Ian mcewan

Some people are tied to five hundred words a day, six days a week. I'm a hesitater.

We overvalue the arts in relation to the sciences.

I was an intimate sort of child who never spoke up in groups. I preferred close friends.

Something is missing in our culture. We can't quite celebrate the scientific literary tradition.

The moment you have children and a mortgage you want things to work; you're locked into the human project and you want it to flourish.

I always used to deny this, but I guess what I'm really saying is that I was writing to shock... And I dug deep and dredged up all kinds of vile things which fascinated me at the time.

Oh, I've become immune to the Booker. I think we need something a little more like the Pulitzer prize, where there isn't this great race.

If I could write the perfect novella I would die happy.

In my experience an appreciative letter from a fellow writer means a lot.

I'm quite good at not writing.