Books Quote by Thea Astley

Novel-writing is a highly skilled and laborious trade. One does not just sit behind a screen jotting down other people's conversation. One has for…

— Evelyn Waugh

We trust to novels to train us in the practice of great indignations and great generosity.

— Henry James

The luxury of time to write, and the confidence to do so, make it easier for the more affluent and when the most decorated…

— Dawn Foster

“Every so often, a novel comes along to remind us that what we hope is true, is true: that understanding is stronger than what…

— Gary Schmidt

[N]othing about a book is so unmistakable and so irreplaceable as the stamp of the cultured mind. I don't care what the story is…

— Dorothy L. Sayers

The wider the author's arsenal of tools and the better technically equipped the storyteller is, the better the tale will be.

— Carlos Ruiz Zafon

“It is a book that challenges the reader to action, and in taking that action, to greater service to themselves, their families, their communities,…

— Bob P. Buford

For pity's sake, if you don't take a shine to a novel, there are loads more in the world; read something else. Continue suffering,…

— Lionel Shriver

“To write an excellent novel, make the outcome of the story matter to the reader through the evolving relationships between well-designed characters.”

— Martin Sandforth

This Is Not a Novel memorializes the treasures and detritus of one man's singularly cultured mind. (...) If you don't know Writer's work at…

— Michael Dirda

Novels are one of the few remaining areas of narrative storytelling where one person does almost all of the creative heavy lifting.

— Charles Stross

“Any first rate novel or story must have in it the strength of a dozen fairly good stories that have been sacrificed to it.…

— Willa Cather