He felt changed, but there was no one to tell.
He felt changed, but there was no one to tell. A. S. Byatt
Ice burns, and it is hard to the warm-skinned to distinguish one sensation, fire, from the other, frost.
Ice burns, and it is hard to the warm-skinned to distinguish one sensation, fire, from the other, frost. A. S. Byatt
A surprising number of people – including many students of literature – will tell you they haven’t really lived in a book since they were children.
A surprising number of people – including many students of literature – will tell you they haven’t really lived in a book since they were … Read More
We two remake our world by naming it / Together, knowing what words mean for us / And for the other for whom current coin / Is cold speech – but we say, the tree, the pool, / And see the fire in the air, the sun, our sun, / Anybody’s sun, the world’s sun, but here, now / Particularly our sun.
We two remake our world by naming it / Together, knowing what words mean for us / And for the other for whom current coin … Read More
No mere human can stand in a fire and not be consumed.
No mere human can stand in a fire and not be consumed. A. S. Byatt
I worry about anthropomorphism as a form of self-deception. (The Christian religion is an anthropomorphic account of the universe.)
I worry about anthropomorphism as a form of self-deception. (The Christian religion is an anthropomorphic account of the universe.) A. S. Byatt
Once upon a time, when men and women hurtled through the air on metal wings, when they wore webbed feet and walked on the bottom of the sea, learning the speech of whales and the songs of the dolphins, when pearly-fleshed and jewelled apparitions of Texan herdsmen and houris shimmered in the dusk on Nicaraguan hillsides, when folk in Norway and Tasmania in dead of winter could dream of fresh strawberries, dates, guavas and passion fruits and find them spread next morning on their tables, there was a woman who was largely irrelevant, and therefore happy.
Once upon a time, when men and women hurtled through the air on metal wings, when they wore webbed feet and walked on the bottom … Read More
Narration is as much a part of human nature as breath and the circulation of the blood.
Narration is as much a part of human nature as breath and the circulation of the blood. A. S. Byatt
I think the virtue I prize above all others is curiosity. If you look really hard at almost anybody, and try to see why they’re doing what they’re doing, taking a dig at them ceases to be what you want to do even if you hate them.
I think the virtue I prize above all others is curiosity. If you look really hard at almost anybody, and try to see why they’re … Read More
An odd phrase, “by heart,” he would add, as though poems were stored in the bloodstream.
An odd phrase, “by heart,” he would add, as though poems were stored in the bloodstream. A. S. Byatt
I think the names of colors are at the edge, between where language fails and where it’s at its most powerful.
I think the names of colors are at the edge, between where language fails and where it’s at its most powerful. A. S. Byatt
There are things that happen and leave no discernible trace, are not spoken or written of, though it would be very wrong to say that subsequent events go on indifferently, all the same, as though such things had never been.
There are things that happen and leave no discernible trace, are not spoken or written of, though it would be very wrong to say that … Read More
Art does not exist for politics, or for instruction- it exists primarily for pleasure, or it is nothing.
Art does not exist for politics, or for instruction- it exists primarily for pleasure, or it is nothing. A. S. Byatt
Biographies are no longer written to explain or explore the greatness of the great. They redress balances, explore secret weaknesses, demolish legends.
Biographies are no longer written to explain or explore the greatness of the great. They redress balances, explore secret weaknesses, demolish legends. A. S. Byatt
I’m not very interested in myself. I do have a deep moral belief that you should always look out at other things and not be self-centred.
I’m not very interested in myself. I do have a deep moral belief that you should always look out at other things and not be … Read More
He was beautiful, that was always affirmed, but his beauty was hard to fix or to see, for he was always glimmering, flickering, melting, mixing, he was the shape of a shapeless flame, he was the eddying thread of needle-shapes in the shapeless mass of the waterfall. He was the invisible wind that hurried the clouds in billows and ribbons. You could see a bare tree on the skyline bent by the wind, holding up twisted branches and bent twigs, and suddenly its formless form would resolve itself into that of the trickster.
He was beautiful, that was always affirmed, but his beauty was hard to fix or to see, for he was always glimmering, flickering, melting, mixing, … Read More
I’m more interested in books than people, and I always expect everybody else to be, but they’re not.
I’m more interested in books than people, and I always expect everybody else to be, but they’re not. A. S. Byatt
I think the virtue I prize above all others is curiosity.
I think the virtue I prize above all others is curiosity. A. S. Byatt
…words have been all my life, all my life–this need is like the Spider’s need who carries before her a huge Burden of Silk which she must spin out–the silk is her life, her home, her safety–her food and drink too–and if it is attacked or pulled down, why, what can she do but make more, spin afresh, design anew….
…words have been all my life, all my life–this need is like the Spider’s need who carries before her a huge Burden of Silk which … Read More
Think of this – that the writer wrote alone, and the reader read alone, and they were alone with each other.
Think of this – that the writer wrote alone, and the reader read alone, and they were alone with each other. A. S. Byatt