Always good to take a look at the long list for the Mann Booker, for the Commonwealth. It gives you an overview.There is so much going on all over the world that it's impossible for one person to keep up. And I can't.

The future of narrative? Built in, part of the human template. Not going away. The future of the codex book, with pages and so forth? A platform for transmitting narratives.

I'm not interested in cutting the feet off my characters or stretching them to make them fit my certain political view.

It had helped to keep her sane, that writing. Then, when time had begun again and real people had entered it, she'd abandoned it here. Now it's a whisper from the past. Is that what writing amounts to? The voice your ghost would have, if it had a voice?

You shouldn't do that," said Laura. "You could set yourself on fire.

friendship was always contingent.

At the very least we want a witness. We can't stand the idea of our own voices falling silent finally, like a radio running down.