An excess of storytelling has become the contemporary way of shrouding, in majesty, a lack; it is the Sun King principle. The lack is the human.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Excessive storytelling hides a fundamental human lack, likened to the Sun King’s grand façade.
- In plain terms
- Over‑telling masks a basic human emptiness.
- What can you take from it?
- Beware of using stories to cover personal gaps.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What emptiness do we try to conceal with stories?
Another view
The metaphor may be too abstract for some readers.
More from James Wood
The big contemporary novel is a perpetual motion machine that appears to have been embarrassed into velocity. It seems to want to abolish stillness, as if asha…
Permalink to quote #1
Related quotes
Man has an invincible inclination to allow himself to be deceived and is, as it were, enchanted with happiness when the rhapsodist tells him epic fables as if …
Friedrich NietzscheFriedrich Nietzsche quote #33 I wonder how many men, hiding their youngness, rise as I do, Saturday mornings, filled with the hope that Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam and Daffy Duck will be there…
Ray BradburyRay Bradbury quote #4 The man who invented the red carpet needed his head examined.
Duke of Edinburgh PhilipDuke of Edinburgh Philip quote #8