When I Got To 40 Or So...

What Is The Point Of Worrying Oneself Too Much About What One Could Or Could Not Have Done To Control The Course One's Life Took? Surely It Is Enough That The Likes Of You And I At Least Try To Make Our Small Contribution Count For Something True And Worthy. And If Some Of Us Are Prepared To Sacrifice Much In Life In Order To Pursue Such Aspirations, Surely That In Itself, Whatever The Outcome, Cause For Pride And Contentment.

The English Landscape At Its Finest - Such As I Saw This Morning - Possesses A Quality That The Landscapes Of Other Nations, However More Superficially Dramatic, Inevitably Fail To Possess. It Is, I Believe, A Quality That Will Mark Out The English Landscape To Any Objective Observer As The Most Deeply Satisfying In The World, And This Quality Is Probably Best Summed Up By The Term 'greatness.'

Sometimes I Get So Immersed In My Own Company, If I Unexpectedly Run Into Someone I Know, It's A Bit Of A Shock And Takes Me A While To Adjust.

As A Writer, I'm More Interested In What People Tell Themselves Happened Rather Than What Actually Happened.

Throughout My Career I've Struggled To Encourage People To Read My Books On A More Metaphorical Level. I'm Less Attached To My Settings Than, For Example, Saul Bellow. The Setting Of A Novel For Me Is Just A Part Of The Technique. I Choose It At The End.