Because the meaning of a story does not lie on its surface, visible and self-defining, does not mean that meaning does not exist. Indeed, the ambiguity of meaning, its inner private quality, may well be part of the writer's vision.

How fascinating to a child are words: the shapes, sounds, textures and mysterious meanings of words; the way words link together into elastic patterns called "sentences." And these sentences into paragraphs, and beyond.

To the west, the Pacific Ocean, which revulses me, for its vastness cannot be fitted into any box.

Critics sometimes appear to be addressing themselves to works other than those I remember writing.

Getting the first draft finished is like pushing a peanut with your nose across a very dirty floor.

Like most people, I can be very easily hurt.

The novel is perhaps the highest art form because it so closely resembles life: it is about human relationships. It's technique, page by page, resembles our technique of living day by day-a way of relating.