Writers are the exorcists of their own demons.

Like writing, reading is a protest against the insufficiencies of life.

Science is still only a candle glimmering in a great pitch-dark cavern.

I think in a country like mine, violence is at the root of all human relations.

I always write a draft version of the novel in which I try to develop, not the story, not the plot, but the possibilities of the plot. I write without thinking much, trying to overcome all kinds of self-criticism, without stopping, without giving any consideration to the style or structure of the novel, only putting down on paper everything that can be used as raw material, very crude material for later development in the story.

No matter how ephemeral it is, a novel is something, while despair is nothing.

When I was young, when I started to write, we were totally convinced that literature was a kind of weapon.