A narrator should not supply interpretations of his work; otherwise he would have not written a novel, which is a machine for generating interpretations.
Umberto EcoThere are more books in the world than hours in which to read them. We are thus deeply influenced by books we haven't read, that we haven't had the time to read.
Umberto EcoWhen all the archetypes burst out shamelessly, we plumb the depths of Homeric profundity. Two clichรฉs make us laugh but a hundred clichรฉs moves us because we sense dimly that the clichรฉs are talking among themselves, celebrating a reunion. . . . Just as the extreme of pain meets sensual pleasure, and the extreme of perversion borders on mystical energy, so too the extreme of banality allows us to catch a glimpse of the Sublime.
Umberto Eco