"It is a costly thing living here to fight the erosion. The sea is constantly threatening to cut into the coastline and sweep all this away. Every year we have to haul stones up here to repair the damage and plug the holes. It's a full-time job."

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“I like the idea of stopping mid-sentence, like Graham Greene.”

“I know writing is what I do but I still don't see myself as one.”

“I rang up this publisher and they asked me what I was doing at the time. I told them I was a house-painter, so first of all they had me come round and paint the place. Only later did they consider my work and Banished Misfortune was published.”

“I often find poems hand written in old abandoned notebooks.”

“taught me a lot about the normal and the abnormal, and the distance between them. He's out there by himself. You get the jump in the feet when you read certain passages by him. That's the mark of truly great writing. It gives you the jump in the feet.”

“I'm no good at dinner parties. I feel very uneasy at them.”

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