Having spent the greater part of my life under a Communist dictatorship, I am very familiar with the Bolshevik mentality according to which an author in general, and an eminent author in particular, is always guilty, and must be punished accordingly. Ismail Kadare Read Quote
I thought for a long time about leaving Albania, but at the same time to play a role in its life. Ismail Kadare Read Quote
For a writer, New York works well. Literary work is very elitist. I worked two hours a day, maximum, and the time after that was very agreeable. I walked a lot with pleasure. Those two hours augmented the day. I wrote more here than in Paris, an entire chapter of a new novel. Ismail Kadare Read Quote
The great universal literature has always had a tragic relation with freedom. The Greeks renounced absolute freedom and imposed order on chaotic mythology, like a tyrant. Ismail Kadare Read Quote
The founding father of Albanian literature is the nineteenth-century writer Naim Frasheri. Without having the greatness of Dante or Shakespeare, he is nonetheless the founder, the emblematic character. He wrote long epic poems, as well as lyrical poetry, to awaken the national consciousness of Albania. Ismail Kadare Read Quote
I am of the opinion that I am not a political writer, and, moreover, that as far as true literature is concerned, there actually are no political writers. I think that my writing is no more political than ancient Greek theatre. I would have become the writer I am in any political regime. Ismail Kadare Read Quote
I consider I’ve had a good day when, among the lines I’ve written, I’ve produced from my innermost core what I call ‘the appearance of the pearl.’ That could refer to a discovery, a sense of harmonious cohesiveness, or something like that. Ismail Kadare Read Quote
In general, literature is a natural adversary of totalitarianism. Tyrannical governments all view literature in the same way: as their enemy. I lived for a long time in a totalitarian state, and I know firsthand that horror. Ismail Kadare Read Quote
The laws of literary creation are unique; they don’t change, and they are the same for everyone everywhere. I mean that you can tell a story that covers three hours of human life or three centuries – it comes to the same thing. Each writer who creates something authentic in a natural way instinctively also creates the technique that suits him. Ismail Kadare Read Quote
Guidebooks used to write the name of my city in two ways: Gjirokaster in Albanian, and Argyrokastron for foreigners. The classical-sounding name somehow gave it better credentials, because people in the Balkans famously exaggerate and often call their villages cities. Ismail Kadare Read Quote
