I think that the idea that there's such a thing as a national literature that's somehow uniquely expressive of a national soul or culture or mentality is probably also something that nobody really believes in anymore.

I don't think that taste should be the decider of moral issues.

I think in general there's no point in going into a field like English literature if you're not going to have fun with it.

There are limits, after all, to the idea of limits.

I suppose everybody does get attached to characters whether in movies or in stories, but I think that's part of the reason you get involved with literature is because there's somebody that grabs you about it and then you want to figure out why.

We have much wisdom to gain by learning to understand other people's cultures and permitting ourselves to accept that there is more than one version of reality.

It's very hard to know who your readers are, but that's who I'm... if I have somebody in my head, that's probably who it is.