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| Informative, captivating, and at times quite moving |
Cornelius Ryan, speaking of his awards, plaques, and medals ...
"each one less an honor than a challenge to make my work better."
On the subject of his research ...
"Professionally, I have never accepted a single piece of historical data without researching it to the fullest, collecting all the opinions and interviews I could."
In reference to A Bridge Too Far ...
"This will be the most difficult writing I've ever attempted. And this book is the greatest challenge I've ever faced. I've got to do it well or not do it at all. No matter what happens to me, I want my books to stand the test of time."
"You don't jolt a reader or a patient until rapport has been established."
"It is my profession to ask questions, to probe, to get at reasons, more so now than ever when my unreliable body must function in spite of what ails it."
To his first cancer doctor who berated him for asking so many questions and who said to him, "You are not medically trained, yet you insist on medical language," Ryan replied ...
"No, not precisely. I simply want to know what you have found, and I want permission to question what I don't understand."
