Truth is singular. Its 'versions' are mistruths.

Italians give their city sexes, and they all agree that the sex for a particular city is quite correct, but none of them can explain why. I love that. London's middle-aged and male, respectably married but secretly gay.

I remain thankful to God for all his mercies.

She was widely read enough to appreciate my literary wit but not so widely read that she knew my sources. I like that in a woman.

I think all writers of my age who are brought up on films probably by the age of 16 have seen many more films than they have read classics of literature. We can't help but be influenced by film. Film has got some great tricks that it's taught writers.

For me, novels coalesce into being, rather than arrive fully formed.

Any adaptation is a translation, and there is such a thing as an unreadably faithful translation; and I believe a degree of reinterpretatio n for the new language may be not only inevitable but desirable.