My work is frequently described as cold, which is baffling, since it seems to me embarrassingly, shame-makingly, scandalously warm. I find my work filled with sentiment, and I can't imagine why people find it cold. John Banville bafflecoldembarrassingly share on social
Office life is very, very strange. It's like no other way of living. You have an intimacy with people who you work with in the office, yet if you meet them on the streets, you both look the other way because you're embarrassed. John Banville embarrassintimacylife share on social
I'd given up Catholicism in my teens but something of it stays with me. I try to create the perfect sentence - that's as close to godliness as I can get. John Banville catholicismclosecreate Change image and share on social
When I say I don't like my own work, that doesn't mean it isn't better than everyone else's. John Banville work Change image and share on social
You can't write about fantasy without being ridiculous. John Banville fantasyridiculouswrite Change image and share on social
I'm a hopeless 19th-century romantic. John Banville 19thcenturyhopeless Change image and share on social
All novels must be autobiographical because I am the only material that I know. All of the characters are me. But at the same time, a novel is never autobiographical even if it describes the life of the author. Literary writing is a completely different medium. John Banville authorautobiographicalcharacter share on social
The novel is resilient, and so are novelists. John Banville novelistresilient 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
