I don't want to be the honored guest. I want to be the invisible person.

You must not judge people by their country. In South America, it is always wise to judge people by their altitude.

My greatest inspiration is memory.

Someone who seems doddery is perhaps not doddery at all but only an older person absorbed in squinting concentration, as though on an ultimate trip, memorizing a scene, grateful for being alive to see it.

The monotony of staying in one place is the best thing for writing a novel. Having regular habits, a kind of security, but especially no big surprises, no shocks.

It is almost axiomatic that the worst trains take you through magical places.

Anything is possible on a train: a great meal, a binge, a visit from card players, an intrigue, a good night's sleep, and strangers' monologues framed like Russian short stories.