I wrote the Dickens book because I loved Dickens, not because I felt a kinship with him, but after writing the book it seemed to me that there was at least one similarity between us and that was that Dickens loved to write and wrote with the ease and conviction of breathing. Me, too.

Another thing I learned is that novels, even those from apparently distant times and places, remain current and enlightening, and also comforting.

My characters never die screaming in rage. They attempt to pull themselves back together and go on. And that's basically a conservative view of life.

In the traditional urban novel, there is only survival or not. The suburban idea, the conformist idea, that agony can be seen to and cured by doctors or psychoanalysis or self-knowledge is nowhere to be found in the city. Talking is a way of life, but it is not a cure. Same with religion.

The main thing about the novel that is totally fascinating: It's not possessed by the writer; it's possessed by the reader.

With preference came point of view; with point of view, personality; with personality, uniqueness; with uniqueness, grief.

I discovered that the horse is life itself, a metaphor but also an example of life's mystery and unpredictability, of life's generosity and beauty, a worthy object of repeated and ever changing contemplation.