Quotes by Roddy Doyle

About Roddy Doyle:

Roddy Doyle is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. He is the author of ten novels for adults, seven books for children, seven plays and screenplays, and dozens of short stories. Several of his books have been made into films, beginning with The Commitments in 1991. Doyle's work is set primarily in Ireland, especially working-class Dublin, and is notable for its heavy use of dialogue written in slang and Irish English dialect. Doyle was awarded the Booker Prize in 1993 for his novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

The problem with being Irish... is having 'Riverdance' on your back. It's a burden at times.

Roddy Doyle

I write short stories when a little idea occurs to me, that I know isn't a part of a novel that will stand by itself and should be concentrated.

Roddy Doyle

I do enjoy Gothic fiction or books about zombies if they are well written and I like vampires.

Roddy Doyle

I had to make sure I kept an eye on the real world.

Roddy Doyle

Most working days I can be at my desk for nine hours a day.

Roddy Doyle

My parents were sixty years married.

Roddy Doyle

It's hard for me to measure them, or to assess my books because I'm so close to them.

Roddy Doyle

When I'm writing I just think there's only the page and me and nobody else.

Roddy Doyle

Schools don't really allow failure and yet it's part of any endeavour, not just writing.

Roddy Doyle

If there is a heaven, Jane Austen is sitting in a small room with Mother Teresa and Princess Diana, listening to Duran Duran, forever. If there's a hell, she's standing.

Roddy Doyle

Mary,' said her mother. 'We don't like sarcasm ' 'You mightn't like it,' said Mary. 'But I love it.

Roddy Doyle

She's a pot-of-tea-before-I-say-boo-to-you woman. There's always a pile of warm teabags in the sink when I come down, like what a horse would leave behind.

Roddy Doyle

I wouldn't go out of my way to experience the indignity of middle-age just because it might be good meat for a story.

Roddy Doyle

No matter how close to personal experience a story might be, inevitably you are going to get to a part that isn't yours and, actually, whether it happened or not becomes irrelevant. It is all about choosing the right words.

Roddy Doyle

Schools don't really allow failure and yet it's a valid part of any endeavour, not just writing.

Roddy Doyle

If you're from Dublin, for example, chances are you live with your family, if you're lucky enough to, right up to the mid-20s. And most of the people I know, when they finally sort of set off on their own, they don't stray all that far.

Roddy Doyle

If you are a writer you're at home, which means you're out of touch. You have to make excuses to get out there and look at how the world is changing.

Roddy Doyle

It's great meeting children because you never know what they will say.

Roddy Doyle

I've been asked why does Ireland produce so many great musicians, and the answer is it doesn't. When you count the great musicians Ireland has given the world in the last 20 years, you can do it on one hand.

Roddy Doyle

Ulysses could have done with a good editor. You know people are always putting Ulysses in the top 10 books ever written but I doubt that any of those people were really moved by it.

Roddy Doyle

Good ideas are often murdered by better ones.

Roddy Doyle

Author Bio

  • NameRoddy Doyle
  • DescriptionIrish author
  • AliasesRuaidhrí Ó Dúill
  • BornMay 8, 1958
  • CountryIreland
  • ProfessionScreenwriter; Writer; Novelist; Playwright
  • WorksPaddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha; The Commitments; The Woman Who Walked Into Doors; Paula Spencer; The Van; The Snapper (novel)