not-a-sprint-writing-the-book-is-only-the/) [Jo Linsdell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-linsdell/) > [“wait... promise me one more thing: if tomorrow you wake up feeling unoriginal or frail-hearted or faithless or tired of this world please pick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-d-sanders/wait-promise-me-one-more-thing-if-tomorrow-you-wake-up-feeling/) [Mark D. Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-d-sanders/) > [Life is a book, you can't start a new chapter if you keep rereading the last.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-a-book-you-can-t-start-a-new-chapter-if-you-keep-rereading/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't think I've ever read an old book through from start to finish. 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(The Librarian- controlled schools don't want you to be able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-sanderson/unfortunately-i-know-that-some-of-you-hushlanders-have-trouble/) [Brandon Sanderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-sanderson/) > [“But you'll never have your happy ending unless you're brave enough to open the book and start your story.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-b-simmons/but-you-ll-never-have-your-happy-ending-unless-you-re-brave-enough-to/) [L.B. Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-b-simmons/) > [If life was a photo book where would yours start?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eddins/if-life-was-a-photo-book-where-would-yours-start/) [David Eddins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eddins/) > [I love to read, and I don't believe that you have to finish one book before you start another. --Mallory Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-m-martin/i-love-to-read-and-i-don-t-believe-that-you-have-to-finish-one-book/) [Ann M. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-m-martin/) ## More by Ian Mcewan > [“As you will see, we do not believe that artists have an obligation to strike up attitudes to the war. Indeed, they are wise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/as-you-will-see-we-do-not-believe-that-artists-have-an-obligation-to/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [You could say that all novels are spy novels and all novelists are spy masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/you-could-say-that-all-novels-are-spy-novels-and-all-novelists-are/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I've never had a moment's doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-ve-never-had-a-moment-s-doubt-i-love-you-i-believe-in-you/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“It is shaming sometimes, how the body will not, or cannot, lie about emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-is-shaming-sometimes-how-the-body-will-not-or-cannot-lie-about/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“While my friends struggled and calculated, I reached a solution by a set of floating steps that were partly visual, partly just a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/while-my-friends-struggled-and-calculated-i-reached-a-solution-by-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Once, on a walk by a river- Eskdale in low reddish sunlight, with a dusting of snow- his daughter quoted to him an opening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/once-on-a-walk-by-a-river-eskdale-in-low-reddish-sunlight-with-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Perhaps it's one of those cases of a microcosm giving you the whole world. Like a spode dinner plate. Or a single cell. Or,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/perhaps-it-s-one-of-those-cases-of-a-microcosm-giving-you-the-whole/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [Who you get, and how it works out- there's so much luck involved, as well as the million branching consequences of your conscious choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/who-you-get-and-how-it-works-out-there-s-so-much-luck-involved-as/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“On Chesil Beach he could have called out to Florence, he could have gone after her. He did not know, or would not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/on-chesil-beach-he-could-have-called-out-to-florence-he-could-have/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [It was always the view of my parents...that hot weather encouraged loose morals among young people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-was-always-the-view-of-my-parents-that-hot-weather-encouraged/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I apologize for being obvious, but every time I watch the curtain come down on even a halfway decent production of a Shakespeare play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-apologize-for-being-obvious-but-every-time-i-watch-the-curtain-come/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I would rather be physically disabled obviously than mentally. I would rather be paraplegic than nuts. And it is a terrifying prospect and actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-would-rather-be-physically-disabled-obviously-than-mentally-i-would/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Words, as I'm beginning to appreciate, can make things true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/words-as-i-m-beginning-to-appreciate-can-make-things-true/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I couldn't think about novels at all. It seemed the only writing that was appropriate to that horrendous event was journalism, reportage. And, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-couldn-t-think-about-novels-at-all-it-seemed-the-only-writing-that/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I did not kill my father, but I sometimes felt I had helped him on his way. And but for the fact that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-did-not-kill-my-father-but-i-sometimes-felt-i-had-helped-him-on-his/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) [Explore all 496 Ian Mcewan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## 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! 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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. 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