--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I actually dislike, more than many…" description: "\"I actually dislike, more than many people, working through literary allusion. I just feel that there's something a bit snobbish or elitist about that. ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e2/kazuo-ishiguro-1029_allusion_i-actually-dislike-more-than-many-people_1848768.jpg" --- # I actually dislike, more than many people, working through… ![“I actually dislike, more than many people, working through literary allusion. I just feel that there's something a bit snobbish or elitist about that. I don't like it as a reader, when I'm reading something. It's not just the elitism of it; it jolts me out of the mode in which I'm reading. I've…” quote by Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e2/kazuo-ishiguro-1029_allusion_i-actually-dislike-more-than-many-people_1848768.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e2/kazuo-ishiguro-1029_allusion_i-actually-dislike-more-than-many-people_1848768.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e2/kazuo-ishiguro-1029_allusion_i-actually-dislike-more-than-many-people_1848768.jpg) > “I actually dislike, more than many people, working through literary allusion. I just feel that there's something a bit snobbish or elitist about that. I don't like it as a reader, when I'm reading something. It's not just the elitism of it; it jolts me out of the mode in which I'm reading. I've immersed myself in the world and then when the light goes on I'm supposed to be making some kind of literary comparison to another text. I find I'm pulled out of my kind of fictional world, I'm asked to use my brain in a different kind of way. I don't like that.” [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker feels literary allusion feels pretentious and disrupts immersion in a story. **In simple terms:** Allusions feel snobbish and break reading flow. Key Takeaway Avoid forced literary comparisons. Themes elitism reading immersion Mood frustrated critical Type reflective analytical When to use this quote - novel reading - book clubs - academic essays Key Concepts literary theory reader experience Questions to Reflect On - Do allusions enhance or hinder your engagement? - When is it appropriate to analyze a text? A Different Perspective Allusions can enrich understanding when used sparingly. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Allusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allusion/) [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Comparison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparison/) [Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different/) [Different kinds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different-kinds/) [Dislike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dislike/) [Elitism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elitism/) [Elitist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elitist/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Like Reader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-reader-952074/) [Literary Allusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literary-allusion-2411170/) [Literary Comparison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literary-comparison-2411171/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Reading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reading/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Let us now celebrate the literary allusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/let-us-now-celebrate-the-literary-allusion/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/as-democracy-is-perfected-the-office-of-president-represents-more-and/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) > [“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/anti-intellectualism-has-been-a-constant-thread-winding-its-way/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [To me, elitism means a love of excellence and superiority, but America has declared war on both and developed a sick love of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-king/to-me-elitism-means-a-love-of-excellence-and-superiority-but-america/) [Florence King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-king/) > [There are people in government who don't want other people to know what they know. It's just another example of elitism. And I spit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-clancy/there-are-people-in-government-who-don-t-want-other-people-to-know/) [Tom Clancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-clancy/) > [“I have used the theologians and their treatment of apocalypse as a model of what we might expect to find not only in more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-kermode/i-have-used-the-theologians-and-their-treatment-of-apocalypse-as-a/) [Frank Kermode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-kermode/) > [Let us now celebrate the literary allusion. Let us now celebrate the trope and willful enjambment. Let us now celebrate the assonance and alliteration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/let-us-now-celebrate-the-literary-allusion-let-us-now-celebrate-the/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [I don't really like to work with literary allusions very much. I never want to be in a position where I'm saying, "You've got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/i-don-t-really-like-to-work-with-literary-allusions-very-much-i-never/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [“When you're inside your own story, you don't see things like a reader. You don't see your life in tidy paragraphs and chapters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/when-you-re-inside-your-own-story-you-don-t-see-things-like-a-reader/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [I would also hope that readers receive a larger understanding, or a different understanding, of what it means to be human, than they might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/i-would-also-hope-that-readers-receive-a-larger-understanding-or-a/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) > [I'm not a writer. I like being a reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-reynolds-myers/i-m-not-a-writer-i-like-being-a-reader/) [Brian Reynolds Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-reynolds-myers/) > [If the writer were more like a reader, he’d be a reader, not a writer. It’s as uncomplicated as that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/if-the-writer-were-more-like-a-reader-he-d-be-a-reader-not-a-writer/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [I realized early in my career that precisely what one reader doesn't like is what another reader loves. Collectively, any writer's audience presents a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/i-realized-early-in-my-career-that-precisely-what-one-reader-doesn-t/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Two kinds of reading can be distinguished. I call them reading like a reader and reading like a writer ... when you read like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-smith/two-kinds-of-reading-can-be-distinguished-i-call-them-reading-like-a/) [Frank Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-smith/) > [I don't plot, and I don't plan. I like to be surprised like the reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-r-lansdale/i-don-t-plot-and-i-don-t-plan-i-like-to-be-surprised-like-the-reader/) [Joe R. Lansdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-r-lansdale/) ## More by Kazuo Ishiguro > [The evening's the best part of the day. You've done your day's work. Now you can put your feet up and enjoy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/the-evening-s-the-best-part-of-the-day-you-ve-done-your-day-s-work/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [As a writer, I'm more interested in what people tell themselves happened rather than what actually happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/as-a-writer-i-m-more-interested-in-what-people-tell-themselves/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [“About him and his wife voting for different parties. A few years ago that would have been unthinkable.” “No doubt.” “Quite extraordinary the things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/about-him-and-his-wife-voting-for-different-parties-a-few-years-ago/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [“But what is the sense in forever speculating what might have happened had such and such a moment turned out differently? One could presumably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/but-what-is-the-sense-in-forever-speculating-what-might-have-happened/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [“Silence is just as likely to indicate the most profound ideas forming, the deepest energies being summoned.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/silence-is-just-as-likely-to-indicate-the-most-profound-ideas-forming/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [“I don't know why, but it didn't seem an option for more than one of us to storm off, and I wanted to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/i-don-t-know-why-but-it-didn-t-seem-an-option-for-more-than-one-of-us/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [Our family arrived in England in 1960. At that time I thought the war was ancient history. But if I think of 15 years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/our-family-arrived-in-england-in-1960-at-that-time-i-thought-the-war/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [He chose a certain path in life, it proved to be a misguided one, but there, he chose it, he can say that at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/he-chose-a-certain-path-in-life-it-proved-to-be-a-misguided-one-but/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [“For however one may come in later years to reassess one’s achievements, it is always a consolation to know that one’s life has contained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/for-however-one-may-come-in-later-years-to-reassess-one-s/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [You're always in a rush, or else you're too exhausted to have a proper conversation. Soon enough, the long hours, the traveling, the broken…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/you-re-always-in-a-rush-or-else-you-re-too-exhausted-to-have-a-proper/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [I don't think it's any fun, even if you are one of the most respected authors in the world like Margaret Atwood, to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/i-don-t-think-it-s-any-fun-even-if-you-are-one-of-the-most-respected/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [I think it's quite difficult to understand what kind of life a writer leads. They might be millionaires, or they might be starving people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/i-think-it-s-quite-difficult-to-understand-what-kind-of-life-a-writer/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [“But this small episode is as good an illustration as any of the hazards of uttering witticisms. By the very nature of a witticism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/but-this-small-episode-is-as-good-an-illustration-as-any-of-the/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [There comes a point when you can more or less count the number of books you're going to write before you die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/there-comes-a-point-when-you-can-more-or-less-count-the-number-of/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) > [My wife is the most savage critic. She doesn't feel intimidated by my reputation. As far as she's concerned, she's just criticising a boyfriend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/my-wife-is-the-most-savage-critic-she-doesn-t-feel-intimidated-by-my/) [Kazuo Ishiguro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) [Explore all 292 Kazuo Ishiguro quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/) ## More Allusion quotes > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [Political journalists love graduate student intelligence, the ability to make clever allusions in seminars, and in 1999-2000 they hassled George W. Bush for not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-olasky/political-journalists-love-graduate-student-intelligence-the-ability/) [Marvin Olasky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-olasky/) > [Hip-hop is rich in musical allusion. It takes something that already existed, respects it, and reuses it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-flay/hip-hop-is-rich-in-musical-allusion-it-takes-something-that-already/) [K. Flay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-flay/) > [“So,' I said, partly to Magda, partly to myself, 'Rema left Argentina with this An-a-to-le person.' I adopted the four-syllable pronunciation with confidence, feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rivka-galchen/so-i-said-partly-to-magda-partly-to-myself-rema-left-argentina-with/) [Rivka Galchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rivka-galchen/) > [He was extremely reticent in his religious sentiments, at least in all that he wrote. Allusions to his belief are rarely, if ever, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-coit-gilman/he-was-extremely-reticent-in-his-religious-sentiments-at-least-in-all/) [Daniel Coit Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-coit-gilman/) > [Conversation! Supple sentences, with first and second meanings and overtones beyond, outrageous challenges with cleverly planned slip-points, rebuttals of elegant brevity; deceptions and guiles,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/conversation-supple-sentences-with-first-and-second-meanings-and/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [“She crossed her legs and kicked out her feet, clad in thick wool socks and boots big enough to house a little old lady.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-magary/she-crossed-her-legs-and-kicked-out-her-feet-clad-in-thick-wool-socks/) [Drew Magary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-magary/) > [Fine declamation does not consist in flowery periods, delicate allusions of musical cadences, but in a plain, open, loose style, where the periods are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/fine-declamation-does-not-consist-in-flowery-periods-delicate/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [Words make a world of difference. Over time, they become charged with inference and allusion and, deployed effectively, they have the power to change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ephraim-mirvis/words-make-a-world-of-difference-over-time-they-become-charged-with/) [Ephraim Mirvis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ephraim-mirvis/) > [The classical allusions and the Platonic disquisitions on beauty are no longer a form of cover, but integral to Aschenbach's complex sexuality. Moreover, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/the-classical-allusions-and-the-platonic-disquisitions-on-beauty-are/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [If I am allowed to give a metaphorical allusion to the future state of the blessed, I should imagine it by the orange-grove in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/humphry-davy/if-i-am-allowed-to-give-a-metaphorical-allusion-to-the-future-state/) [Humphry Davy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/humphry-davy/) > [I am seventy years old, a gray age weighted with uncompromising biblical allusions. It ought to have a gray outlook, but it hasn't, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/i-am-seventy-years-old-a-gray-age-weighted-with-uncompromising/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [When I die Bookchinism comes to an end, and all the allusions to it both among Marxists and anarchists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/when-i-die-bookchinism-comes-to-an-end-and-all-the-allusions-to-it/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [“Danny strolled to the town common, sat on one of the benches in Teenytown and took one of the bottles out of the bag,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/danny-strolled-to-the-town-common-sat-on-one-of-the-benches-in/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Children have no use for psychology. They detest sociology. They still believe in God, the family, angels, devils, witches, goblins, logic, clarity, punctuation, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/children-have-no-use-for-psychology-they-detest-sociology-they-still/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) [Browse all 70 Allusion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allusion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I actually dislike, more than many people, working through literary allusion. I just feel that there's something a bit snobbish or elitist about that. I don't like it as a reader, when I'm reading something. It's not just the elitism of it; it jolts me out of the mode in which I'm reading. I've immersed myself in the world and then when the light goes on I'm supposed to be making some kind of literary comparison to another text. I find I'm pulled out of my kind of fictional world, I'm asked to use my brain in a different kind of way. I don't like that.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kazuo Ishiguro" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/i-actually-dislike-more-than-many-people-working-through-literary/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Allusion" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/i-actually-dislike-more-than-many-people-working-through-literary/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e2/kazuo-ishiguro-1029_allusion_i-actually-dislike-more-than-many-people_1848768.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e2/kazuo-ishiguro-1029_allusion_i-actually-dislike-more-than-many-people_1848768.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e2/kazuo-ishiguro-1029_allusion_i-actually-dislike-more-than-many-people_1848768.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I actually dislike, more than many people, working through literary allusion. I just feel that there's…” — Kazuo Ishiguro", "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": "Kazuo Ishiguro", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazuo-ishiguro/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I actually dislike, more than many...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/i-actually-dislike-more-than-many-people-working-through-literary/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazuo-ishiguro/i-actually-dislike-more-than-many-people-working-through-literary/#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 } } ] } ```