What we seek is some kind of compensation for what we put up with.

I think history is collective memories. In writing, I'm using my own memory, and I'm using my collective memory.

Life is so uncertain: you never know what could happen. One way to deal with that is to keep your pajamas washed.

Life might just be an absurd, even crude, chain of events and nothing more.

I am 55 years old now. It takes three years to write one book. I don't know how many books I will be able to write before I die. It is like a countdown. So with each book I am praying - please let me live until I am finished.

So many dreams, so many disappointments, so many promises. And in the end, they all just vanish.

Even castles in the sky can do with a fresh coat of paint.