“Inside, I’m assaulted by the evening propaganda broadcasts coming over the apartment’s hardwired loudspeaker. There’s one in every apartment and factory floor in Pyongyang”

“Inside is where the son and the father will always be holding hands.”

“The urge to create a fictional narrative is a mysterious one, and when an idea comes, the writer's sense of what a story wants to be is only vaguely visible through the penumbra of inspiration.”

“. . . nobody every taught you loyalty . . .”

“The key to fighting in the dark is no different: you had to perceive your opponent, sense him, and never use your imagination. The darkness inside your head is something your imagination fills with stories that have nothing to do with the real darkness around you.”

“She's read every word I've written," he said. "That's the truest way to know someone's heart.”

“Orphans are the only ones who get to choose their fathers, and they love them twice as much.”