A novel should tell a story, be a pleasure to read, and at the same time it should be thought-provoking, even a bit instructive. Olga Tokarczuk Read Quote
How we think about the world and – perhaps even more importantly – how we narrate it have a massive significance, therefore, a thing that happens and is not told ceases to exist and perishes. Olga Tokarczuk Read Quote
Unfortunately, as hate speech has proliferated, no one in Poland has been held responsible. The police take people’s statements and dismiss them. This tacit consent has demoralized weakened minds. Olga Tokarczuk Read Quote
I believe absolutely that words must be treated as material weapons, every invective or threat as violence and aggression. Olga Tokarczuk Read Quote
State television, from which a significant number of Poles get their news, consistently smears, in aggressive and defamatory language, the political opposition and anyone who thinks differently from the ruling party. Olga Tokarczuk Read Quote
Everything that was interesting was outside of Poland. Great music, art, film, hippies, Mick Jagger. It was impossible even to dream of escape. I was convinced as a teen-ager that I would have to spend the rest of my life in this trap. Olga Tokarczuk Read Quote
To write is to look for very particular, specific points of view on reality. Olga Tokarczuk Read Quote
Reading English novels I always adore the ability to write without fear about inner psychological things that are so delicate. Olga Tokarczuk Read Quote
If your country is wiped off the map and your language is banned, if your literature has to serve a cause, it becomes, however brilliant, rather hard to travel. Olga Tokarczuk Read Quote