What follows are 20 of our favourite quotes about just about everything under the sun. By turns witty, poignant, and hilarious, they are always nothing short of eloquent. We hope you enjoy these quotes (or ‘quotations’, if you’re a purist!). Live all you can; it’s a mistake not to. It doesn’t so much matter what … Read more
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) was once described as the last person to have read everything, so steeped in literature, philosophy, and learning was he. Certainly, he gave us a very useful phrase concerning good fiction: the expression ‘suspension of disbelief’ is a coinage of his, and describes the unofficial contract we all enter into when we read, or watch, fictional narratives.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
We at Interesting Literature felt it was about time we saluted a truly modern man, Thomas Paine (1737-1809).
A story from the 1960s shows just how inflammatory this champion of freedom, equality, and independence still is, even in more recent times. In 1964 the mayor of Thetford in Norfolk (Paine’s hometown) said he would only approve a statue of Paine if it was stamped with the words ‘convicted traitor’.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Washington Irving. Who was that man? Find out just a handful of reasons why we should all have his name on our lips.
By Kenneth Hickey, University College Cork L to R: A young Samuel Beckett, his wife Suzanne Déchevaux-Dumesnil and Beckett in later life. Samuel Beckett is one of those figures who, despite being known to almost anyone with even a passing interest in English literature, always somehow remain elusive. Despite several notable biographies it still seems … Read more