The Secret To A Masterpiece Is 10

I Have Been Always Fascinated And Seduced By History, Which I Think Is Very Close, Very Close To Literature.

I Learned To Read At The Age Of Five, In Brother Justiniano's Class At The De La Salle Academy In Cochabamba, Bolivia. It Is The Most Important Thing That Has Ever Happened To Me. Almost Seventy Years Later I Remember Clearly How The Magic Of Translating The Words In Books Into Images Enriched My Life, Breaking The Barriers Of Time And Space.

Whether Religious Or Racial, Anti-semitism Is Always Repugnant, One Of The Most Destructive Manifestations Of Human Stupidity And Evil. What Is Profoundly Expressed In It Is Man's Traditional Mistrust Of The Man Who Is Not Part Of His Tribe, That 'other' Who Speaks A Different Language, Whose Skin Is A Different Color, And Who Participates In Mysterious Rites And Rituals.

I Completely Believe That - Literature For Me Is A Way Of Life. That's Probably True Of All Writers Or All Artists. I Think In The End This Kind Of Activity Absorbs One In Such A Way That It Becomes One's Way Of Life.

I Always Write A Draft Version Of The Novel In Which I Try To Develop, Not The Story, Not The Plot, But The Possibilities Of The Plot. I Write Without Thinking Much, Trying To Overcome All Kinds Of Self-criticism, Without Stopping, Without Giving Any Consideration To The Style Or Structure Of The Novel, Only Putting Down On Paper Everything That Can Be Used As Raw Material, Very Crude Material For Later Development In The Story.