I had never read Victorian novels before going overseas. I read a handful of authors, but I had not immersed myself in the literature of the 19th century. Eleanor Catton 19thauthorcentury Change image and share on social
Writing is exhilarating, but reading reviews is not. I've been really devastated by 'good' reviews because they misunderstand the project of the book. It can be strangely galvanising to get a 'bad' one. Eleanor Catton badbookdevastate share on social
One of the things I really like about Victorian novels is the close anatomisation of character. People's gestures and mannerisms and the quality of their thought is very closely identified and analysed. Eleanor Catton analyseanatomisationcharacter share on social
We throw at female artists this expectation that their work has to speak to the female experience. And if it doesn't, you're letting the side down. Throwing this stumbling block in the way of female artists is counterintuitive. Eleanor Catton artistblockcounterintuitive share on social
I often feel intellectually frustrated when I'm in a position where I'm not moving forward; when I'm not enquiring about something. Eleanor Catton enquirefeelforward Change image and share on social
The readership of Victorian novels, when they were published, was much less diverse. People were probably white, and had enough money to be literate. Very often, there are phrases in Italian, German and French that are left untranslated. Eleanor Catton diversefrenchgerman share on social
Fiction is supposed to be immersive and supposed to be entertaining and narrative, so structures have to be buried a little bit. If they come foregrounded too much, it stops being fiction and starts being poetry - something more concrete and out of time. Eleanor Catton biteburyconcrete share on social
My mum was a children's librarian, so I spent a lot of time in the library. My reading life, because of my mum's work, was evenly split between American, Canadian, Australian and British authors. Eleanor Catton americanaustralianauthor Change image and share on social
I'm a Libra. I'm happy to be an air sign, but I do think I have a little too much air in my chart as a whole - some more water would be useful, especially in my personal life, as an emotional counterweight to all that abstraction. Eleanor Catton abstractionairchart share on social
The nice thing about the zodiac as a system is it is quite comprehensive as a range of impulses and psychological states it can speak about. Eleanor Catton comprehensiveimpulsenice Change image and share on social
