I grew up in a completely bookless household. It was my father's boast that he had never read a book from end to end. I don't remember any of his ladies being bookish. So I was entirely dependent on my schoolteachers for my early reading with the exception of The Wind in the Willows, which a stepmother read to me when I was in hospital.
John le CarreHow Bush and his junta succeeded in deflecting America's anger from bin Laden to Saddam Hussein is one of the great public relations conjuring tricks of history. But they swung it. A recent poll tells us that one in two Americans now believe Saddam was responsible for the attack on the World Trade Centre.
John le CarreWhen you're my age and you see a story, you better go for it pretty quickly. I'd just like to get a few more novels under my belt.
John le CarreNo problem exists in isolation, one must first reduce it to its basic components, then tackle each component in turn.
John le Carre