Colm Toibin
Colm Toibin
Colm Tóibínis an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, journalist, critic and poet...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth30 May 1955
CountryIreland
becoming ordinary way
Life has a funny way of becoming ordinary as soon as it can.
should-have personality should
I suppose one should have an integrated personality, but I've never really seen the point.
lying intelligent self
While historians may go on attempting grand, sweeping and defining narratives, they work in a time when readers know that another narrative always lies in wait, and that the more intelligent an historian is, the more tentative and self-scrutinizing the tone.
writing manipulation realizing
All writing is a form of manipulation, of course, but you realize that a plain sentence can actually do so much.
running country military
Writing tends to be very deliberate. A novelist could probably run a military campaign with some success. They could certainly run a country.
believe cannot
I don't think we have a right to enjoy our neuroses; in fact, I believe that we have a duty not to. But we cannot walk away from ourselves. Who else is there to become?
although books compared died elizabeth james parent people sexuality swear thomas time turned until
Between the time I was 16 until I was about 20, the books I read were by people like Thomas Mann, James Baldwin, Thom Gunn, Elizabeth Bishop. All gay, of course, although I swear I didn't know that at the time. Yet all of them, it turned out, had had a parent who died during their childhood. Sexuality is nothing compared to that.
began books english familiar half irish name novel period publishers sell turned twenty writes
My first novel was turned down by about twenty publishers over a period of two and a half years. Because my name is Irish and would not be familiar to English editors, one of them said: 'If she writes anything else, do let us know.' Slowly, very slowly, the books began to sell and be noticed.
glamour interest listened sort
People's interest in glamour and clothes and nylon stockings and all those things were, when I was a little boy, the sort of world that I listened to.
early routine wake work
The only routine I have is that I finish everything I start. I wake up early every day - about 6.30 A.M. - but I do not work every day. I could laze for a day or two, but I wouldn't do it for three.
art beauty began belief catholic comfort dogma found held religious richness though travel
In my 20s, as I began to travel in Europe, I found comfort in religious paintings. Even though my own belief in Catholic dogma had been shaken and weakened, I found that the beauty and the richness of the art still held me.
characters describe using
Describe character using dialogue. Describe character using what the characters see or do or think, but not what they had done or where they had been.
afraid allowing audience bring comic distance good laughing moments next order particular sort time tragic trust
The next time I write a play - in order to get audience trust for a particular sort of tragic line, I'll try to bring the audience a good distance before that. Part of that is allowing comic moments to occur. I had been afraid of that - that once the audience started laughing in the play, they would never stop.
best enclosed immense late morning york
The best thing about New York is working late into the night. At 1 in the morning on a Saturday, to be still working, there's an immense satisfaction in being enclosed by it.