Aura Quote by Karl Ove Knausgård
““There's no difference between pulp fiction and highbrow fiction, one is as good as the other, the only difference is the aura they have, and that's determined by the people who read the stuff, not by the book itself. There's no such thing as 'the book itself.””
About This Quote
Source Interview: Literary Talk, 2015
The value of a book depends on readers' perceptions, not an intrinsic aura; genre labels are irrelevant to quality.
In simple terms: Readers decide a book's worth, not its label.
Key Takeaway
Judge books by personal impact.
Themes
literature
genre
perception
subjectivity
Mood
thoughtful
analytical
Type
philosophical
critical
When to use this quote
- book clubs
- library recommendations
- personal reading choices
Key Concepts
aura
reader response
Questions to Reflect On
- Do you separate a work from its genre?
- How does reader bias shape literary value?
A Different Perspective
Some may argue that genre influences expectations and marketing.
![“[Virginia Madsen] big part in that movie ['Class'] required her shirt to get ripped off, and looking back, it couldn't be a more egregious, vintage, lowbrow, 1980s Porky's-esque, shoehorned-in moment. Like, you would never have that moment in a movie that aspired to be what that movie did today.” quote by Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/437/rob-lowe-855_bigs_virginia-madsen-big-part-in-that-movie-c_17729.jpg)
![“No, no, I'm a lowbrow. I read [Dostoevsky] more out of obligation than enjoyment. For enjoyment, for me, it's a beer and the football game.” quote by Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a84/woody-allen-176_ball-game_no-no-i-m-a-lowbrow-i-read-dostoevsky-mo_2575621.jpg)
