Authorial Detachment Dilemma

Table of Contents

• Reader Interpretation vs. Authorial Intent
• Books and Emotional Impact
• Author-Reader Relationship
• Books as Personal Identity
• Authorial Control and Perception
• Books and Empathy
• Critics and External Judgment
• Writing Process and Author's Challenges
• Books as a Reflection of the Author
• Other

Reader Interpretation vs. Authorial Intent

What really annoys me are the ones who write to say, I am doing your book for my final examinations and could you please tell me what the meaning of it is. I find it just so staggering--that you're supposed to explain the meaning of your book to some total stranger! If I knew what the meanings of my books were, I wouldn't have bothered to write them.

That's the thing: once it's in their hands, it's not my book anymore, it's theirs. I have no idea what happens when they start to digest it. So when someone writes me to explain how they read it, what it was like, what they enjoyed, there's a thrill. Writers who don't make their email addresses public are missing out on something wonderful.

My books don't seem to belong to me after I have once written them; and I find myself delivering opinions about them as if I had nothing to do with them.

I have a very childish attitude to books - a very non-analytic enthusiasm... like Alice falling down the chute.

I think some people wished I'd kept myself out of the book. But I kind of insist on it because I want the reader to share my engagement with the material, if you like, not pretend that I'm doing it completely intellectually.

I try to avoid describing one interpretation of my books. Of course I have an opinion. I have things I want to say, but I don't ever want to limit anybody, to have them say, 'Oh, he said this, so that's what it's about.' I'm happy people bring their own stuff to it.

Very often, people who actually pick up a book of mine for the first time are kind of surprised. And I get these letters saying, well, who knew that you were good, you know?

In my books I might hold the mirror to my own face. If others would like to borrow the mirror, they're welcome. The books aren't there to accuse others - merely to raise issues and keep the debates alive.

But I do think it’s important to remember that writers do not have a monopoly of wisdom on their books. They can be wrong about their own books, they can often learn about their own books.

Books and Emotional Impact

Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book. And then there are books like An Imperial Affliction, which you can't tell people about, books so special and rare and yours that advertising your affection feels like betrayal

I care more about the people in books than the people I see every day.

If I read a book that impresses me, I have to take myself firmly in hand before I mix with other people; otherwise they would think my mind rather queer.

It's strange because sometimes, I read a book, and I think I am the people in the book.

If I read a book that impresses me, I have to take myself firmly by the hand, before I mix with other people; otherwise they would think my mind rather queer.

Many readers judge of the power of a book by the shock it gives their feelings.

The comments I most appreciate come from ordinary readers who've happened on one of my books at some time of stress in their lives, and who actually credit the book with helping them through a bad time. It's happened a few times in forty years.

I have always been accused of taking the things I love – football, of course, but also books and records – much too seriously, and I do feel a kind of anger when I hear a bad record, or when someone is lukewarm about a book that means a lot to me.

Author-Reader Relationship

If you like a book you read, tell someone. If you hate it, tell em harder.

Every time you hear someone read your book and liked your book, you're never sure whether that's going to follow with a similar remark from someone else. Perhaps I have low expectations, but whenever I hear someone say, 'I liked your book,' I don't know if it's going to happen again.

Nothing that readers say or do strikes me as a nuisance. Anyone who cracks open a book of mine is, to me, a gem.

I had some friends commenting me books, but mostly it was people I didn't know. But they're fans. They're fans of the books, so they have a working knowledge of how I write, and they know what they like and what they don't like. I'm really grateful for their feedback.

I'm always imposing my taste in books on others. I hope that people enjoy being surprised by a book they might not otherwise read - I enjoy the surprise myself when others do this to me.

When people come up to me and say, 'I read your book,' I'm thinking, 'How dare you! Who gave you a copy?'

I think I'm much more comfortable talking about other books than my own!

Books as Personal Identity

Many people, myself among them, feel better at the mere sight of a book.

You are the kind of person people read books about.

Some books that I've read on the Kindle, I've been like, 'I want that on my shelf.' Because it says, 'I'm the kind of person who has read this.' The kind of books that says, 'I'm serious and intellectual and historical and race-conscious.'

A person might see that I've blurbed a certain book and decide they want nothing to do with it! Like, 'If that reprobate Toews likes it, forget it!' So, it's a crapshoot. But it feels good to be able to praise a book that I love or that has been written by a new writer.

I have always been accused of taking the things I love – football, of course, but also books and records – much too seriously, and I do feel a kind of anger when I hear a bad record, or when someone is lukewarm about a book that means a lot to me.

Authorial Control and Perception

I am quite happy for people to disagree with me on a book. If I say it is a 5 star read and you don't, you just failed to read it right. ;-)

I demand that my books be judged with utmost severity, by knowledgeable people who know the rules of grammar and of logic, and who will seek beneath the footsteps of my commas the lice of my thought in the head of my style.

Every time I write a book, I think how I could be doing it better to please people - a nicer book with nicer characters - but I just can't.

I don't think I'm an unkind person, I don't think my books are unkind, and I don't think my readers are unkind.

If my books appear to a reader to be oversimplified, then you shouldn't read them: You're not the audience!

Books allow readers to determine what they wish. People often aren’t quite as forgiving if you don’t read or see exactly what they wish you to.

Books and Empathy

As Neil Gaiman said, a book is a "little empathy machine," and it is "very hard to hate people of a certain kind when you've just read a book of one of those people".

...Because a book is a little empathy machine. It puts you inside somebody else’s head. You see out of the world through somebody else’s eyes. It’s very hard to hate people of a certain kind when you’ve just read a book by one of those people.

A book is a little empathy machine. It puts you inside somebody else's head. You see out of the world through somebody else's eyes. It's very hard to hate people of a certain kind when you've just read a book by one of those people.

...but one can't be irredeemable who shows reverence for books.

Reading a book by someone you respect allows some of their brilliance to rub off on you.

Critics and External Judgment

The fact people think that when you sell a lot of books you are not a serious writer is a great insult to the readership. I get a little angry when people try to say such a thing.

When somebody tells you there's something wrong with your book they're almost always right, when they tell you how to fix it they're almost always wrong.

Every time you hear someone read your book and liked your book, you're never sure whether that's going to follow with a similar remark from someone else. Perhaps I have low expectations, but whenever I hear someone say, 'I liked your book,' I don't know if it's going to happen again.

People have one of two extreme reactions to my book. They either throw it across the room, or they rush out and buy 10 copies. The message I'm giving out, that what we think about becomes true for us, and negative thoughts mean good things don't happen, isn't always easy for some people to take.

I try hard and aim big. People can hate or love my books but they can never accuse me of not trying.

Writing Process and Author's Challenges

My fear is, what is the larger effect of my book on the world and on the minds of the people who take the time to consume it? Am I contributing in a positive way to the overall kind of collective consciousness of people in the world? I worry about that.

I want things to be better all the time. And I tend to get angry about that. Books are an opportunity to vent.

I never hand in a book until it's completed. Richard Jackson then reads it and asks me to clarify murky points. We work very well together. He knows how hard to push, and I know how hard to push back. He's the only person who can criticize my work without me throwing a hissy fit.

Some people do not seem to grasp that I still have to sit down in peace and write the books, apparently believing that they pop up like mushrooms without my connivance.

When I'm done with a book, I always give it to someone with expertise in the topic and tell them to flag all of my stupid mistakes.

Books as a Reflection of the Author

Part of me feels that I'm letting people down by not being as interesting as my books.

I've got a big, long list of stuff you're entitled to hate about my books.

I'm really lucky with the people around me. They know me, so they don't confuse the issues, really. They know what a book is and they know who I am and they know the difference between the two.

In many respects most of the books I write deal with well-known people. I think of those books as more about me than about those people.

This is the terrible thing about learning everything from books – sometimes you don’t know how to say the words. You know the ideas, but you cannot discuss them with people with any confidence. And so you stay silent. It is the curse of the autodidact. Or “autodidiact,” as I said, on the same shameful day. Oh, that was a conversation that went so wrong.

Other

I try not to cringe. Dog-earing a book feels like a violation of some sacred unspoken rule.

The good thing about a self-help book is that if you misunderstand something then it won't mock you.

But I too hate long books: the better, the worse. If they're bad they merely make me pant with the effort of holding them up for a few minutes. But if they're good, I turn into a social moron for days, refusing to go out of my room, scowling and growling at interruptions, ignoring weddings and funerals, and making enemies out of friends. I still bear the scars of Middlemarch.

I have no feelings of guilt regarding the books I have not read and perhaps will never read; I know that my books have unlimited patience. They will wait for me till the end of my days.

The books on my shelves do not know me until I open them, yet I am certain that they address me — me and every other reader — by name; they await our comments and opinions. I am presumed in Plato as I am presumed in every book, even in those I’ll never read.

I'd like to thank readers. Every time you open a book, it is a strike against ignorance. Unless you're reading Sarah Palin.

Books--oh! no. I am sure we never read the same, or not with the samefeelings.""I am sorry you think so; but if that be the case, there can at least beno want of subject. We may compare our different opinions.

With no reason to hide these words I feel, and no reason to talk about the books I read, but still, I do.

I do lend my books, but I have to be a bit selective because my marginalia are so incriminating.” --Alison Bechdel

It's not my fault you have the attention span of a gnat, capable of only thumbing through the crap on Facebook, instead of reading something of worth that can change your life. No, I'm not talking about Oprah's or Ellen's book either.

Do not insult a writer by asking him questions related to books written by someone else. If you are not reading the books written by the author you question, you are an hypocrite and a cynical, and you deserve no answers.

If you’re the kind of person who does not like to read about suffering and bloodshed and tears, why don’t you just pretend the day did end there, and close this book right now? On the other hand, if you’re the kind of person who does like reading about suffering and bloodshed and tears, may I politely ask… well, what is wrong with you?

If you ask for my opinion in what regards Tim Ferris, Eckhart Tolle, Rhonda Byrne, Dan Brown and J. K. Rowling, you are assuming that I am in a position to judge their work, which makes me better than them. But if you are reading their books are not mine, you are wasting my time with your ignorance and nonsense.

Trump voters hate my books. They can't stand it when a book makes them think.

Like Petrach's, my books know infinitely more than I do, and I'm grateful that they even tolerate my presence. At times I feel that I abuse the privilege.

My books have never let me down,ever since my childhood, I have known.More the unread books, I began to own, those read ones, became harder to disown.

My books have never let me down,ever since my childhood, I have known.More the unread books, I began to own,those read ones, became harder to disown.

My books have never let me down,ever since my childhood, I have known.More the unread books I began to own,those read ones, became harder to disown.

We will always come against people who don't like our books. People who think what we're doing is trivial or cliché or tries too hard. But there will always be people who love what we do and we have to take those good moments to heart.

The thing people don't realize, God bless them, is that my books are supposed to suck.

When someone recommends a book to you, you know two things; that it is a good book and you have a good friend.If you listen to everybody, you will be nobody.Judge a man by what he tried, not by what he accomplished.People hate what they know but fear what they don't.A curious mind is never bored.Parents, teachers, and politicians should not be judged by their popularity.People believe in everything except the reality.

I'm not mad. I've just read different books.

We will always come against people who don't like our books. People who think what we're doing this trivial or cliché or tries too hard. But there will always be people who love what we do and we have to take those good moments to heart.

Why the gay press doesn't review your books?""They don't?""They don't, Arthur. Don't pretend you haven't noticed. You're not in the cannon.

I'm not surprised that my books appeal to adults.

Books--oh! no. I am sure we never read the same, or not with the same feelings." "I am sorry you think so; but if that be the case, there can at least be no want of subject. We may compare our different opinions.

Sometimes when I find myself very irritated about a topic, I know it's my next book.

The feedback I get is that my books are honest. I don't sugar-coat anything. Life is really hard.

I believe passionately in preemptive pessimism, especially before a book comes out. I expect the worst both from reviewers and sales, and then, with any luck, I may be proved wrong.

And I know I'm supposed to feel guilty for wanting people to buy my books... and books in general? Novels and poetry, they belong to the realm of art. How dirty of us to try to hawk art! But, after a decade of hand-wringing and apologies, I can't quite muster the guilt anymore.

You always want to go out there with the best book possible, so I listen to what my editors say, and even if they don't know how to fix it, I always seem to find a way. 'Trust Your Eyes' is the best book I've written, and I don't know if I can do any better.

I wrote books to entertain. I'm not trying to teach anything! If I suspected the author was trying to show me how to be a better behaved girl, I shut the book.

People who assume my books are only about quilts obviously haven't read them! I've always known that my books are about quilters - in other words, people - rather than quilts or quilting.

The authors who affect contempt for a name in the world put their names to the books which they invite the world to read.

I read less and less. I have not forgiven books for their failure to tell me the truth and make me happy.

I was horribly bookish, to the point of coming right out and saying it, which I knew was not socially acceptable.

What terrifies me is that I might somehow endorse that view so people think they don't have to read books anymore.

In other words, the people who populate my books are more than caricatures.

My books have all generated controversy.

People tell me they laughed hard enough to wake their spouses, that they've given away numerous copies to friends, and that it's the one Trek book they'll give to people they wouldn't expect to like others.

Not surprisingly, the chief way self-published authors get the word out about their books is through the Internet.

Sometimes, I can myself be frustrated by books that seem to me to be insufficiently realistic about the world's potential for just being totally a randomly bad place.

Sometimes people ask if my books have morals or lessons for readers, and I shudder at that thought. I always say that I have more questions than answers.

I have assiduously avoided calling my books novels

...I'm no longer prepared to accept what people say and what's written in books. I must think things out for myself, and try to find my own answer.

Suzanne Collins, it was such a big thing for me to make the handshake with her and to say, 'You can trust me. I will not screw up your books. And I won't let them be diluted and softened. And I won't let them be exploited and made guilty of the sins that are being commented on in the books.' I take that really seriously.

I always have had a slightly jaundiced view about people who promote books about themselves.

Another thing I like to say to my students is this: "How many Corinthians read Paul's letters?" The answer is none. They couldn't have cared less! There aren't even any Corinthians left, but Paul's letters persist. Paul was not a professional writer. He was called to something, and he sent his letters. That's a good way to look at it. That you might be making something that nobody cares about, but you have to do it. It's not that people should care, but that you should care.

I devoured books like a person taking vitamins, afraid that otherwise I would remain this gelatinous narcissist, with no possibility of ever becoming thoughtful, of ever being taken seriously.

It's a natural thing for people to say, you know, Who's in this book? I find myself get ting a little defensive. People come along and I'm waiting for that first question.

A specific editor in a specific place likes the book, and you're in. A different editor on a different day goes, 'Oh, this isn't for me', or doesn't even look at it, and that's it.

And the books you write. They're not you. They're not me sitting here, this Henry Miller. They belong to someone else. It's terrible. You can never rest.

Contrary to what people think, I slave over my books.

I am very privileged and honored when someone chooses to read a book, especially a book of mine.

It's the people who have gone overboard and done such irrational things that take you back to the days of book burning. That is a concern for me,

The first interviews I gave were entirely unpleasant. You have people trying to trip you up with impolite questions that have nothing to do with the books. It's simply vulgar curiosity, and I won't have it.

I don't try to sugarcoat things, but I also think my books make positive statements about the people and values in small-town America.

I write with a sense of my future readers being ever on the verge of setting down the book and pronouncing it a bore. Fear and insecurity are great motivators.

There's this trouble with books for me because I'm terrible at thinking of titles. The truth is, even with the titles that I've landed on in the end, they always feel wrong. I think it's because of this whole problem of having to package your book in a certain way.

My books are personal: I'm not saying they're the Bible of music.

Like most readers, I tend to skip the acknowledgements at the beginnings of books: the 'To-My-Wife-Without-Whose-Invaluable-Assistance' kind of thing.

I'm not being disrespectful of the medium; it's just not as important as the work that I actually do [books].

Nothing shakes my opinion of a book. Nothing -- nothing. Only perhaps if it's the book of a young person -- or of a friend -- no, even so, I think myself infallible.

The books on my shelves do not know me until I open them, yet I am certain that they address me – me and every other reader – by name; they await our comments and opinions. I am presumed in Plato as I am presumed in every book, even in those I’ll never read.

I don’t like this culture of reading a book and spitting out an immediate reaction.

When somebody tells you there’s something wrong with your book they’re almost always right, when they tell you how to fix it they’re almost always wrong.

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