There is no excuse for anyone to write fiction for public consumption unless he has been called to do so by the presence of a gift. It is the nature of fiction not to be good for much unless it is good in itself.

Flannery OConnor
About This Quote

With all the great and influential people who have written books, it is hard to guess what makes a book truly great. Some of the best books of all time were written by ordinary people. The problem with many readers is that they don’t read the books objectively. They only evaluate it by how much it reminds them of what they already know.

That’s why so many people write “the greatest books of all time” and it has nothing to do with what they know or see in their everyday life. With all of the great writers of our time, we should take a step back and try to understand what makes a book great and not just look at it as a story that is similar to another one we already know.

Source: Mystery And Manners: Occasional Prose

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