Quote

It seems to me that you would have to write a novel on a very small, intimate scale for it not to become political.

All literature is political.

I have never known a novel that was good enough to be good in spite of its being adapted to the author's political views.

Anyone can write one book: even politicians do it. Starting a second book reveals an intention to be a professional writer.

Ultimately, my books are not about the politics, although the toil and the struggle and the wars in Afghanistan have a significant impact on the lives of my characters.

It makes me nuts, the idea that if you put a political struggle at the heart of your book, then it has to be that the author - me - is trying in some way to push my views onto my readers.

Books are a finer world within the world.

I've never felt powerful enough to write a true political novel, or deeply knowledgeable enough to draw a character like, say, Tolstoy's Prince Kutuzov.

Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.