We really set out in all our books to say something. Every one is an effort to bring the reader over and show them our theory as to why what we're talking about needs to be talked about.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
As authors, we all have to learn not to be reactive to public statements about our books. It's really not our business what each reader thinks of them.
We had literary references, so we knew what we were talking about. We could quote things, talk about books we'd read; you can say something, you don't have to explain it.
With so many millions of titles available, the books that will get talked about are the books that make readers talk about them.
It might be an idea for all literary critics to read the books they analyse aloud - it certainly helps to fix them in the mind, while providing a readymade seminar with your audience.
I'm sure most parents read to their children to explain what certain things mean. So books are a good way to convey a message to anybody. Everybody reads.
A book is always a dialogue with other readers and other books.
I never discuss a novel while I'm writing it, for fear that talking about it will diminish my desire to write it.
That's why people read books. You get to have the real conversation, as opposed to the pseudo-conversations we have in everyday life.
Dialogue is the place that books are most alive and forge the most direct connection with readers. It is also where we as writers discover our characters and allow them to become real.
We do not need to proselytise either by our speech or by our writing. We can only do so really with our lives. Let our lives be open books for all to study.