Mary McCarthy
Mary McCarthy
Mary Therese McCarthywas an American novelist, critic and political activist...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth21 June 1912
CitySeattle, WA
CountryUnited States of America
hero suspense-novels novelists
The suspense of a novel is not only in the reader, but in the novelist, who is intensely curious about what will happen to the hero.
reading class people
A society person who is enthusiastic about modern painting or Truman Capote is already half a traitor to his class. It is middle-class people who, quite mistakenly, imagine that a lively pursuit of the latest in reading and painting will advance their status in the world.
variation morality uncertain
Morality did not keep well; it required stable conditions; it was costly; it was subject to variations, and the market for it was uncertain.
together adjectives phrases
The breakdown of our language, evident in the misuse, i.e., the misunderstanding of nouns and adjectives, is most grave, though perhaps not so conspicuous, in the handling of prepositions, those modest little connectives that hold the parts of a phrase or a sentence together. They are the joints of any language, what make it, literally, articulate.
intelligent idols feet
This grossly advertised wonder [Venice], this gold idol with clay feet, this trompe-l'oeil, this painted deception, this cliche-what intelligent iconoclast could fail to experience a destructive impulse in her presence?
despair looks may
In moments of despair, we look on ourselves lead-enly as objects; we see ourselves, our lives, as someone else might see them and may even be driven to kill ourselves if the separation, the "knowledge," seems sufficiently final.
lonely deception ephemeral
With extramarital courtship, the deception was prolonged where it had been ephemeral, necessary where it had been frivolous, conspiratorial where it had been lonely.
hydrogen-bomb space people
It is impossible, except for theologians, to conceive of a world-wide scandal or a universe-wide scandal; the proof of this is the way people have settled down to living with nuclear fission, radiation poisoning, hydrogen bombs, satellites, and space rockets.
simplicity lines austerity
The famous Florentine elegance, which attracts tourists to the shops on Via Tornabuoni and Via della Vigna Nuova, is characterized by austerity of line, simplicity, economy of effect.
favourite chaucer quotations
You know what my favourite quotation is?...It's from Chaucer... Criseyde says it, "I am myne owene woman, wel at ese.
gardening facts sometimes
The fact is that gardening, more than most of our other activities except sometimes love-making, confronts us with the inexplicable.
friends believe people
The desire to believe the best of people is a prerequisite for intercourse with strangers; suspicion is reserved for friends.
advice cards attention
Be truthful... and pay attention. I would also recommend the avoidance of credit cards.
country book reading
The return to a favorite novel is generally tied up with changes in oneself that must be counted as improvements, but have the feel of losses. It is like going back to a favorite house, country, person; nothing is where it belongs, including one's heart.