I've always had the wish, the nostalgia to be able to write detective novels. At heart, the principal themes of detective novels are close to the things that obsess me: disappearance, the problems of identity, amnesia, the return to an enigmatic past.

Patrick Modiano

Able Always Amnesia Close Detective Disappearance Enigmatic Had Heart Identity Me Nostalgia Novels Obsess Past Principal Problems Return Themes Things Wish Write

Related Quotes

She had the right idea, old man, don't you think - to disappear before it gets too late?

— Patrick Modiano

disappearancetackle

I write in the most classical French because this form is necessary for my novels: to translate the murky, floating, unsettling atmosphere I wanted them to have, I had to discipline it into the clearest, most traditional language possible.

— Patrick Modiano

AtmosphereBecauseClassical

At the beginning, I experienced writing as a sort of constraint. Starting so young as a writer is pitiable: it's beyond your powers; you have to lay bare things that are very heavy, and you don't have the means for that.

— Patrick Modiano

BareBeginningBeyond

Encourage aspiring writers to continue writing when things are going against them, when it feels hard. Explain the typical obstacles that occur, and encourage and reassure them to continue, never to give up.

— Patrick Modiano

AgainstAspiringContinue

I write novels and other things.

— Jack L. Chalker

I WriteNovelsOther