Books Quote by Joseph O'Connor

Unlike the novel, a short story may be, for all purposes, essential.

— Jorge Luis Borges

The novel...creates a bemusing effect. The short story, on the other hand wakes the reader up. Not only that, it answers the primitive craving…

— V. S. Pritchett

Novels function and the power of novels function because of their stories.

— Mohsin Hamid

The short story is at an advantage over the novel, and can claim its nearer kinship to poetry, because it must be more concentrated,…

— Elizabeth Bowen

But novels are never about what they are about; that is, there is always deeper, or more general, significance. The author may not be…

— Diane Johnson

“The writer ultimately tires of the subject's self-serving story, and substitutes a story of his own.”

— Janet Malcolm

“The short story is not, as some believe, a lesser form of literature than the novel.”

— Andrew Barger

The effect produced by a short story depends almost entirely on its form.

— Edith Wharton

“The importance of a story doesn't merely lie in the development of its plot and the characters involved in it, but in its exploration…

— Gulzar

“It is the form that allows a writer the greatest opportunity to explore human experience...For that reason, reading a novel is potentially a significant…

— Don DeLillo

“The novel is a hybrid genre and a large part of its charm arises from the alluvial nature of its materials. There is nothing…

— Enrique Vila-Matas

A form wherein we can enjoy simultaneously what is best in both the novel and the short story form. My plan was to create…

— Junot Diaz