Joseph Boyden Quotes
The history needs to serve the story, not the story the history. But at the same time you can't stray too far.
People will say that Canada, unlike America, was not birthed from violence. But I want to say, "What are you talking about?" It's just not true.
There's the concept that dreams are as important - if not more important - than reality. The attention that one pays to those things in the shadows is very much a part of the Indian experience.
America seems to celebrate its more violent past, but Canada doesn't like to recognize those things. The willingness to accept the existence of violence separates our two countries.
I never want to play down to the reader. I think readers are willing to go along if they're intrigued.
The beliefs of Native people are no less powerful or important just because they focus on a different "form of magic."
I'm fascinated by the magic realism used by many writers. I think it goes hand-in-hand with the Indian experience. It's a very different way of viewing the world.
I believe truly that Canada is a living history and we're going through some of the most important time in this country's short 150 years.
As a fiction writer, of course, you need to take some leeway with certain aspects of history to make the story work.
Canada and America are very, very different. It's true that we share a language and many customs. But Americans have a very different view of the world.
Compared to Americans, Canadians are often more gentle in their approach to things. They're much more apologetic. There's less room for conflict.
We all fight on two fronts, the one facing the enemy, the one facing what we do to the enemy.
I'm intrigued by the classic Greek tragedies, as well as by the idea of the Greek chorus.
From a craft standpoint, telling a story in the first-person present tense over the course of 500 pages is a daunting challenge.