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A Ladder to the Sky

by John Boyne · 2018

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE Maurice Swift is handsome, charming, and hungry for fame. The one thing he doesn’t have is talent—but he’s not about to let a… more

17 quotes ★ 4.20 (43,369) Fiction

Quotes from the Book

Perhaps it would be a good idea if everyone just stopped writing for a couple of years and allowed readers to catch up.
117
You’ve heard the wonderful news, I presume?” “No. Has Mr. Trump died?
25
Would there be no end to publishing, he wondered? Perhaps it would be a good idea if everyone just stopped writing for a couple of years, and allowed readers to catch up.
17
I've known a lot of whores in my life," added Gore, [...]. "Both men and women. And in general, I've always found them to be good company, with a highly evolved sense of honor. A whore will never cheat you, they have too much integrity for that. But you, Mr. Swift, you give the profession a bad name.
17
The more you read, the more you write, the more the ideas will appear. They’ll fall like confetti around your head and your only difficulty will be deciding which ones to catch and which to let fall to the floor.
13
The people are behind him for now. He has infected them with his hatred. He demands absolute loyalty, and when anyone dares to criticize him, they lose their position. I think he will lead a great army, but what will be the result?
12
I had told the truth, or a version of it, anyway.
10
I think Maurice is whatever he needs to be, whenever he needs to be it. He's an operator, that's for sure.
7
Where do [writers] get [their] ideas? And the answer is that no one knows where the come from and nobody should know. They evolve in thin air, they float down from some mysterious heaven, and we reach and grab one, to grasp in our imagination, and to make it our own. One writer might overhear a conversation in a cafe and a whole novel will be built from that moment. Another might see an article in a newspaper and a plot will suggest itself immediately. Another might hear about an unpleasant incident that happened to a friend of a friend in a supermarket . . . .
6
So when the shit hits the fan, remember: all of this is your fault.
5
When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.
4
And, you'll forgive me for sounding immodest, but i know that i'm good-looking. Throughout my life, both men and women have made their interest in me obvious. But I can't control any of that. It was simply the way I was born. Ultimately, it means nothing. I could have a heart of stone for all they know. I could be a psychopath or a sociopath. Not all monsters look like the Elephant Man, and not everyone who looks like the Elephant Man is a monster.
2
İkimiz de savaş ihtimalinden bahsetmedik. O zamanlar Almanya'da iki çeşit genç vardı: savaşın başlamasını sabırsızlıkla bekleyenler ve sanki bu gerçeği görmezden gelirsek önleyebilirmişiz gibi yok sayanlar.
1
How competitive everyone is in expressing their outrage
1
Would there be no end to publishing? he wondered. Perhaps it would be a good idea if everyone just stopped writing for a couple of years and allowed readers to catch up.
1
I’ve seen so many people’s lives destroyed by failed love affairs or unrequited passions that I’ve always felt rather fortunate to remain essentially disinterested.
You’re too young to write off your weaknesses as failures,’ I said. ‘The more you read

About John Boyne

We have collected 125 quotes from 7 books by John Boyne on BookQuoters.

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About the book

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

Maurice Swift is handsome, charming, and hungry for fame. The one thing he doesn’t have is talent—but he’s not about to let a detail like that stand in his way. After all, a would-be writer can find stories anywhere. They don’t need to be his own.

Working as a waiter in a West Berlin hotel in 1988, Maurice engineers the perfect opportunity: a chance encounter with celebrated novelist Erich Ackermann. He quickly ingratiates himself with the powerful – but desperately lonely – older man, teasing out of Erich a terrible, long-held secret about his activities during the war. Perfect material for Maurice’s first novel.

Once Maurice has had a taste of literary fame, he knows he can stop at nothing in pursuit of that high. Moving from the Amalfi Coast, where he matches wits with Gore Vidal, to

Book details

First published
2018
Genre
Fiction
Goodreads rating
4.20 (43k ratings)

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