“Reading a book, for me at least, is like traveling in someone else's world. If it's a good book, then you feel comfortable and yet anxious to see what's going to happen to you there, what'll be around the next corner. But if it's a lousy book, then it's like going through Secaucus, New Jersey -- it smells and you wish you weren't there, but since you've started the trip, you roll up the windows and breathe through your mouth until you're done.”
― Jonathan Carroll, quote from The Land of Laughs
“The questions are the danger.
Leave them alone and they sleep.
Ask them, awake them, and more than you
know will begin to rise.”
― Jonathan Carroll, quote from The Land of Laughs
“Пару лет я коллекционировал авторучки. Однажды на блошином рынке во Франции я увидел, как какой-то человек передо мной взял с лотка одну ручку и стал рассматривать. По шестиугольной звезде на колпачке я сразу понял, что это “монблан”. Старый “монблан”. Я замер как вкопанный и начал повторять про себя: “ПОЛОЖИ ЕЕ, НЕ ПОКУПАЙ!” Но тщетно – человек приглядывался к ней все внимательней. Тогда мне захотелось, чтобы он умер тут же на месте, и я смог бы вынуть ручку из его окоченевших пальцев и купить сам. Он все стоял спиной ко мне, но моя ненависть была так сильна, что, должно быть, его проняло: он положил ручку, бросил испуганный взгляд через плечо и поспешно удалился.”
― Jonathan Carroll, quote from The Land of Laughs
“Самое худшее, что может случиться с человеком в сказке, – это превратиться в зверя. Но высочайшая награда для зверя – превратиться в человека.”
― Jonathan Carroll, quote from The Land of Laughs
“– Думаю, нужно быть писателем, когда в голове столько безумных идей и историй. А то лопнешь, если их не запишешь.”
― Jonathan Carroll, quote from The Land of Laughs
Jonathan Carroll
Born place: in New York City, The United States
Born date January 26, 1949
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“Ningún lugar es hermoso si estás atrapado en él,”
― Morgan Rice, quote from Desired
“Det er nok av tid, minst tyve år til pensjonen, tenkte han og la et par edderkoppkabaler til.”
― Jussi Adler-Olsen, quote from The Keeper of Lost Causes
“I will not mention the name (and what bits of it I happen to give here appear in decorous disguise) of that man, that Franco-Hungarian writer... I would rather not dwell upon him at all, but I cannot help it— he is surging up from under my pen. Today one does not hear much about him; and this is good, for it proves that I was right in resisting his evil spell, right in experiencing a creepy chill down my spine whenever this or that new book of his touched my hand. The fame of his likes circulates briskly but soon grows heavy and stale; and as for history it will limit his life story to the dash between two dates. Lean and arrogant, with some poisonous pun ever ready to fork out and quiver at you, and with a strange look of expectancy in his dull brown veiled eyes, this false wag had, I daresay, an irresistible effect on small rodents. Having mastered the art of verbal invention to perfection, he particularly prided himself on being a weaver of words, a title he valued higher than that of a writer; personally, I never could understand what was the good of thinking up books, of penning things that had not really happened in some way or other; and I remember once saying to him as I braved the mockery of his encouraging nods that, were I a writer, I should allow only my heart to have imagination, and for the rest rely upon memory, that long-drawn sunset shadow of one’s personal truth.
I had known his books before I knew him; a faint disgust was already replacing the aesthetic pleasure which I had suffered his first novel to give me. At the beginning of his career, it had been possible perhaps to distinguish some human landscape, some old garden, some dream- familiar disposition of trees through the stained glass of his prodigious prose... but with every new book the tints grew still more dense, the gules and purpure still more ominous; and today one can no longer see anything at all through that blazoned, ghastly rich glass, and it seems that were one to break it, nothing but a perfectly black void would face one’s shivering soul. But how dangerous he was in his prime, what venom he squirted, with what whips he lashed when provoked! The tornado of his passing satire left a barren waste where felled oaks lay in a row, and the dust still twisted, and the unfortunate author of some adverse review, howling with pain, spun like a top in the dust.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, quote from The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov
“Okay. Fine.” Angelina was silent. For about fifteen seconds. “But you do know that a vibrator can’t really be your boyfriend.”
Miki dropped her head into her hands. “I will not discuss Mr. Happy with the likes of you.”
Angelina sighed. “I find the fact that you named your vibrator disturbing on so many levels.”
“Best relationship I’ve ever had.”
― quote from Go Fetch!
“It was like that all the time, in those years: an endless trip, a gaudy voyage. But powers decay. Time leaches the colors from the best of visions. The world becomes grayer. Entropy beats us down. Everything fades. Everything goes. Everything dies.”
― Robert Silverberg, quote from Dying Inside
The Buried Giant
Year Zero
Fiance by Fate
The Vanishing Girl
Diaries of Franz Kaf...BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.
Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.
