And thus it happens that the reader, the closer he comes to the novel's end, the more he wishes he were back in the summer with which it begins, and finally, instead of following the hero onto the cliffs of suicide, joyfully turns back to that summer, content to stay there forever. Franz Kafka
About This Quote

The phrase “and thus it happens that the reader, the closer he comes to the novel's end, the more he wishes he were back in the summer with which it begins” summarizes how many readers feel about having finished a book. The desire to return to the earlier time is almost overpowering. It is as if you are stuck there with the characters. This is especially evident when reading about cliff diving or swimming with sharks.

Those situations make you think about what is waiting for you at the end of your life. You want to hold on to the summer forever.

Source: The Penal Colony And Other Stories

Some Similar Quotes
  1. I'm oxygen and he's dying to breathe. - Tahereh Mafi
  2. I'm a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world. - Mother Teresa
  3. Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come. - Matt Groening
  4. Happiness is the china shop love is the bull. - H.l. Mencken
  5. People say that eyes are windows to the soul. - Khaled Hosseini
More Quotes By Franz Kafka
  1. Love is a drama of contradictions.
  2. May I kiss you then? On this miserable paper? I might as well open the window and kiss the night air.
  3. Yours(now I'm even losing my name - it was getting shorter and shorter all the time and is now: Yours)
  4. The meaning of life is that it stops.
  5. L'éternité, c'est long ... surtout vers la fin.
Related Topics