Maybe, he said hesitantly, maybe there is a beast. The assembly cried out savagely and Ralph stood up in amazement. You, Simon? You believe in this? I don't know, said Simon. His heartbeats were choking him. [...] Ralph shouted. Hear him! He's got the conch! What I mean is . . . maybe it's only us. Nuts! That was from Piggy, shocked out of decorum.

My father was very musical, and music plays quite a large part in my life.

Maybe there is a beast… maybe it's only us.

I also know Patrick White in Australia, both personally and as a writer, and Salman Rushdie in India.

I do like people to read the books twice, because I write my novels about ideas which concern me deeply and I think are important, and therefore I want people to take them seriously. And to read it twice of course is taking it seriously.

People don't help much.

I'm not a critic so much of my own writing. People must make up their own minds over that.