Charles Palliser Quotes

United States, Writer
December 11, 1947

Charles Palliser (born December 11, 1947 in Holyoke, Massachusetts) is a best-selling novelist, American-born but British-based. His most well-known novel, The Quincunx, has sold over a million copies internationally. He is the elder brother of the late author and freelance journalist Marcus Palliser.

Also known as Novelist

Victorian values meant brutalizing people who were often poor.

Charles Palliser
- People
In Victorian fiction, there would be a chapter at the end devoted to righting all of the wrongs. I thought to right all of the wrongs would be too glib. I thought it would be better to lull the reader into thinking that is the way it would work, but then not to do that.

Charles Palliser
- Work
- Thinking

Living with my grandmother in Bath, I sort of thought I was living in the 19th century. My grandmother was someone who, in a way, was rather defiantly trying to live a pre-World War I existence.

Charles Palliser
- World
- Live
- Trying
For me, it would be pointless to write a novel that I knew I could complete within a specific length of time. I could do that only by repeating something I had done before, and I've never wanted to do that.

Charles Palliser
- Time
- Done
I think every first-person narrator in a novel should be compromised. I prefer that word to 'unreliable.'

Charles Palliser
To make it interesting and worth doing, writing a novel has to be a leap into the unknown. I have to be unsure if I can write it; otherwise, I won't want to.

Charles Palliser
I'm quite intrigued by the notion of a book that is completely self-contained but related to another book. I've coined a rather hideous word for it - a paraquel.

Charles Palliser
- Book