Lev Grossman Quotes - Page 3

I think every fantasy reader secretly believes they know how magic works.

I studied the cello for a long time, from when I was little up through college.

How often have I met and disliked writers whose books I love; and conversely, hated the books and then wound up liking the writer? Too often.

I came from an anxious, overly intense East Coast academic family. That was the way of our tribe.

I recognize that on paper, you can't really tell that I'm a fan or a nerd.

I never thought about doing a sequel when I was actually writing 'The Magicians.' I only ever considered it a standalone.

I mean, when you're tired of book reviews, you're tired of life.

I guess I was raised in a household with a lot of reverence for the physical sanctity of books. You didn't destroy books.

I went to college at Harvard, then did three years of graduate school at Yale. At both places I studied comparative literature. People find it odd that I went to both Harvard and Yale, and I guess it is odd, but that's just what people did where I grew up.

We have lived too long. The great days are past.

The truth doesn't always make a good story, does it?

It was so much easier to be angry. Being angry made him feel strong, even though-- and this contradiction did nothing to diminish his anger-- he was angry only because his position was so weak.

I'm happy to report that 'The New Press' is still in business to this day. But not thanks to me. I was a really bad publishing intern.

I got my heart's desire, and there my troubles began.

His crush went from exciting to depressing, as if he'd gone from the first blush of infatuation to the terminal nostalgia of a former lover without even the temporary relief of an actual relationship in between.

A novel with a bad middle is a bad book. A bad ending is something I've just gotten in the habit of forgiving.

The life I should be living had been mislaid through some clerical error by the cosmic bureaucracy.

Most people are blind to magic. They move thru a blank and empty world. They’re bored with their lives and there’s nothing they can do about it. They’re eaten alive by longing and they’re dead before they die.

In a way fighting was just like using magic. You said the words, and they altered the universe. By merely speaking you could create damage and pain, cause tears to fall, drive people away, make yourself feel better, make your life worse.

The real world is horrible.

People - me included - want to get excited about books. Good books are a good thing.

There's a special gut-check moment the first time you write a scene in which somebody casts a spell.

It's natural for a child to assume that his or her own childhood is unremarkable.

More than fantasy or even science fiction, Ray Bradbury wrote horror, and like so many great horror writers he was himself utterly without fear, of anything. He wasn't afraid of looking uncool - he wasn't scared to openly love innocence, or to be optimistic, or to write sentimentally when he felt that way.

It turns out that there is something that can compete with free: easy.