I have never begun a novel without hoping that it would be the one that would make it unnecessary for me to write another. I have had to start again from scratch with each one. What had gone before didn't count... I was not adding to a fresco. Like a man who has decided to start his life over again, I have told myself that I had so far accomplished nothing: for I have always believed that my chef d'oeuvre [masterpiece] would be the novel I was working on at the time.
The Art of Fiction #2 [The Paris Review #2, March 1953]
Use the link below to read an excerpt of the March 1953 interview with French novelist and essayist FRANÇOIS MAURIAC:
https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/5197/the-art-of-fiction-no-2-francois-mauriac
You might also enjoy:
The Write Advice 003: LOUIS-FERDINAND CÉLINE
Tante Zulnie (1911) by FRANÇOIS MAURIAC
The Write Advice 044: GEORGES SIMENON
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