Election campaigns seem to siphon away political anger and even basic political intelligence into this great vaudeville, after which we all end up in exactly the same place.

I think it was 50 million people across the world who marched against the war in Iraq. It was perhaps the biggest display of public morality in the world - you know, I mean, before the war happened. Before the war happened, everybody knew that they were being fed lies.

Of course, there's an alternative to terrorism: it's called justice.

He folded his fear into a perfect rose. He held it out in the palm of his hand. She took it from him and put it in her hair.

All my books are accidental books - they come from reacting to things and thinking about things and engaging in a real way. They are not about, 'Oh, did it get a good review in the Guardian?' I don't care.

If you're happy in a dream, does that count?

If you're not religious, then look at it this way. This world of ours is four thousand, six hundred million years old. It could end in an afternoon.