We live in an age of narrative complexity, where the stories we tell are as intricate as the lives we lead.

我们生活在一个叙事复杂的时代，我们讲述的故事和我们过的生活一样复杂。

To be a writer is to sit down at one's desk in the chill portion of every day, and to write; not waiting for the little jet of the blue flame of genius to start from the breastbone.

成为一名作家就是在每天的寒冷时分坐在书桌前写作；不等待从胸骨中喷出的蓝色天才火焰。

The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghostlike.

写作的行为需要不断地潜入过去的阴影中，在那里时间像幽灵一样徘徊。

We are all patchwork, and so shapeless and diverse in composition that each bit, each moment, plays its own game.

我们都是拼凑而成的，组成如此无形和多样，每一部分，每一刻，都在玩自己的游戏。

The past is always tense, the future perfect.

过去总是紧张的，未来是完美的。