“Every novel is like this, desperation, a frustrated attempt to save something of the past. Except that it still has not been established whether it is the novel that prevents man from forgetting himself or the impossibility of forgetfulness that makes him write novels.”

Todo o romance é isso, desespero, intento frustrado de que o passado não seja coisa definitivamente perdida. Só não se acabou ainda de averiguar se é o romance que impede o homem de esquecer-se ou se é a impossibilidade do esquecimento que o leva a escrever romances.
Source: The History of the Siege of Lisbon (1989), p. 47

Original

Todo o romance é isso, desespero, intento frustrado de que o passado não seja coisa definitivamente perdida. Só não se acabou ainda de averiguar se é o romance que impede o homem de esquecer-se ou se é a impossibilidade do esquecimento que o leva a escrever romances.

História do Cerco de Lisboa

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Oct. 2, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Every novel is like this, desperation, a frustrated attempt to save something of the past. Except that it still has not…" by José Saramago?
José Saramago photo
José Saramago 138
Portuguese writer and recipient of the 1998 Nobel Prize in … 1922–2010

Related quotes

Stanley Kubrick photo

“One man writes a novel. One man writes a symphony. It is essential that one man make a film.”

Stanley Kubrick (1928–1999) American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and editor

Quoted in The Edmonton Journal (8 March 1999), C3

Vanna Bonta photo

“In Flight (a quantum fiction novel), essentially our protagonist is a writer who is writing a novel and then begins to see things from his novel occurring in the reality around him, and he questions "am I losing my mind?"”

Vanna Bonta (1958–2014) Italian-American writer, poet, inventor, actress, voice artist (1958-2014)

or "am I somehow influencing reality around me?"
Vanna Bonta Talks About Quantum fiction: Author Interview (2007)

Isaac Bashevis Singer photo

“Life is God's novel. Let him write it.”

Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902–1991) Polish-born Jewish-American author

Quoted in Voices for Life (1975) edited by Dom Moraes

Georg Büchner photo

“Life is God's novel. Let him write it. ”

Georg Büchner (1813–1837) German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose
Gene Wolfe photo

“Writing a novel is not very difficult: you simply write ten pages a day for a month and then you have a novel.”

Henri Peyre (1901–1988) American linguist

Henri Peyre, at Yale, as quoted in Graham, Garrett, The Writer's Voice: Conversations with Contemporary Writers (1973), p. 272

George Orwell photo

“Writing a novel is agony.”

George Orwell (1903–1950) English author and journalist
Michael Crichton photo

“This novel is fiction, except for the parts that aren't.”

Michael Crichton (1942–2008) American author, screenwriter, film producer
Francois Mauriac photo

Related topics