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The books of C.S. Lewis had a very profound, indirect effect on me.

Another thing I learned is that novels, even those from apparently distant times and places, remain current and enlightening, and also comforting.

I was very influenced by The Magic Mountain. It's a book that had a huge impact on me. I loved that as a shape for a novel: put a bunch of people in a beautiful place, give them all tuberculosis, make them all stay in a fur sleeping bag for several years and see what happens.

Sometimes a book influences me because it winds me up. There'll be something that gets under my skin and makes me think that I can do better.

I always have a book that I use that somehow inspires my novels.

The book I always say that influenced me, subconsciously, because at the time I didn't know I wanted to be a writer, was William Goldman's 'Marathon Man.' That was the first adult thriller that I loved. I read it when I was 15 or so, when my father gave it to me.

Religion obviously played a role in this book and the previous book, too.

I can't pick out one single book that had such a profound personal impact.

I'm not sure there's a difference between books that affected the way I see the world and books that influenced me as a writer.

The writing is really important in books that affect me. I read for the writing. The story is usually of less interest to me. It's the words that break your heart.