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

Some is, I think, the personal in any act of writing. You find yourself caught up: you start a sentence, and it becomes revelatory, not just of the character, but of you as well.

There are books like Darkness at Noon, which from the prose standpoint I don't think is a perfect book. It has flaws. But for its time, it was very politically courageous.

When writing dialogue, I hear it in both Russian and English, and try to find a language that combines the two.

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

People everywhere feel differently at different times of their lives.

In my experience of women, women have a greater capacity. Maybe women, even very pragmatic ones, are less guarded about showing emotions.