The more I like a book, the more slowly I read. this spontaneous talking back to a book is one of the things that makes reading so valuable.

The moment a book is lent I begin to miss it.

We are all tourists in history, and irony is what we win in wars.

Either a writer doesn't want to talk about his work, or he talks about it more than you want.

A book is meant not only to be read, but to haunt you, to importune you like a lover or a parent, to be in your teeth like a piece of gristle.

The tension between 'yes' and no', between 'I can' and 'I cannot,' makes us feel that, in so many instances, human life is an interminable debate with one's self.

People ... have no idea what a hard job it is for two writers to be friends. Sooner or later you have to talk about each other's work.