She liked the way his smile took a long time to arrive and just as long to leave.
Maggie O'FarrellRead
She has spent most of the day reading and is feeling rather out of touch with reality, as if her own life has become insubstantial in the face of the fiction she's been absorbed in.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote illustrates the overwhelming impact of literature on one's perception of reality.
Maggie O'Farrell's quote captures the experience of being so immersed in a fictional world that it can distort one's sense of reality. It reflects the ability of literature to transport readers, sometimes leading them to feel detached from their own lives and experiences, as fiction can often seem more vivid and substantial than real life.
Themes
ReadingFictionRealityLiteratureDetachment
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the importance of reading during a book club meeting.
More from Maggie O'Farrell
All quotes →Listen. The trees in this story are stirring, trembling, readjusting themselves. A breeze is coming in gusts off the sea, and it is almost as if the trees know, in their restlessness, in their head-tossing impatience, that something is about to happen.
Maggie O'FarrellRead
Similar quotes
Certain governments are suggesting that bloggers and tweeters aren't 'real' writers and, so, don't merit protection. A writer is anyone from a Nobel laureate to a debut blogger. They all get PEN's attention.
John Ralston SaulRead
If G20 leaders are serious about sustainable growth and job creation and want to stem migration flows and promote long-term stability, education is an essential investment.
Julia GillardRead
Years should not be devoted to the acquisition of dead languages or to the study of history which, for the most part, is a detailed account of things that never occurred. It is useless to fill the individual with dates of great battles, with the births and deaths of kings. They should be taught the philosophy of history, the growth of nations, of philosophies, theories, and, above all, of the sciences.
Robert Green IngersollRead
What we are learning around the world is that if women are healthy and educated, their families will flourish. If women are free from violence, their families will flourish. If women have a chance to work and earn as full and equal partners in society, their families will flourish. And when families flourish, communities and nations do as well.
Hillary ClintonRead
Those who teach by their doctrine must teach by their life, or else they pull down with one hand what they build up with the other.
Matthew HenryRead
First let a man teach himself, and then he will be taught by others.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead