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Kate Atkinson Quotes

Powerful Kate Atkinson for Daily Growth

About Kate Atkinson

Kate Atkinson is a prolific British novelist and playwright whose works span various genres, including crime fiction, historical fiction, and literary fiction. Born on December 18, 1951, in Bournemouth, England, Atkinson was the middle child of three siblings. Her mother was a housewife, and her father served as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy before becoming an insurance agent. This military background would later influence her works. Atkinson studied English and French at the University of Dundee, where she wrote her first novel, 'Behind the Scenes at the Museum' (1995), which won the Whitbread Book Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize. The novel, a semi-autobiographical family saga, was set in York during World War II and was praised for its unique narrative structure and rich storytelling. Atkinson is best known for her Jackson Brodie series, which includes 'Case Histories' (2004), 'One Good Turn' (2006), 'When Will There Be Good News?' (2008), 'Started Early, Took My Dog' (2010), and 'Transcription' (2018). These novels revolve around the life of the private investigator Jackson Brodie, a complex character who grapples with his past and present cases. The series combines crime fiction elements with Atkinson's signature storytelling style and dark humor. Atkinson's works often explore themes of memory, identity, and the impact of historical events on individuals and families. Her novel 'Life After Life' (2013) is a poignant exploration of these themes, telling the story of Ursula Todd, who lives and dies multiple times during World War II. Atkinson has been awarded several honors for her contributions to literature, including the Costa Book Award, the South Bank Show Literature Prize, and the Saltire Society Literary Award. Her works continue to captivate readers with their intricate plots, rich characters, and thought-provoking themes.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The past is immutable. We can't change it, no matter how much we might want to."

This quote by Kate Atkinson emphasizes that the past cannot be altered or changed, regardless of one's desires or efforts. The events, decisions, and experiences that make up our history are fixed and unchangeable, serving as a foundation for who we are today. Though we may grapple with regret or wish to redo certain moments, the reality is that we must learn from the past and carry its lessons forward into our present and future lives.

"We carry the past within us, like a suitcase full of water, and the handles break, and it leaks out on everything we touch."

This quote suggests that our past experiences have a profound impact on our present lives. The imagery of a suitcase filled with water emphasizes the burden or influence of our past. Even when the container (our being) breaks, the water (the past) seeps into everything we do, shaping our interactions and decisions without us always realizing it. The leakage symbolizes how our past subconsciously influences our present actions and relationships, leaving a trace on all we touch.

"Life is not a series of connected events, but a jumble of shards thrown together by an unseen hand."

This quote suggests that life doesn't unfold in a logical or linear manner, but rather appears as random, disconnected moments or experiences (the "shards"). The idea is that these events, though seemingly unrelated, are brought together by some greater force (represented by the "unseen hand"). It underscores the idea that life's complexity and unpredictability cannot be fully grasped or understood from a single perspective. Instead, it challenges us to find meaning in the chaos and coincidences of our experiences.

"The things that mark us, the things that make us unique, are the mistakes we've made and the things we've lost."

This quote by Kate Atkinson suggests that our personal identity and uniqueness are shaped significantly by the errors we commit and the losses we experience in life. These missteps and losses, rather than being mere setbacks or negative events, serve as defining moments that carve out our individuality and resilience. They contribute to our growth, character development, and understanding of the world around us. In essence, they make us who we are.

"You can't go back, but you can carry it forward with you and let it change you into something stronger, something better."

This quote emphasizes that moving on from past experiences doesn't mean forgetting or discarding them, but rather learning and growing from them in a way that empowers personal growth. The author suggests that the burdens of the past can be transformed into strengths, making one a better version of oneself as they journey forward.

A novel and its writer are inseparable: you are your books. A play's not like that at all. 'Abandonment's not mine - it's everyone's. I wanted it to be a co-operative thing because I was tired of that anal control that I have over novels.

- Kate Atkinson

Play, Inseparable, Mine, Abandonment

I need to be very isolated to write, and unfortunately isolation is often quite difficult to find. My ideal writing environment would be a country house hotel in the middle of nowhere, with full room service.

- Kate Atkinson

Country, Very, Isolated, Room Service

The legacy of the fairy story in my brain is that everything will work out. In fiction it would be very hard for me, as a writer, to give a bad ending to a good character, or give a good ending to a bad character. That's probably not a very postmodern thing to say.

- Kate Atkinson

Legacy, Good Character, Very, Postmodern

Life is a very orderly thing, but in fiction there is a huge liberation and freedom. I can do what I like. There's nothing that says I can't write a page of full stops. There is no 'should' involved, although you wouldn't know that from literary reviews and critics.

- Kate Atkinson

Fiction, Very, Literary, Liberation

I find the past so fascinating. Photographs are strange, almost surreal, almost here yet gone. I slip into thinking what the past must have been like and I enjoy creating that ambience and atmosphere - 1730 to around 1870 is the most interesting period.

- Kate Atkinson

Here, Been, Atmosphere, Slip

Because I write fiction, I don't write autobiography, and to me they are very different things. The first-person narrative is a very intimate thing, but you are not addressing other people as 'I' - you are inhabiting that 'I.'

- Kate Atkinson

Other, Very, Addressing, Inhabiting

The cult of the individual is killing us. I think Twitter signals the death of western civilisation, but people have been saying that since Demosthenes.

- Kate Atkinson

Think, Been, I Think, Civilisation

When I started 'Case Histories,' the characters were all going to Antarctica on a cruise. The first part was called 'Embarkation.' It was supposed to be about everyone preparing to embark on the cruise, but it mushroomed into an entire book.

- Kate Atkinson

Everyone, Going, Part, Embark

I don't have goals when writing books, apart from getting to the end. I have rather vague ideas about how I want things to feel, I'm big on ambience. I have a title, a beginning and a probable ending and go from there.

- Kate Atkinson

Beginning, Big, Vague, Goals

But I, you know, if I could choose a period to go back to, I think I would like to live through the Blitz. 'Cause you do read so many accounts of people saying they're living their lives at such an intense pitch that it was a completely different way of living.

- Kate Atkinson

Through, Back, I Think, Accounts

It was failing part of my Ph.D. that led me into novel-writing. By then I was 29, had remarried and had a second baby. It struck me that I'd lost my path in life and I felt frustrated. That's when I started to write.

- Kate Atkinson

Part, Frustrated, Led, Struck

I had a novel in the back of my mind when I won an Ian St James story competition in 1993. At the award ceremony an agent asked me if I was writing a novel. I showed her four or five chapters of what would become 'Behind the Scenes at the Museum' and to my surprise she auctioned them off.

- Kate Atkinson

Behind, Chapters, Agent, Ceremony

I did feel when my mother died if anyone was going to haunt me it would be her. And she hasn't, so I think it is possibly the end.

- Kate Atkinson

Think, Going, I Think, Possibly

Alternate history fascinates me, as it fascinates all novelists, because 'What if?' is the big thing.

- Kate Atkinson

Big, What If, Big Thing, Fascinates

I was an only child and grew up in York where my parents ran a surgical supplies shop. When I say I wish I had brothers and sisters, friends say it's not what it's cracked up to be, but I think it must be good to have someone who knew you from the beginning.

- Kate Atkinson

Beginning, I Think, Shop, Ran

I don't want to spoil the magic, but it's a very curious thing that honestly baffles me. It's the nearest we'll ever get to playing God, to suddenly produce these fully formed creatures. It is a bit odd. Other aspects you work out more - you rework sentences, you rework imagery. But not characters.

- Kate Atkinson

Magic, Other, Very, Fully

My father was an autodidact. It wasn't a middle-class house. Shopkeepers are aspirant. He paid for me to go to private school. He was denied an education - he had a horrible childhood. He got a place at a grammar school and wasn't allowed to go.

- Kate Atkinson

Education, Private, Allowed, Denied

I can't imagine what it would be like to write in a relaxed state. I'm going to be writing some stories for my own interest. I want to experiment with different things and see if I can approach writing with much less control and in a better psychological state. It will be like breaking out of a straitjacket.

- Kate Atkinson

Own, Some, Psychological, Different Things

I think about death a lot, I really do, because I can't believe I won't exist. It's the ego isn't it? I feel that I should retreat into a better form of Zen Buddhism than this kind of ego-dominated thing. But I don't know, I mean, I want to come back as a tree but I suspect that it's just not going to happen, is it?

- Kate Atkinson

Death, I Think, About, Buddhism

I usually start writing a novel that I then abandon. When I say abandon, I don't think any writer ever abandons anything that they regard as even a half-good sentence. So you recycle. I mean, I can hang on to a sentence for several years and then put it into a book that's completely different from the one it started in.

- Kate Atkinson

Book, Hang, Several, Recycle

Fairy tales opened up a door into my imagination - they don't conform to the reality that's around you as a child. I started reading when I was three and read everything, but I wanted to be an actress.

- Kate Atkinson

Door, Three, Around, Started Reading

Because I've a track record of talking about books I never write, in Australia they think I'm about to write a book about Jane Austen. Something I said at some festival.

- Kate Atkinson

Think, Some, Festival, Austen

My highest point was the first thing I won, a short story competition in a women's magazine in the Eighties. It was the first time I'd had my writing validated, and the first thing I'd ever shown anyone else.

- Kate Atkinson

Competition, Point, Had, Validated

When I'm writing, my neural pathways get blocked. I can't read. I can barely hold a conversation without forgetting words and names. I wish I could wear the same clothes and eat the same food each day.

- Kate Atkinson

Without, Wear, Neural, Conversation

I've always loved mysteries, the something there that you didn't know, and with 'Case Histories' I just decide to make that more up-front.

- Kate Atkinson

More, Always, Mysteries, Histories

Ethics are not necessarily to do with being law-abiding. I am very interested in the moral path, doing the right thing.

- Kate Atkinson

Doing, Very, Being, Law-Abiding

It's been said that the men in my books have been absent, or weak, or creepy.

- Kate Atkinson

Men, Been, Books, Absent

Everyone said, 'Well, you're very old for a first novel,' and I said, 'How do you write when you haven't lived? How do you write when you have no experience? How do you write straight out of university?'

- Kate Atkinson

Old, Everyone, Very, No Experience

Without siblings you get quite a skewed vision of yourself and of the world. I always felt I didn't understand how it worked. I remember feeling quite lonely.

- Kate Atkinson

I Remember, Always, Felt, Sibling

I think you have to learn for yourself how to write. I'm slightly mystified by creative writing courses - God love them - because I can't understand how you can explain a process that I find so baffling.

- Kate Atkinson

Love, Explain, Slightly, Creative Writing

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