Still, for me at least, writing a novel is buttering warm toast, while writing a history is herding porcupines with your elbows.”
— Thomas King in An Inconvenient Indian, shortlisted for Canada Reads 2015
Quotable: An Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King
Friday 6 February 2015
“Truth be known, I prefer fiction. I dislike the way facts try to thrust themselves upon me. I’d rather make up my own world. Fictions are less unruly than histories. The beginnings are more engaging, the characters more co-operative, the endings more in line with expectations of morality and justice. This is not to imply that fiction is exciting and that history is boring. Historical narratives can be as enchanting as a Stephen Leacock satire or as terrifying as a Stephen King thriller.
Still, for me at least, writing a novel is buttering warm toast, while writing a history is herding porcupines with your elbows.”
Still, for me at least, writing a novel is buttering warm toast, while writing a history is herding porcupines with your elbows.”
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ReplyDeleteOops, I was trying to edit my typo and deleted my comment instead. I was just saying that there are so many quotable bits in this book that it's hard to choose one. And I especially like the first sentence in this passage!
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