I think you can get a sort of intensity and an edginess offering nine stories in a book. Competing versions of things. Colm Toibin bookcompeteedginess Change image and share on social
I feel just fine about ignoring or bypassing the rights of people I have known and loved to be rendered faithfully, or to be left in peace, and out of novels. Colm Toibin bypassfaithfullyfeel Change image and share on social
All writing is a form of manipulation, of course, but you realize that a plain sentence can actually do so much. Colm Toibin formmanipulationplain Change image and share on social
I write with a sort of grim determination to deal with things that are hidden and difficult, and this means, I think, that pleasure is out of the question. I would associate this with narcissism anyway, and I would disapprove of it. Colm Toibin associatedealdetermination share on social
People's interest in glamour and clothes and nylon stockings and all those things were, when I was a little boy, the sort of world that I listened to. Colm Toibin boyclotheglamour Change image and share on social
Describe character using dialogue. Describe character using what the characters see or do or think, but not what they had done or where they had been. Colm Toibin characterdescribedialogue Change image and share on social
I wrote every day between the ages of 12 and 20 when I stopped because I went to Barcelona, where life was too exciting to write. Colm Toibin agebarcelonaday Change image and share on social
I don't think we have a right to enjoy our neuroses; in fact, I believe that we have a duty not to. But we cannot walk away from ourselves. Who else is there to become? Colm Toibin dutyenjoyfact Change image and share on social
I work very deliberately, with a plan. But sometimes I come to a point that I planned as the end and it needs softening. Ending a novel is almost like putting a child to sleep - it can't be done abruptly. Colm Toibin abruptlychilddeliberately share on social
Between the ages of 8 and 12 it was difficult to know what my father was saying, and he moved very slowly, and then he died. Colm Toibin agediedifficult Change image and share on social
