Wherever there's hope there's a trial.

Every writer has his writing technique - what he can and can't do to describe something like war or history. I'm not good at writing about those things, but I try because I feel it is necessary to write that kind of thing.

The problem was, I think, that the places I fit in were always falling behind the rimes.

Everybody has to start somewhere. You have your whole future ahead of you. Perfection doesn't happen right away.

I'm a writer, not a professional runner. It's fun and it helps me write. I need powerful concentration.

Writing is fun - at least mostly. I write for four hours every day. After that I go running. As a rule, 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). That's easy to manage.

Which is why I am writing this book. To think. To understand. It just happens to be the way I'm made. I have to write things down to feel I fully comprehend them.