The first thought that occurred to me, that night when I heard the chairman of the jury announce my name, was, Just think how many people hate me at this moment. Naturally, I wanted to annoy those people even further by being arrogant.

I think I'm less the writer than I'm the written.

Dogs are dim creatures, do not speak to me of their good sense--have you ever heard of a team of tomcats hauling a sled across the frozen wastes?

The Booker Prize is a big, popular prize for big, popular books, and that's the way it should be.

Given the world that he created, it would be an impiety against God to believe in him.

The telephone ringing gave me a dreadful start. I have never got used to this machine, the way it crouches so malevolently, ready to start clamouring for attention when you least expect it, like a mad baby.

For memory, we use our imagination. We take a few strands of real time and carry them with us, then like an oyster we create a pearl around them.