I am not an enormous believer in research being the be-all and end-all. I get suspicious when I read about actors spending six months in a clinic, say, in order to play someone who is sick.

To scuttle a boat you don't have to rip out the whole bottom, you just need to remove a few planks, one by one.

The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master.

The writers we absorb when we're young bind us to them, sometimes lightly, sometimes with iron. In time, the bonds fall away, but if you look very closely you can sometimes make out the pale white groove of a faded scar, or the telltale chalky red of old rust.

Written By Daniel Mendelsohn

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