I've always had a compassion for characters in novels - the sense that they are, whatever they might think, living in a world that has a shape they don't know and can't finally alter.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the complexity of characters in novels, emphasizing their lack of control over their destinies.
This quote by John Crowley highlights the inherent struggle of fictional characters who, despite their thoughts and desires, find themselves bound by the confines of a narrative they cannot influence. It draws attention to the notion that while characters navigate their worlds, they are ultimately shaped by the author's intentions and the structure of the story, paralleling human experiences where individuals often feel powerless in the face of larger forces at play in their lives.
In practice
During a book club discussion about character development.
She had always lived her best life in dreams. She knew no greater pleasure than that moment of passage into the other place, when her limbs grew warm and heavy and the sparkling darkness behind her lids became ordered and doors opened; when conscious thought grew owl's wings and talons and became other than conscious.
Just as a lamp waved in darkness creates a figure of light in the air, which remains for as long as the lamp repeats its motion exactly, so the universe retains its shape by repetition: the universe is Time's body. And how will we perceive this body? And how operate on it?
Philanthropy can be integrated into business. I believe strongly that companies can be incredible agents of good in the world.
The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.
We offer peace and neighborliness to all the neighboring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Hebrew nation for the common good of all.
The incarnate Word is with us, is still speaking, is present always, yet leaves no sign but everything that is.
There is a place in the net where the keeper cannot reach the ball.
Actually, there is only one first question of government, and it is How should we live? or What kind of people do we want our citizens to be?
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