I feel I grew up in a different century than I live in. I think most of them are changes for the good. John McGahern centuryfeelgood Change image and share on social
I think that each of us inhabits a private world that others cannot see. The only difference between the writer and the reader is that the writer is able to dramatise that private world. John McGahern differencedramatiseinhabit Change image and share on social
I think fiction is a very serious thing, that while it is fiction, it is also a revelation of truth, or facts. John McGahern factfictionrevelation Change image and share on social
Everything that we inherit, the rain, the skies, the speech, and anybody who works in the English language in Ireland knows that there's the dead ghost of Gaelic in the language we use and listen to and that those things will reflect our Irish identity. John McGahern deadenglishgaelic share on social
I think it's linked to the realisation that we're not going to live forever and that the way of saying and the language become more important than the story. John McGahern foreverimportantlanguage Change image and share on social
When I start to write, words have become physical presence. It was to see if I could bring that private world to life that found its first expression through reading. I really dislike the romantic notion of the artist. John McGahern artistbringdislike share on social
Yes, though I have nothing but gratitude for my upbringing in the church. John McGahern churchgratitudeupbringing Change image and share on social
The way I see it is that all the ol' guff about being Irish is a kind of nonsense. I mean, I couldn't be anything else no matter what I tried to be. I couldn't be Chinese or Japanese. John McGahern chineseguffirish Change image and share on social
When I was in my 20s it did occur to me that there was something perverted about an attitude that thought that killing somebody was a minor offence compared to kissing somebody. John McGahern 20sattitudecompare Change image and share on social
Amongst Women concentrated on the family, and the new book concentrates on a small community. The dominant units in Irish society are the family and the locality. The idea was that the whole world would grow out from that small space. John McGahern bookcommunityconcentrate share on social
