I was born into a predicament and a country where a person accursed with a heightened aesthetic and moral sensitivity like me simply cannot survive. It is enough to have an oversensitive and vulnerable person on one side, and the brutality of the other side will instantly produce mortal danger. Naturally, there are various strategies to help you survive in some way. I used to drink myself quite drunk whenever I could. I went on doing this until my health suffered so much that I was at risk of becoming a dramatic hero in an age which does not give a shit about drama – in an age which thinks no more of a dramatic ending than the Great Bulldozer thinks about a particular shell as it grinds up tens and tens of thousands of shells while driving along the sea shore speckled with herons drowned in oil. Had it meant anything at all, had it drawn that lethargic attention to anything, had there been one single oversensitive youth to draw strength from such a dramatic ending, I admit I would not have hesitated for a moment to act this role. But it would not mean anything; it would not draw attention to anything and would not restore anybody's strength.

László Krasznahorkai, interviewed