I think, in a written novel, the way in which you play with the readers' emotion or the way in which you engage the readers' emotions can be very indirect. You could come at it through irony or comedy, etcetera, and you could capture people's sympathies and feelings kind of by stealth if you like.

I think if we wish to live in any kind of a moral universe, we must hold the perpetrators of violence responsible for the violence they perpetrate. It's very simple. The criminal is responsible for the crime.

In general, writers shouldn't be killed for what they write, though I can think of exceptions.

We have come to think of taking offence as a fundamental right. We value very little more highly than our rage, which gives us, in our opinion, the moral high ground. From there we can shoot down at our enemies and inflict heavy fatalities.

Anyone who reads my work will see that there are often difficult relationships between fathers and sons.

Things, even people have a way of leaking into each other like flavours when you cook.

If by some bizarre chance there turns out to be a god [...], I'm willing to bet he's an atheist too.