I take six or seven years to write really small books. There is a kind of aesthetic of leanness, of brevity.
Mohsin HamidRead
Oftentimes I deliberately put ambiguity into my books so that... the reader is left with an echo of: 'How much of this was from me?'
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the intentional ambiguity in writing, inviting readers to reflect on their own interpretations.
Mohsin Hamid expresses the idea that authors sometimes incorporate ambiguity into their writing to engage readers actively in meaning-making. This approach encourages readers to question their own perceptions and contributions to the narrative, fostering a deeper connection between the text and their personal experiences.
Themes
AmbiguityInterpretationReadingSelf-ReflectionLiterature
In practice
Example use cases
In a book club, while discussing an ambiguous novel, this quote can illustrate how the author's intention enhances reader engagement.
More from Mohsin Hamid
All quotes βWhen the forces are aligning against hybridity, it harms everyone, as we are all migrants. Growing up in Pakistan, I know just how oppressive that kind of puritanical mindset can be.
Mohsin HamidRead
Some of my relatives held on to imagined memories the way homeless people hold onto lottery tickets. Nostalgia was their crack cocaine, if you will, and my childhood was littered with the consequences of their addiction : unserviceable debts, squabbles over inheritances, the odd alcoholic or suicide.
Mohsin HamidRead
Stories helped me unite parts of my existence that might otherwise have seemed irrevocably split by geography and time. And stories helped me find a future in which I, such a mongrel, could be comfortable.
Mohsin HamidRead
I think there's a growing courage among the younger generation of American writers. Because of the more superficial treatment of characters taking place in cinema, they have had to deal with that by digging deeper into who these people are.
Mohsin HamidRead
Part of the reason people abroad resent the United States is something Americans can do very little about: envy. The richest, most powerful country in the world attracts the jealousy of others in much the same way that the richest, most powerful man in a small town attracts the jealousy of others.
Mohsin HamidRead
Similar quotes
Is there not some chosen curse, some hidden thunder in the stores of heaven, red with uncommon wrath, to blast the man who owes his greatness to his country's ruin!
Joseph AddisonRead
To all new truths, or renovation of old truths, it must be as in the ark between the destroyed and the about-to-be renovated world. The raven must be sent out before the dove, and ominous controversy must precede peace and the olive wreath.
Samuel Taylor ColeridgeRead
No untroubled day has ever dawned for me.
Seneca The YoungerRead
To a philosopher all news, as it is called, is gossip, and they who edit and read it are old women over their tea.
Henry David ThoreauRead
I finally understood: In order to contribute to Africa, I would have to know myself better and be clearer about my goals. I would have to be ready to take Africa on its own terms, not mine, and to learn my limits and present myself not as a do-gooder with a big heart, but as someone with something to give and gain by being there. Compassion wasn't enough
Jacqueline NovogratzRead
Grown-ups love figures... When you tell them you've made a new friend they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you "What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies? " Instead they demand "How old is he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make? " Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.
Antoine De Saint-ExuperyRead