Contemporary Literature Quotes:

Contemporary literature in the West has shown some signs of ethical change.

- Lafcadio Hearn

source: Lafcadio Hearn (2012). “Books and Habits from the Lectures of Lafcadio Hearn”, p.150, tredition

topic: Literature, West, Ethical, Contemporary Literature

The contemporary thing in art and literature is the thing which doesn't make enough difference to the people of that generation so that they can accept it or reject it.

- Gertrude Stein

topic: Art, Differences, People, Contemporary Literature

Literature that is not the breath of contemporary society, that dares not transmit the pains and fears of that society . . . loses the confidence of its own people, and its published works are used as wastepaper instead of being read.

- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

source: Open letter to the Fourth Soviet Writers' Congress (16 May 1967) as translated in "Solzhenitsyn: A Documentary Record" edited by Leopold Labedz, "The Struggle Intensifies", 1970.

topic: Pain, People, Literature, Contemporary Literature, Contemporary Society

People like to complain about the state of contemporary literature, but I can only assume they don't read it very widely.

- Laura Miller

source: "Salon’s What to Read Awards: Top critics choose the best books of 2013". www.salon.com. December 27, 2013.

topic: People, Complaining, Literature, Contemporary Literature

I'm a big believer in pairing classics with contemporary literature, so students have the opportunity to see that literature is not a cold, dead thing that happened once but instead a vibrant mode of storytelling that's been with us a long time - and will be with us, I hope, for a long time to come.

- John Green

topic: Opportunity, Long, Literature, Contemporary Literature

For the judging of contemporary literature the only test is one's personal taste. If you much like a new book, you must call it literature even though you find no other soul to agree with you, and if you dislike a book you must declare that it is not literature though a million voices should shout you that you are wrong. The ultimate decision will be made by Time.

- Ford Madox Ford

source: Ford Madox Ford (1938). “The March of Literature: From Confucius' Day to Our Own”, p.11, Dalkey Archive Press

topic: Book, Voice, Judging, Personal Taste, Contemporary Literature

For my students who are trying to learn the craft of writing in a writing class - contemporary literature is what's most useful.

- Alan Lightman

source: Interview with Robert Birnbaum, www.identitytheory.com. November 16, 2000.

topic: Writing, Class, Trying, Contemporary Literature

Of all the unexpected things in contemporary literature, this is among the oddest: that kids have an inordinate appetite for very long, very tricky, very strange books about places that don't exist...

- Adam Gopnik

source: "The Dragon's Egg" by Adam Gopnik, www.newyorker.com. December 5, 2011.

topic: Book, Kids, Long, Unexpected Things, Contemporary Literature

It's an absurd error to put modern English literature in the curriculum. You should read contemporary literature for pleasure or not at all. You shouldn't be taught to monkey with it.

- Rebecca West

topic: Errors, Literature, Monkeys, Modern English, Contemporary Literature

His ignorance was as remarkable as his knowledge.

- Arthur Conan Doyle

source: Arthur Conan Doyle (1989). “Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Stories”, p.15, Wordsworth Editions

topic: Ignorance, Literature, Study, Study In Scarlet, Contemporary Literature

Maya Angelou, the famous African American poet, historian, and civil rights activist who is hailed be many as one of the great voices of contemporary literature, believes a struggle only makes a person stronger.

- Michael N. Castle

topic: Believe, Struggle, Rights, Contemporary Literature, Angelou