Even the solitude, I've actually grown to quite like... I do like the feeling of getting into my little car, knowing for the next couple of hours I'll have only the roads, the big gray sky and my daydreams for company.

What do you think dignity's all about?' The directness of the inquiry did, I admit, take me rather by surprise. 'It's rather a hard thing to explain in a few words, sir,' I said. 'But I suspect it comes down to not removing one's clothing in public.

I think it's quite difficult to understand what kind of life a writer leads. They might be millionaires, or they might be starving people.

And if these incidents now seem full of significance and all of a piece, it's probably because I'm looking at them in the light of what came later.

You're always in a rush, or else you're too exhausted to have a proper conversation. Soon enough, the long hours, the traveling, the broken sleep have all crept into your being and become part of you, so everyone can see it, in your posture, your gaze, the way you move and talk.

Memory is quite central for me. Part of it is that I like the actual texture of writing through memory.

There is certainly a satisfaction and dignity to be gained in coming to terms with the mistakes one has made in the course of one’s life