I quit: why I won’t be finishing my history of the book | Rick Gekoski

The awkward thing about this subject is that it doesn’t have much to do with reading – so I’m writing a novel instead

Nobody likes a quitter, right? It’s weak to give up: you’re supposed to tough it out. Otherwise you’re a bad person and a bad role model. Sportsmen, politicians and motivational speakers alike are keen on this subject. (Many of them are American, where the cultural default position is the exhortation.) Good ol’ Bill Clinton is typical: “The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit,” though even he might have benefited from some judicious withdrawals.

Indelible images of sporting failure: Paula Radcliffe sitting on the kerb in tears at the 2004 Olympic marathon, the boxer Roberto Durán slumped in his corner whispering “No más” . Both serve, for me, as examples of the triumph of sense over cliché. The pain is impossible to bear? It’s nature’s way of telling you that you’ve had enough. Quit.

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