Novelists don't age as quickly as philosophers, who often face professional senility in their late twenties. Martin Amis agefacelate Change image and share on social
Novelists embody plural selves all the time. What are characters, after all, if not other selves? Siri Hustvedt characterembodynovelist Change image and share on social
Novelists go about the strenuous business of marrying and burying their people, or else they send them to sea, or to Africa, or at the least, out of town. Essayists in their stillness ponder love and death. Cynthia Ozick africaburybusiness share on social
Novelists have always had complete freedom to pretty much tell their story any way they saw fit. And that's what I'm trying to do. Quentin Tarantino completefitfreedom Change image and share on social
Novelists have to be adept at controlling the flow of information, and, most crucially, they have to be in charge of the narrative. Ian Mcewan adeptchargecontrol Change image and share on social
Novelists in particular love to rhapsodize about the glory of the solitary mind; this is natural, because their job requires them to sit in a room by themselves for years on end. But for most of the rest of us, we think and remember socially. Clive Thompson endgloryjob share on social
Novelists, it seems to me, are the very last people who should be asked to comment on the news of the day, and sooner or later, when they have been pilloried for their views, most of them recognise this. Hilary Mantel askcommentday share on social
Novelists of a conservative or more purely aesthetic bent hold up better on the surface, but their novels go in and out of fashion according to relevance or irrelevance. Jane Smiley aestheticbendconservative Change image and share on social
Novelists seem to fall into two distinct categories - those that plan and those that just see where it takes them. I am very much the former category. Jojo Moyes categorydistinctfall Change image and share on social
Novelists should be like scientists, dissecting the cadaver. J. G. Ballard cadaverdissectnovelist Change image and share on social
