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.

I have been always fascinated and seduced by history, which I think is very close, very close to literature.

A good novel is a conjunction of many factors, the main of which is without a doubt, hard work.

No democracy is born perfect, and none ever gets to be perfect. Yet democracy is superior to authoritarian and totalitarian regimes because, unlike them, democracy is perfectible.

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

I have a chest full of all the insults, villainies, and infamies a man is capable of withstanding. . . . If you become famous, you will have to go through that.

If you are killed because you are a writer, that's the maximum expression of respect, you know.