I have never begun a novel which wasn't going to stretch me further than I had ever stretched before.

I went to work in 1962, and by '64 I was writing all the time, every night and every weekend. It didn't occur to me that, having read nothing and knowing nothing, I was in no position to write a book.

The great thing about using the past is that it gives you the most colossal freedom to invent. The research is necessary, of course, but no one writes a novel to dramatically illustrate what everybody already knows.

I don't think you have the right to shout about other people's private life.

Good writing of course requires talent, and no one can teach you to have talent.

I never base characters on real people. There are people who do that but I really don't know how to do it.

I did not know that history is like a blood stain that keeps on showing on the wall no matter how many new owners take possession, no matter how many times we pint over it.