John

Add friend
Sign in to Goodreads to learn more about John .

https://johnlmurphy.substack.com
https://www.goodreads.com/johnlmurphy

Book cover for Gravesend
Like Thomas Hardy and Bernard Malamud before him, Boyle shows himself to be many things at once. He is a novelist who, as Auden said a novelist must, knows how to be just among the just and filthy among the filthy.
Loading...
Fernando Pessoa
“I'd woken up early, and I took a long time getting ready to exist.”
Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet

Martin Amis
“What did Nabokov and Joyce have in common, apart from the poor teeth and the great prose? Exile, and decades of near pauperism. A compulsive tendency to overtip. An uxoriousness that their wives deservedly inspired. More than that, they both lived their lives 'beautifully'--not in any Jamesian sense (where, besides, ferocious solvency would have been a prerequisite), but in the droll fortitude of their perseverance. They got the work done, with style.”
Martin Amis, Experience

James C. Scott
“One day you will be called upon to break a big law in the name of justice and rationality. Everything will depend on it. You have to be ready. How are you going to prepare for that day when it really matters? You have to stay "in shape" so that when the big day comes you will be ready. What you need is "anarchist calisthenics." Every day or so break some trivial law that makes no sense, even if it’s only jaywalking. Use your own head to judge whether a law is just or reasonable. That way, you'll keep trim; and when the big day comes, you'll be ready.”
James C. Scott, Two Cheers for Anarchism: Six Easy Pieces on Autonomy, Dignity and Meaningful Work and Play

Jorge Luis Borges
“Mirrors and copulation are abominable, since they both multiply the numbers of men.”
Jorge Luis Borges, Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius

W. Somerset Maugham
“Insensibly he formed the most delightful habit in the world, the habit of reading: he did not know that thus he was providing himself with a refuge from all the distress of life; he did not know either that he was creating for himself an unreal world which would make the real world of every day a source of bitter disappointment.”
W. Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage

66916 Spanish Learning books — 149 members — last activity Nov 03, 2025 12:04PM
A group for sharing literature in Spanish that's suited to learning the language at a beginner and intermediate level. ...more
1084870 Miracles live in books. — 29 members — last activity Dec 15, 2020 01:23PM
This group is about our greatest power and tool. Imagination! The capacity to create worlds, through writing, through reading, through images we creat ...more
25x33 Leabhair i nGaeilge - Books in Irish — 10 members — last activity Jun 19, 2023 04:33PM
Find your next book to read in Irish. We're here to help one another with reviews and discussions of books in Irish/Gaeilge/Irish Gaelic. All levels o ...more
1219146 The book you like most — 48498 members — last activity 28 minutes ago
This group (ranked in the TOP 100 most popular groups on Goodreads) is dedicated to the "Vision and Story" project. Additionally, the group THE BOOK ...more
year in books
Brina
1,285 books | 4,992 friends

S.
S.
5,392 books | 705 friends

Fionnuala
899 books | 864 friends

Shashwat
405 books | 42 friends

Georgin...
2,759 books | 228 friends

Hector ...
647 books | 136 friends

Gaurav ...
2,785 books | 2,627 friends

Steven ...
5,080 books | 668 friends

More friends…
J.R.R. Tolkien 4-Book Boxed Set by J.R.R. TolkienThe Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldRomeo and Juliet by William ShakespeareOne Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García MárquezThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Best Books Ever
76,207 books — 283,392 voters




Polls voted on by John

Lists liked by John