Married couples who quarrel bitterly every day may really need each other as deeply as those who appear to be desperately in love.
Edward AbbeyRead
My notion of a great novel is something like a five-hundred-page shaggy-dog story, with only the punch line omitted.
Interpretation
A great novel should have depth and complexity, akin to a long, winding tale that leads to an impactful conclusion.
Edward Abbey's quote encapsulates his view that a great novel is one that intricately weaves a long narrative filled with rich details, yet intriguingly lacks a conventional punchline or resolution. This perspective highlights the journey and experience within literature rather than simply focusing on the ending, suggesting that the value lies in the storytelling itself, inviting readers to savor each moment of the plot rather than rushing to a conclusion.
In practice
During a book club discussion about the intricacies of storytelling.
Married couples who quarrel bitterly every day may really need each other as deeply as those who appear to be desperately in love.
I love America because it is a confused, chaotic mess - and I hope we can keep it this way for at least another thousand years. The permissive society is the free society.
If it's knowledge and wisdom you want, then seek out the company of those who do real work for an honest purpose.
The earth is real. Only a fool, milking his cow, denies the cow's reality.
I believe in nothing that I cannot touch, kiss, embrace.... The rest is only hearsay.
Why can't we simply borrow what is useful to us from Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, especially Zen, as we borrow from Christianity, science, American Indian traditions and world literature in general, including philosophy, and let the rest go hang? Borrow what we need but rely principally upon our own senses, common sense and daily living experience.
I am part of a light, and it is the music. The Light fills my six senses: I see it, hear, feel, smell, touch and think. Thinking of it means my sixth sense. Particles of Light are written note. A bolt of lightning can be an entire sonata. A thousand balls of lightening is a concert.. For this concert I have created a Ball Lightning, which can be heard on the icy peaks of the Himalayas.
So many cartoonists draw the same year after year. When they find a style, they stick with it. They don't mess with innovation, and they become boring.
Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about.
Any work of architecture that has with it some discussion, some polemic, I think is good. It shows that people are interested, people are involved.
Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.
The only thing we are as actors are messengers. That's all we are. Correct? We are delivering the playwright's intention through the concept of the director. And I come on stage; if I feel confident in the role, then I give it away.
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