I read very, very little fiction as a kid. All the books I can remember are junior science books.

Reading is a conversation. All books talk. But a good book listens as well.

I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it is not because I am a good person. It is because I do not tell lie.

Most of my work consisted of crossing out. Crossing out was the secret of all good writing.

Children simply don't make the distinction; a book is either good or bad. And some of the books they think are good are very, very bad indeed.

Most murders are committed by someone who is known to the victim. In fact, you are most likely to be murdered by a member of your own family on Christmas day.

I went to boarding school and then I went to Oxford, and I know how easy it is for certain groups of people to become wholly insulated from ordinary life.