We are taught that we can be better than we are. But is there a limit to how good we can be?

There are books where you can really see the moral question, which I think we answer every day for ourselves, in every interaction we have with people, to a lesser or greater degree.

I think every book is a reaction to everything you're written before, and most immediately to the book you wrote just before.

Language is a personality as well. People are different when they speak different languages.

It's not for the writer to say whether the thing is successful or not.

Maybe the most provocative thing one can do - and I'm not the first one to do it - is to ask the moral and philosophical question: why are some people better than others? Why are some people more moral than others?

When you write a book, you want to have fidelity to the character. Characters and their emotions guide the structure of the novel.