England gave me a language and literature, the basis of what I am as a writer, but when I started writing more directly about my own experience, it wasn't England so much as what went before. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala basisdirectlyengland Change image and share on social
Perhaps I'm just fickle by nature and get tired of countries the way other women do of husbands or lovers. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala countryficklehusband Change image and share on social
Everyone is so estranged; no one is rooted. That's what I like to write about more than anything else. Everything being so mixed up. Racially mixed up, people moving from place to place, everything shifting. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala estrangemixmove share on social
I like characters who are larger-than-life, whether life-loving women or the artist or guru who grabs everything. But I don't live among people like that. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala artistcharactergrab Change image and share on social
It's technically extremely difficult to get down what you really mean, not what you think you mean, or what you think sounds good, but what's really there, what you really have to express, in words that somehow convey that meaning in an approximate way. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala approximateconveydifficult share on social
Once a refugee, always a refugee. I can't ever remember not being all right wherever I was, but you don't give your whole allegiance to a place or want to be entirely identified with the society you're living in. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala allegiancegiveidentify share on social
I only really woke up in India. It was my first experience of plenty, strangely enough, because everything in England was rationed. I loved sweets, but you couldn't get them; then there was this marvelous mitthai - I went crazy. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala crazyenglandexperience share on social
Film is not like a book; it's not a writer's baby at all. So many people have put in their talent, by that time that you feel grateful for what they've done, you don't feel possessive about it in any way. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala babybookfeel share on social
The misfortune to be born when I was, where I was. That was a piece of bad luck. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala badbearluck Change image and share on social
I was never interested in film. Never. I never even thought of it. I wasn't even a film buff, I didn't see many films ever. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala bufffilminterest Change image and share on social
