I'm not a great deep political thinker. David Mitchell deepgreatpolitical Change image and share on social
The state of childhood resonates with life inside a fantasy novel. If you have no control over how you spend large chunks of your day, or are at the mercy of flawed giant beings, then the desire to bend the laws of the world by magic is strong and deep. David Mitchell beingbendchildhood share on social
I'm certainly a plot and character man. Themes, structure, style - they're valid components of a novel and you can't complete the book without them. But I think what propels me as a reader is plot and character. David Mitchell bookcharactercomplete share on social
There's a disease that young writers are susceptible to, which is, I will do this because I can - hubris, I suppose - without stopping to work out why. David Mitchell diseasehubrisstop Change image and share on social
I'm not from a milieu where high-register language or philosophical ideas were welcome. David Mitchell highidealanguage Change image and share on social
'Y' is about the weakest letter of all. 'Y' can't make up its mind if it's a vowel or a consonant, can it? David Mitchell consonantlettermake Change image and share on social
I still haven't quite got used to eating live fish. David Mitchell eatfishlive Change image and share on social
Any adaptation is a translation, and there is such a thing as an unreadably faithful translation; and I believe a degree of reinterpretation for the new language may be not only inevitable but desirable. David Mitchell adaptationdegreedesirable share on social
People like to say that East Asians in general, and Japanese in particular, are not very expressive: there's that term 'inscrutable.' But often, Europeans just don't get the Asian codes. Believe me, the message is being expressed OK. David Mitchell asiancodeeast share on social
In the 1970s and 1980s there was so little decent fiction for young people, but we're now in a golden age that shows no sign of fading. Philip Pullman, J. K. Rowling, Lemony Snicket are only three of the best known among a good number of equals. David Mitchell 1970s1980sage share on social
