--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every novel is brand-new. It’s never been…" description: "\"“Every novel is brand-new. It’s never been written before in the history of the world. At the same time, it’s merely the latest in a long line of narra..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73a/thomas-c-foster-20469_books_every-novel-is-brand-new-it-s-never-been_1831725.jpg" --- # Every novel is brand-new. It’s never been written before… ![“Every novel is brand-new. It’s never been written before in the history of the world. At the same time, it’s merely the latest in a long line of narratives—not just novels, but narratives generally—since humans began telling stories to themselves and each other.” quote by Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73a/thomas-c-foster-20469_books_every-novel-is-brand-new-it-s-never-been_1831725.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73a/thomas-c-foster-20469_books_every-novel-is-brand-new-it-s-never-been_1831725.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/73a/thomas-c-foster-20469_books_every-novel-is-brand-new-it-s-never-been_1831725.jpg) > ““Every novel is brand-new. It’s never been written before in the history of the world. At the same time, it’s merely the latest in a long line of narratives—not just novels, but narratives generally—since humans began telling stories to themselves and each other.”” [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote observes that each novel is both a fresh creation and part of an ongoing tradition of storytelling that stretches back through human history. **In simple terms:** Every new novel is both original and part of a long narrative lineage. Key Takeaway Recognize novelty within tradition. Themes literature creativity storytelling continuity originality Mood reflective appreciative inspirational Type literary philosophical educational When to use this quote - creative writing - literary criticism - education - publishing Key Concepts intertextuality cultural memory innovation genre evolution Questions to Reflect On - How does tradition shape originality? - Can a story be truly brand‑new? A Different Perspective The statement may overlook the influence of prior works on a novel’s uniqueness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novels/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“we accept fictions as fictions, as things that might be true in their world, if not quite in ours.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-foster/we-accept-fictions-as-fictions-as-things-that-might-be-true-in-their/) [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) > [“The novels we read allow us to encounter possible persons, visions of ourselves that we would never see, never permit ourselves to become, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-foster/the-novels-we-read-allow-us-to-encounter-possible-persons-visions-of/) [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) > [“The novels we read allow us to encounter possible persons, versions of ourselves hat we would never see, never permit ourselves to see, never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-foster/the-novels-we-read-allow-us-to-encounter-possible-persons-versions-of/) [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) > [When novels deal in abstractions, they generally go off the rails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/when-novels-deal-in-abstractions-they-generally-go-off-the-rails/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) > [I seem always to have two or three novels going at once. It takes me a long time to finish one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-helm/i-seem-always-to-have-two-or-three-novels-going-at-once-it-takes-me-a/) [Michael Helm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-helm/) > [My novels are very much the same, as I think many people's novels are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-patchett/my-novels-are-very-much-the-same-as-i-think-many-people-s-novels-are/) [Ann Patchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-patchett/) > [At Oxford University, I studied languages so I could read the great novels as they were originally written. I took what in the United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-beckinsale/at-oxford-university-i-studied-languages-so-i-could-read-the-great/) [Kate Beckinsale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-beckinsale/) > [When you're writing a novel, you spend four years sitting in your basement and a year waiting for the book to come out and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/when-you-re-writing-a-novel-you-spend-four-years-sitting-in-your/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Novels are more difficult simply because they are longer and require more juggling, but short stories are closer to perfection, if you can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/novels-are-more-difficult-simply-because-they-are-longer-and-require/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [All novels are about crime. You'd be hard pressed to find any novel that does not have an element of crime. I don't see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-hiaasen/all-novels-are-about-crime-you-d-be-hard-pressed-to-find-any-novel/) [Carl Hiaasen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-hiaasen/) > [In ordinary detective novels you never see the consequences of what happens in a story in the next book. That you do in mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-ordinary-detective-novels-you-never-see-the-consequences-of-what/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Neither novels or their readers benefit from any attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/neither-novels-or-their-readers-benefit-from-any-attempts-to-divine/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I have often heard that the novel is dead. But I see novels produced, I don't know how many a week, in France. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathalie-sarraute/i-have-often-heard-that-the-novel-is-dead-but-i-see-novels-produced-i/) [Nathalie Sarraute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathalie-sarraute/) > [I think of novels as houses. You live in them over the course of a long period, both as a reader and as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/i-think-of-novels-as-houses-you-live-in-them-over-the-course-of-a/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) ## More by Thomas C. Foster > [“I can’t go as far as Barthes in killing off the author, but I’m with him on the importance of the reader. We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-foster/i-can-t-go-as-far-as-barthes-in-killing-off-the-author-but-i-m-with/) [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) > [“of his need to assert responsibility for his own life. It may be that Adela does panic in the face of Nothingness, only recovering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-foster/of-his-need-to-assert-responsibility-for-his-own-life-it-may-be-that/) [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) > [“When it's over, we may feel wooed, adored, appreciated, or abused, but it will have been an affair to remember.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-foster/when-it-s-over-we-may-feel-wooed-adored-appreciated-or-abused-but-it/) [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) > [“The novels we read allow us to encounter possible persons, versions of ourselves hat we would never see, never permit ourselves to see, never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-foster/the-novels-we-read-allow-us-to-encounter-possible-persons-versions-of/) [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) > [“Education is mostly about institutions and getting tickets stamped; learning is what we do for ourselves. When we're lucky, they go together. If I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-foster/education-is-mostly-about-institutions-and-getting-tickets-stamped/) [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) > [“The novels we read allow us to encounter possible persons, visions of ourselves that we would never see, never permit ourselves to become, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-foster/the-novels-we-read-allow-us-to-encounter-possible-persons-visions-of/) [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) > [“we accept fictions as fictions, as things that might be true in their world, if not quite in ours.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-foster/we-accept-fictions-as-fictions-as-things-that-might-be-true-in-their/) [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) > [“We sometimes hear of the death of literature or of this or that genre, but literature doesn't die, just as it doesn't 'progress' or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-foster/we-sometimes-hear-of-the-death-of-literature-or-of-this-or-that-genre/) [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) > [“corollaries—where have I seen his face, don’t I know that”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-foster/corollaries-where-have-i-seen-his-face-don-t-i-know-that/) [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) > [“Always" and "never" are not words that have much meaning in literary study. For one thing, as soon as something seems to always be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-foster/always-and-never-are-not-words-that-have-much-meaning-in-literary/) [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) > [“What happens if the writer is good is usually not that the work seems derivative or trivial but just the opposite: the work actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-foster/what-happens-if-the-writer-is-good-is-usually-not-that-the-work-seems/) [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) > [“characters as rich and complex as those we believe ourselves to be”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-foster/characters-as-rich-and-complex-as-those-we-believe-ourselves-to-be/) [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) > [“So how do we get from there to a pattern of experience that can stand for the whole of postcolonial Latin America? Ah, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-foster/so-how-do-we-get-from-there-to-a-pattern-of-experience-that-can-stand/) [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) > [“The process of dehuminazing the locals was under way, and it had very little to do with veracity. The Puritan narratives would continue that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-foster/the-process-of-dehuminazing-the-locals-was-under-way-and-it-had-very/) [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) > [“A novel is a made-up work about made-up people in a made-up place, all of which is very real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-c-foster/a-novel-is-a-made-up-work-about-made-up-people-in-a-made-up-place-all/) [Thomas C. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) [Explore all 29 Thomas C. Foster quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-c-foster/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Every novel is brand-new. It’s never been written before in the history of the world. At the same time, it’s merely the latest in a long line of narratives—not just novels, but narratives generally—since humans began telling stories to themselves and each other.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas C. 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