He believes that if talent is demanded of a literary publisher or a writer, it must also be demanded of a reader. Because we mustn’t deceive ourselves: on the journey of reading we often travel through difficult terrains that demand a capacity for intelligent emotion, a desire to understand the other, and to approach a language distinct from the one of our daily tyrannies… Writers fail readers, but it also happens the other way around and readers fail writers when all they ask of them is confirmation that the world is how they see it. Enrique VilaMatas
About This Quote

When you read a book, it is natural to feel overwhelmed by the experience. If you have been able to get past the initial shock of the unfamiliar language or content, then something else can occur. You can find a connection with the writer that will never leave you. You may even find a way of writing yourself that you did not know was possible. The goal of reading is not to simply understand the book, but to understand yourself in it.

Source: Dublinesque

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More Quotes By Enrique VilaMatas
  1. He believes that if talent is demanded of a literary publisher or a writer, it must also be demanded of a reader. Because we mustn’t deceive ourselves: on the journey of reading we often travel through difficult terrains that demand a capacity for intelligent emotion,...
  2. He has always admired writers who each day begin a journey towards the unknown and who nevertheless spend all their time sitting in a room".
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