The more research you do, the more at ease you are in the world you're writing about. It doesn't encumber you, it makes you free.
A. S. ByattRead
Why do we take pleasure in gruesome death, neatly packaged as a puzzle to which we may find a satisfactory solution through clues - or if we are not clever enough, have it revealed by the all-powerful tale-teller at the end of the book? It is something to do with being reduced to, and comforted by, playing by the rules.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote explores our fascination with horror and death in storytelling and the comfort found in having rules to follow.
A. S. Byatt highlights the paradoxical enjoyment we derive from narratives that involve gruesome death. These stories engage us as we piece together clues and seek solutions, suggesting that the structure governed by rules provides both a sense of comfort and distraction from the chaos of real life.
Themes
PleasureGruesomeDeathStorytellingRulesNarrative
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about the appeal of crime novels and thrillers.
More from A. S. Byatt
All quotes →It's because I'm a feminist that I can't stand women limiting other women's imaginations. It really makes me angry.
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Never stop paying attention to things. Never make your mind up finally. Do not hold beliefs.
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Only write to me, write to me, I love to see the hop and skip and sudden starts of your ink.
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I am a creature of my pen. My pen is the best of me.
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Vocabularies are crossing circles and loops. We are defined by the lines we choose to cross or to be confined by.
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