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9dd613e
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Real life is too sloppy a model for good fiction," Juan Diego had said."
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John Irving |
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6534fe1
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On his bedside table, between the reading lamp and the telephone, was his battered copy of David Copperfield. Homer didn't have to open the book to know how the story began. "Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show," he recited from memory."
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purpose
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John Irving |
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f5d9a54
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Remember, Juan Diego--you are a reader," Senor Eduardo said to the worried-looking boy. "There is a life in books, and in the world of your imagination; there is more than the physical world, even here."
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John Irving |
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bc5e93b
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JUST THINK OF THIS AS MY LITTLE GIFT TO YOU," says Owen Meany"
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John Irving |
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abf3965
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She was a passionate reader, and she thought that reading was one of the noblest efforts of all; in contrast, she found writing to be a great waste of time--a childish self-indulgence, even messier than finger painting--but she admired reading, which she believed was an unselfish activity that provided information and inspiration. She must have thought it a pity that some poor fools had to waste their lives writing in order for us to have s..
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writing
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John Irving |
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8648d30
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Homer Wells was in Wally's room, reading David Copperfield and thinking about Heaven - '...that sky above me, where, in the mystery to come, I might yet love her with a love unknown on earth, and tell her what the strife had been within me when I loved her here.' I think I would prefer to love Candy here, 'on earth,' Homer Wells was thinking - when Olive interrupted them.
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John Irving |
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c28d23e
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Homer and Candy passed by the empty and brightly lit dispensary; they peeked into Nurse Angela's empty office. Homer knew better than to peek into the delivery room when the light was on. From the dormitory, they could hear Dr. Larch's reading voice. Although Candy held tightly to his hand, Homer was inclined to hurry - in order not to miss the bedtime story.
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John Irving |
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24bc56f
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Remember," Duncan asked on the plane, "how Walt asked if it was green or brown?" Both Garp and Duncan laughed. But it was neither green nor brown, Garp thought. It was me. It was Helen. It was the color of bad weather. It was the size of an automobile."
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John Irving |
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76e7098
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At that moment, everyone walks on the sky. Maybe all great decisions are made without a net," The Wonder herself had told him. "There comes a time, in every life, when you must let go."
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John Irving |
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068722b
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The student and the teacher had contrasting ideas about the sentence, which was: "There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in."
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John Irving |
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660cedf
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It often happens with grown-ups that their tears are misunderstood. (Who can know which time in their lives they are reliving?)
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John Irving |
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5528960
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And maybe it was fair; if a book was any good, it was a slap in the face to someone.
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John Irving |
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d8c501e
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It's as if you've been shot in the heart, Bill, but you're unaware of the hole or the loss of blood. I doubt you even heard the shot!
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John Irving |
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4ab0708
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I still believe in you, as a writer, but the only stuff we ever had in common doesn't travel very far." "What stuff is that?" he'd asked her. "We're completely at ease being naked in front of strangers and total fuckheads", she'd told him. Maybe that's part of what being a writer entails, Danny Baciagalupo found himself thinking on that rainy spring night in Iowa city."
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John Irving (Author) |
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f4873f7
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But don't you see how your ... opinions can be disturbing? It's very American--to have opinions as ... strong as your opinions. It's very Canadian to distrust strong opinions." "I'm a Canadian," I said. "I've"
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John Irving |
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b7e3fc8
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IT (The country) IS HEADED TOWARD OVERSIMPLIFICATION. YOU WANT TO SEE A PRESIDENT OF THE FUTURE? TURN ON ANY TELEVISION ON ANY SUNDAY MORNING - FIND ONE OF THOSE HOLY ROLLERS: THAT'S HIM, THAT'S THE NEW MISTER PRESIDENT! AND DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE FUTURE OF ALL THOSE KIDS WHO ARE GOING TO FALL IN THE CRACKS OF THIS GREAT, BIG, SLOPPY SOCIETY OF OURS? I JUST MET HIM; HE'S A TALL, SKINNY, FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD BOY NAMED "DICK." HE'S PRETTY SCARY. ..
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stupidity
politics
humor
future-prediction
politicians
president
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John Irving |
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8bd8c82
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If you're a writer, the problem is that, when you try to call a halt to thinking about your novel-in-progress, your imagination still keeps going; you can't shut it off.
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writing
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John Irving |
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1fb0bc7
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In Ruth's view, they looked 'like a couple' because they seemed to possess some terrible secret between them - they appeared stricken with remorse when they saw her. Only a novelist could ever imagine such nonsense. (In part, it was because of her perverse ability to imagine anything that in this instance Ruth failed to imagine the obvious)
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imagination
writers
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John Irving |
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83789c2
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A book feels true when it feels true," she said to him, impatiently. "A book's true when you can say, 'Yeah! That's just how damn people behave all the time."
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John Irving |
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6efca5e
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Stewart, Jr. who was called Stewie Two, graduated from Steering before Garp was even of age to enter the school; Jenny treated Stewie Two twice for a sprained ankle and once for gonorrhea. He later went through Harvard Business School, a staph infection, and a divorce.
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John Irving |
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55e1219
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when however small a measure of jealousy is mixed with misunderstanding, there is going to be trouble.
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John Irving |
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c652eaa
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DON'T GIVE IT ANOTHER THOUGHT," he said. "WE'RE PALS, AREN'T WE? WHAT ARE FRIENDS FOR? I'LL NEVER LEAVE YOU."
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John Irving |
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1ab669a
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He felt the pregnant woman squeeze his hand so hard that it hurt. The word 'Mother!' was strangely on his lips when Nurse Angela finally got the door open and seized Homer Wells in her arms. 'Oh, oh!' she cried. 'Oh Homer - my Homer, our Homer! I knew you'd be back!' And because the pregnant woman's hand still firmly held Homer's hand - neither one of them felt able to let go - Nurse Angela turned and included the woman in her embrace. It s..
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John Irving |
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4d7cb5e
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When he and Wally stopped laughing, Homer said, 'I've never seen the ocean, you know.' 'Candy, did you hear that?' Wally asked, but Candy had released herself with her brief laughter and she was sound asleep. 'You've never seen the ocean?' Wally asked Homer. 'That's right,' said Homer Wells. 'That's not funny,' said Wally seriously. 'Right,' Homer said. A little later, Wally said, 'You want to drive for a while?' 'I don't know how to drive,..
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John Irving |
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9d4fa45
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You can't protect people, kiddo," Wally said. "All you can do is love them."
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John Irving |
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fb3b4d5
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And when you love a book, commit one glorious sentence of it--perhaps your favorite sentence--to memory. That way you won't forget the language of the story that moved you to tears.
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John Irving |
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176e092
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That was when I first began to think about certain events or specific things being "important" and having "special purpose." Until then, the notion that anything had a designated, much less a special purpose would have been cuckoo to me. I was not what was commonly called a believer then, and I am a believer now; I believe in God, and I believe in the "special purpose" of certain events or specific things." --
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John Irving |
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d1bb0a3
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It's natural to want someone you love to do what you want, or what you think would be good for them, but you have to let everything happen to them. You can't interfere with people you love any more than you're supposed to interfere with people you don't even know. And that's hard. Because you often feel like interfering--you want to be the one who makes the plans. . . You can't protect people, kiddo, all you can do is love them.
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John Irving |
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ec2f166
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The night she died, Dan found her propped up in her hospital bed; she appeared to have fallen asleep with the TV on and with the remote-control device held in her hand in such a way that the channels kept changing. But she was dead, not asleep, and her cold thumb had simply attached itself to the button that restlessly roamed the channels--looking for something good." At the time, in 1989, it seemed a fairly unusual way to die. Nowadays, I ..
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John Irving |
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aa00c17
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Jenny Fields discovered that you got more respect from shocking other people than you got from trying to live your own life with a little privacy.
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John Irving |
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6a30ac3
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Dr. Gingrich, who was increasingly fascinated with the leaps of Mrs. Goodhall's mind, was still marveling over the confusing image of a nonpracticing homosexual; it struck him as a brilliant accusation to make of anyone who was slightly (or hugely) different.
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John Irving |
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9420a69
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A novel is always more complicated than it seems at the beginning. Indeed a novel should be more complicated than it seems at the beginning.
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writing-life
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John Irving |
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07f9d04
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Oh, what a nation of moralists the Americans are! With what fervor do they relish bringing their sexual misconduct to light! A pity that they do not bring their moral outrage to bear on their president's arrogance above the law; a pity that they do not unleash their moral zest on an administration that runs guns to terrorists. But, of course, boudoir morality takes less imagination, and can be indulged in without the effort of keeping up wi..
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John Irving |
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32b388a
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My mother and I smoked a cigarette; she was trying to quit as I was trying to start. Therefore, we shared a cigarette between us- in fact, we'd promised never to smoke a whole one alone.
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John Irving (Author) |
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2e3d4d2
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Among these contemptuous women, poor Germaine had the disadvantage of being young--and almost pretty, in a shy, mousy way. She possessed the nonspecific clumsiness of someone who makes such a constant effort to be inconspicuous that she is creatively awkward--without meaning to, Germaine hoarded attention to herself; her almost electric nervousness disturbed the atmosphere surrounding her.
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John Irving |
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e0ab298
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one of the more sophisticated and accepting things about Europe, when it came to difficult decisions regarding sexual identity, was that the Europeans were so used to sexual differences that they had already begun to make fun of them.
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John Irving |
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2290088
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You know, it's not only writers who have this problem, but writers really, have this problem; for us, a so-called train of thought, though unspoken, is unstoppable.
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John Irving |
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666a9d0
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THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN GET AMERICANS TO NOTICE ANYTHING IS TO TAX THEM OR DRAFT THEM OR KILL THEM," Owen said."
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John Irving |
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d89d87f
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I had acquired an undeniable mystique - if only to the Bancroft butt-room boys. Don't forget: Miss Frost was an woman, and that goes a long way with boys - even if the older woman has a penis!
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John Irving |
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9f575c5
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What would Miss Frost have thought of me? I wondered; I didn't mean my . What would she have thought of my relationships with men and women? Had I ever "protected" anyone? For whom had I truly been worthwhile?"
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John Irving |
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67153e9
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Your disapproval is noted. It is legitimate. You are welcome to disapprove. But you are not welcome to be ignorant, to look the other way, to be unable to perform--should you change your mind.
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John Irving |
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21e23aa
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Helen Holm habia pasado toda su vida en tardes de tres horas sentada en las salas de lucha, desde Iowa hasta Steering, observando a muchachos de diversa complexion, sudorosos y entrelazados. Helen senalaria, anos mas tarde, que el hecho de haber pasado su infancia en una sala de lucha libre la habia convertido en una lectora. "Naci para ser espectadora", decia Helen. "Me crie para ser voyeur."
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John Irving |
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4d067d0
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Rural life in the winter months was rugged: snow-blurred and alcohol-fueled, violent and fast.
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John Irving |
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fd3544b
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Meaning Michael Milton; meaning the whole thing.
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John Irving |