I'm a hopeless 19th-century romantic. John Banville 19thcenturyhopeless Change image and share on social
I don't see how English as we use it in Europe can be revivified. It's like Latin must have been in about A.D. 300, tired and used up. All one can do is press very hard stylistically to make it glow. John Banville englisheuropeglow Change image and share on social
I've been wrestling with Kafka since I was an adolescent. I think he's a great aphorist, a great letter writer, a great diarist, a great short story writer, and a great novelist - I'd put novelist last. John Banville adolescentaphoristdiarist share on social
When you're writing there's a deep, deep level of concentration way below your normal self. This strange voice, these strange sentences come out of you. John Banville concentrationdeeplevel Change image and share on social
I think I'm less the writer than I'm the written. John Banville writewriter Change image and share on social
The novel is resilient, and so are novelists. John Banville novelistresilient Change image and share on social
You know, artists don't really have all that much experience of life. We make a huge amount out of the small experience that we do have. John Banville amountartistexperience Change image and share on social
I never went to university. I'm self-educated. I didn't go because I was too impatient, too arrogant. John Banville arroganteducateimpatient Change image and share on social
Most crime fiction, no matter how 'hard-boiled' or bloodily forensic, is essentially sentimental, for most crime writers are disappointed romantics. John Banville bloodilyboilcrime Change image and share on social
I don't know if there is a personal identity. We all imagine that we are absolute individuals. But when we begin to look for where this individuality resides, it's very difficult to find. John Banville absolutebegindifficult Change image and share on social