Harold Brodkey Quotes

Powerful Harold Brodkey for Daily Growth

About Harold Brodkey

Harold Brodkey (1940-1996) was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist, known for his intricate prose style and introspective narratives. Born on September 28, 1940, in New York City, he grew up in a Jewish family with a strong intellectual background. His father was a lawyer, and his mother, a painter. Brodkey's early life was marked by an unusual education, as he was home-schooled until the age of twelve. This isolation fostered his vivid imagination and deep introspection, which later found expression in his writing. He attended Harvard University, where he studied with prominent literary figures such as Randall Jarrell and John Updike. Brodkey's first major work, "The Runaway Soul: Fugitive Pieces," was published in 1964. This collection of short stories showcased his ability to delve deeply into the psyche of his characters, creating complex narratives that blurred the lines between fiction and autobiography. His most famous work, "First Love and Other Sorrows," was published in 1993. This novel, which spanned over five decades and multiple continents, followed the life of a fictional character named Maurice Kant, whom many readers saw as a semi-autobiographical representation of Brodkey himself. The book was praised for its rich, intricate prose and deep exploration of love, loss, and identity. Brodkey's writing was heavily influenced by the modernist tradition, with writers like James Joyce, Marcel Proust, and Henry James playing significant roles in shaping his style. His work, however, also reflected a unique blend of personal experience and literary innovation, making him a distinct voice in American literature. Tragically, Brodkey died of AIDS-related complications on September 10, 1996. Despite his relatively short career, he left an indelible mark on American literature with his profound explorations of the human psyche and his unique, mesmerizing prose style.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Fiction is a way of saying one thing and meaning many things."

Harold Brodkey's quote suggests that fiction, as a literary form, carries multiple layers of meaning beyond its literal or surface-level interpretation. By crafting stories, authors subtly impart complex ideas, emotions, themes, and perspectives, allowing readers to interpret and derive personal insights from the text. This makes fiction a powerful tool for exploring the human condition, fostering empathy, and stimulating intellectual growth.

"The only way to tell the truth about oneself is by telling lies."

This quote suggests that one may reveal their true self, or truth, indirectly, through falsehoods or exaggerations rather than directly confessing or revealing it. The idea is that by hiding behind a veil of lies or misrepresentations, we might inadvertently reveal more about ourselves than we would if we were to tell the absolute truth. This can happen because our reactions, subtleties, and unconscious behavior may be more authentic when not directly focused on telling the truth.

"Memory is a kind of art."

Memory, in this context, is seen as a creative process akin to an art form. Just as an artist arranges colors, shapes, and themes to tell a story or evoke emotion, our memories are selectively organized and interpreted to construct personal narratives that shape our identity and understanding of the world. The quote emphasizes the subjective and transformative nature of memory, suggesting it is not simply a recording device but a tool for self-expression and meaning-making.

"Love is what makes you see a person other than as they are."

Harold Brodkey's quote suggests that love transcends the objective reality of another person, allowing us to perceive them in a more subjective, idealized manner. In essence, love allows us to appreciate a person not just for who they are in their raw form, but also for who we imagine or aspire them to be – a reflection of our hopes and dreams. This perspective can foster deeper connections, empathy, and understanding between individuals.

"To write a novel is to make a map, a map that is at once one's own and not one's own."

This quote suggests that writing a novel is not merely about expressing personal experiences but also about creating a universal representation of reality. The author crafts a map (the novel) which reflects their unique perspective, thoughts, emotions, and experiences (one's own), yet it remains detached enough to be experienced by others as well (not one's own). Essentially, the author weaves together a personal journey that transcends individuality, allowing readers to find their own paths within this shared territory.

Death and I are head to head in a total collision, pure and mutual distaste.

- Harold Brodkey

Head, Mutual, Total, Collision

God is an immensity, while this disease, this death, which is in me, this small, tightly defined pedestrian event, is merely and perfectly real, without miracle - or instruction.

- Harold Brodkey

Small, Disease, Which, Tightly

I am sensible of the velocity of the moments, and entering that part of my head alert to the motion of the world I am aware that life was never perfect, never absolute. This bestows contentment, even a fearlessness.

- Harold Brodkey

Motion, Perfect, Part, Sensible

If you like to read, sometimes it's interesting just to go and see what the reality is, of the word, of the seedy or not so seedy fiction writer, the drunk or sober poet... Sometimes you can go looking for illumination.

- Harold Brodkey

Like, Illumination, Read, Fiction Writer

Public radio is alive and kicking, it always has been.

- Harold Brodkey

Always, Been, Kicking, Public Radio

True stories, autobiographical stories, like some novels, begin long ago, before the acts in the account, before the birth of some of the people in the tale.

- Harold Brodkey

Some, Like, Stories, Novels

I can't change the past, and I don't think I would. I don't expect to be understood. I like what I've written, the stories and two novels. If I had to give up what I've written in order to be clear of this disease, I wouldn't do it.

- Harold Brodkey

Think, Give, Stories, Novels

In New York one lives in the moment rather more than Socrates advised, so that at a party or alone in your room it will always be difficult to guess at the long term worth of anything.

- Harold Brodkey

Long, Rather, Your, Socrates

It is death that goes down to the center of the earth, the great burial church the earth is, and then to the curved ends of the universe, as light is said to do.

- Harold Brodkey

Death, Goes, Center, Burial

It bothers me that I won't live to see the end of the century, because, when I was young, in St. Louis, I remember saying to Marilyn, my sister by adoption, that that was how long I wanted to live: seventy years.

- Harold Brodkey

Long, Young, I Remember, Louis

I was always crazy about New York, dependent on it, scared of it - well, it is dangerous - but beyond that there was the pressure of being young and of not yet having done work you really liked, trademark work, breakthrough work.

- Harold Brodkey

New, Always, Having, Scared

Being ill like this combines shock - this time I will die - with a pain and agony that are unfamiliar, that wrench me out of myself.

- Harold Brodkey

Pain, Die, Like, Unfamiliar

I am in an adolescence in reverse, as mysterious as the first, except that this time I feel it as a decay of the odds that I might live for a while, that I can sleep it off.

- Harold Brodkey

Feel, Might, Decay, Odds

But death's acquisitive instincts will win.

- Harold Brodkey

Death, Win, Will, Instincts

So an autobiography about death should include, in my case, an account of European Jewry and of Russian and Jewish events - pogroms and flights and murders and the revolution that drove my mother to come here.

- Harold Brodkey

Death, Here, Include, Case

It is like visiting one's funeral, like visiting loss in its purest and most monumental form, this wild darkness, which is not only unknown but which one cannot enter as oneself.

- Harold Brodkey

Like, Which, Visiting, Purest

I awake with a not entirely sickened knowledge that I am merely young again and in a funny way at peace, an observer who is aware of time's chariot, aware that some metamorphosis has occurred.

- Harold Brodkey

Young, Some, Occurred, Entirely

I look upon another's insistence on the merits of his or her life - duties, intellect, accomplishment - and see that most of it is nonsense.

- Harold Brodkey

Another, Intellect, Merits, Insistence

Almost the first thing I did when I became ill was to buy a truly good television set.

- Harold Brodkey

Set, Became, Almost, The First Thing

Memory, so complete and clear or so evasive, has to be ended, has to be put aside, as if one were leaving a chapel and bringing the prayer to an end in one's head.

- Harold Brodkey

Memory, Clear, Evasive, Leaving

I have thousands of opinions still - but that is down from millions - and, as always, I know nothing.

- Harold Brodkey

Nothing, Always, Still, Thousands

Me, my literary reputation is mostly abroad, but I am anchored here in New York. I can't think of any other place I'd rather die than here.

- Harold Brodkey

New, Here, Abroad, Anchored

I feel sorry for the man who marries you... because everyone thinks you're sweet and you're not.

- Harold Brodkey

Man, Feel, Everyone, Sorry

This identity, this mind, this particular cast of speech, is nearly over.

- Harold Brodkey

Mind, Over, Cast, Speech

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