there are writers, thinking earlier about thomas hardy, who lived to the late 20s, but wrote his lastthe mid—1890s, and spent the rest of his life writing poetry. now, you say you're not going to do another novel, another volume of poetry, but it does seem as if the moment you've reached in yourfiction writing and with this break, because of the circumstances you found yourself in, it is time for something completely new. yes. and something i also want to do is figure out whether i can have a life beyond being a writer. because... do you not know? i'm so used to inhabiting that little sanctum sanctorum and creating works of art, which is an alternative to hanging out with real human beings and smelling the roses and all those things, that ordinary people know how to do. when you're not writing, when you're not sitting in that quiet room, what are you doing? are you reading fiction at all? i don't read fiction at all. i will occasionally read a book about music. mainly, i listen to music. instrumental music mainly. so my space has no language in it. it's an extraordinary thing to hear,

people always talk about thomas hardy, who was the master of coincidence, and who drove his plot by somest unlikely devices. the letter going under the carpet. angel clare's carpet. yeah, that is fabulous. are you a hardy person? i am a hardy person. i like the way that sounds. "are you a hardy person?" yes, lam. who else do you read for pleasure among the great novelists? where does your taste take you? it is an interesting thing. i was a big henryjames person, and somebody who would reread james over and over again. loved dickens, loved austen, but i own a bookshop now, and i have for going on six years, and those days are over for me. now ijust read not only things that are just out, the things i read are the things that will be coming out in six months. this is a confession. henryjames, once you get stuck into henryjames, he is impossible to abandon, isn't he? no, i will never abandon henry james. i will always go back every few years and reread the awkward age. that is the thing. it is not that i want to read more james. i want to just keep rereading the ones that i love. it is inte

people always talk about thomas hardy who was the master of coincidence and who drove his plot by somesounds. are you a hardy person? yes, iam. who else do you read for pleasure among the great novelists? where does your taste take you? it is an interesting thing. i was a big henryjames person and somebody who would reread james over and over again, loved dickens, loved austen, but i own a book shop and i have for going on six years and those days are over for me. now ijust read not only things that are just out, the things i read are the things that will be coming out in six months. this is a confession. henryjames, once you get stuck into henryjames he is impossible to abandon, isn't he? no, i will never abandon henry james. i will always those go back every few years and reread the awkward age. that is the thing. it is not that i want to read more james. i want to just keep rereading the ones that i love. it is interesting to look at that in respect of your own narrative because as i said narrative has the feeling of it has a pulse that just seems to keep going. you are a great one