--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was under the influence of the early…" description: "\"I was under the influence of the early modern masters, Fitzgerald and Steinbeck and Hemingway, especially, when I was a kid. I reacted against writers ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d8/robert-stone-13495_allegiance_i-was-under-the-influence-of-the-early-m_12998.png" --- # I was under the influence of the early modern masters… ![“I was under the influence of the early modern masters, Fitzgerald and Steinbeck and Hemingway, especially, when I was a kid. I reacted against writers like Barth and John Hawkes. I did not care for the post-modernist stuff; my allegiance was to realism.” quote by Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d8/robert-stone-13495_allegiance_i-was-under-the-influence-of-the-early-m_12998.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d8/robert-stone-13495_allegiance_i-was-under-the-influence-of-the-early-m_12998.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d8/robert-stone-13495_allegiance_i-was-under-the-influence-of-the-early-m_12998.png) > “I was under the influence of the early modern masters, Fitzgerald and Steinbeck and Hemingway, especially, when I was a kid. I reacted against writers like Barth and John Hawkes. I did not care for the post-modernist stuff; my allegiance was to realism.” [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) ## 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 describes a literary journey from early 20th‑century realist influences toward a rejection of post‑modern experimentation, emphasizing a commitment to realistic storytelling. **In simple terms:** Realist devotion, anti‑postmodern stance Key Takeaway Realism over post‑modernism Themes Realism Literary Influence Modernism Post‑modernism Narrative Style Mood Reflective Nostalgic Type Personal reflection Literary criticism When to use this quote - Choosing reading material - Teaching literature - Writing a novel - Literary criticism - Personal literary development Key Concepts Literary History Authorial Preference Genre Commitment Practical Applications - Curating a realist‑focused reading list - Designing a curriculum that contrasts realism with post‑modernism Questions to Reflect On - How does realism shape reader expectations? - What are the limits of realism in contemporary storytelling? A Different Perspective Some argue post‑modernism expands narrative possibilities, challenging realism's constraints. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Allegiance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/allegiance/) [Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care/) [Influence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/influence/) [Kids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kids/) [Modernist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modernist/) [Realism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realism/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I'm not a post-modernist. Especially when I do crime stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/i-m-not-a-post-modernist-especially-when-i-do-crime-stories/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [I don't much like post-modernism, because post-modernist has become the basket in which every mediocre person can shuffle things and pretend to do something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luca-guadagnino/i-don-t-much-like-post-modernism-because-post-modernist-has-become/) [Luca Guadagnino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luca-guadagnino/) > [The idea that we live in a post-modern culture is a myth. In fact a post-modern culture is an impossibility; it would be utterly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lane-craig/the-idea-that-we-live-in-a-post-modern-culture-is-a-myth-in-fact-a/) [William Lane Craig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lane-craig/) > [I think the adjective post-modernist really means mannerist. Books about books is fun but frivolous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/i-think-the-adjective-post-modernist-really-means-mannerist-books/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“As Adam Gopnik remarked in The New Yorker, “Post-modernist art is, above all, post-audience art.” In”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bayles/as-adam-gopnik-remarked-in-the-new-yorker-post-modernist-art-is-above/) [David Bayles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bayles/) > [“Following the Post Modernist route, we may indeed never arrive at meaning, but not because meaning is not there... only because we are lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/massimo-pigliucci/following-the-post-modernist-route-we-may-indeed-never-arrive-at/) [Massimo Pigliucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/massimo-pigliucci/) > [But re-reading Voss also demonstrates again that although White wasn't 'a nice man', and indeed was—perhaps rightly—scathingly dismissive of my and other Australian writers'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/but-re-reading-voss-also-demonstrates-again-that-although-white-wasn/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) > [My education was dominated by modernist thinkers and artists who taught me that the supreme imperative was courage to face the awful truth, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/my-education-was-dominated-by-modernist-thinkers-and-artists-who/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [I am just postmodern enough not to trust 'postmodern' as a description of our times, for it privileges the practices and intellectual formations of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-hauerwas/i-am-just-postmodern-enough-not-to-trust-postmodern-as-a-description/) [Stanley Hauerwas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-hauerwas/) > [“Despite their claims to a purely scientific and reasoned approach, the relationship of Modernist architects to their work remained at base a romantic one;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/despite-their-claims-to-a-purely-scientific-and-reasoned-approach-the/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Who'd want to be a modernist writer in the English-speaking world?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/who-d-want-to-be-a-modernist-writer-in-the-english-speaking-world/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [“They wanted facts. Facts! They demanded facts from him, as if facts could explain anything!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/they-wanted-facts-facts-they-demanded-facts-from-him-as-if-facts/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [When we first did 'Modernist Cuisine,' I think most people in cookbook publishing would have said, 'This is insane.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-myhrvold/when-we-first-did-modernist-cuisine-i-think-most-people-in-cookbook/) [Nathan Myhrvold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-myhrvold/) > [I think Le Carre is a great modernist writer, which is to say, in a godless world, he invokes deep, almost religious ideas of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-farr/i-think-le-carre-is-a-great-modernist-writer-which-is-to-say-in-a/) [David Farr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-farr/) > [The modernist writers found despair inspirational.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/the-modernist-writers-found-despair-inspirational/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) ## More by Robert Stone > [Life is a means of extracting fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/life-is-a-means-of-extracting-fiction/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [The desires of the heart...are as crooked as a corkscrew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/the-desires-of-the-heart-are-as-crooked-as-a-corkscrew/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [“He had undertaken a little assay at the good fight and found that neither the good nor the fight was left to him .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/he-had-undertaken-a-little-assay-at-the-good-fight-and-found-that/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [“How learned and fine we believed ourselves to be! How shitty of the world to deal with us this way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/how-learned-and-fine-we-believed-ourselves-to-be-how-shitty-of-the/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [“There were icons of the Magdalen on the walls and paintings in the Western manner, all kitsch, trash. Mary M., Lucas thought, half hypnotized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/there-were-icons-of-the-magdalen-on-the-walls-and-paintings-in-the/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [I write a very rough first draft of every chapter, then I rewrite every chapter. I try to get it down in the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/i-write-a-very-rough-first-draft-of-every-chapter-then-i-rewrite/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [I think everybody must be aware that this society is a whole lot shakier now than it was before the war. I was trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/i-think-everybody-must-be-aware-that-this-society-is-a-whole-lot/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [“Sleeping and waking, the notion of being lost, of having wandered out of the right life, kept turning up in different guises. She imagined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/sleeping-and-waking-the-notion-of-being-lost-of-having-wandered-out/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [I think there's a necessity for some attachment to the spiritual world and, in a way, people really have to have it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/i-think-there-s-a-necessity-for-some-attachment-to-the-spiritual/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [“Like many visitors, they had been unnerved by the inimitable creepiness of the Holy Sepulchre, a grimly gaudy, theopathical Turkish bathhouse where their childhood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/like-many-visitors-they-had-been-unnerved-by-the-inimitable/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [“He sat desiring the girl - a speed-hardened straw-colored junkie stewardess, a spoiled Augustana Lutheran, compounded of airport Muzak and beauty parlor school. Her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/he-sat-desiring-the-girl-a-speed-hardened-straw-colored-junkie/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [One does not consider style, because style is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/one-does-not-consider-style-because-style-is/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [If you couldn't tell the difference between what hurt and what didn't, you had no business being alive. You can't have any good times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/if-you-couldn-t-tell-the-difference-between-what-hurt-and-what-didn-t/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [At the time, acid made me consider questions of reality, the difference, as someone said, between words and silence. It also brought back a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/at-the-time-acid-made-me-consider-questions-of-reality-the-difference/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) > [It's easy to create a country, all you have to do is to think of a name for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-stone/it-s-easy-to-create-a-country-all-you-have-to-do-is-to-think-of-a/) [Robert Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) [Explore all 50 Robert Stone quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-stone/) ## More Allegiance quotes > [“Maybe it begins the day you pledge allegiance, face the flag and suddenly clutch your left clavicle because you find a tender puff of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-johnson/maybe-it-begins-the-day-you-pledge-allegiance-face-the-flag-and/) [Marilyn Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-johnson/) > [“The Pledge of Allegiance says 'liberty and justice for all'. Which part of 'all' don't you understand?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-schroeder/the-pledge-of-allegiance-says-liberty-and-justice-for-all-which-part/) Pat Schroeder > [They're counting on your patriotism to distract you from their plunder. They're counting on you to be standing at attention with your hand over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-moyers/they-re-counting-on-your-patriotism-to-distract-you-from-their/) [Bill Moyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-moyers/) > [There is a congratulatory culture in the Gulf. From birth onwards, there is a culture of giving people trophies as markers of achievement for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayshay/there-is-a-congratulatory-culture-in-the-gulf-from-birth-onwards/) Ayshay > [“We may give our human loves the unconditional allegiance which we owe only to God. Then they become gods: then they become demons. Then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/we-may-give-our-human-loves-the-unconditional-allegiance-which-we-owe/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [In my imaginary utopian world there would be a greater allegiance between music writers and musicians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-haines/in-my-imaginary-utopian-world-there-would-be-a-greater-allegiance/) [Emily Haines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-haines/) > [“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the great Republic of America, to our Elector Primo, to our glorious states, to unity against the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-lu/i-pledge-allegiance-to-the-flag-of-the-great-republic-of-america-to/) [Marie Lu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-lu/) > [Let's do more than say the 'Pledge of Allegiance.' Let us live it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emanuel-cleaver/let-s-do-more-than-say-the-pledge-of-allegiance-let-us-live-it/) [Emanuel Cleaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emanuel-cleaver/) > [All of us ... should remember that no amount of flag-waving, pledging allegiance, or fervent singing of the national anthem is evidence that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/all-of-us-should-remember-that-no-amount-of-flag-waving-pledging/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [“We're not to do everything man tells us to do. We are to obey the Lord Jesus Christ, and our allegiance to the state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-c-morecraft-iii/we-re-not-to-do-everything-man-tells-us-to-do-we-are-to-obey-the-lord/) [Joseph C. Morecraft III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-c-morecraft-iii/) > [Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/behind-the-ostensible-government-sits-enthroned-an-invisible/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [“I would find no value in the allegiance of a fool ready to give himself up to any old hag of Black Imagination who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-beddor/i-would-find-no-value-in-the-allegiance-of-a-fool-ready-to-give/) [Frank Beddor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-beddor/) > [Allegiance, after all, has to work two ways; and one can grow weary of an allegiance which is not reciprocal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/allegiance-after-all-has-to-work-two-ways-and-one-can-grow-weary-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think it is right for Canadians to be asked to show their faces when they're taking the oath. 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