Q: The narrator's sister, Komi, tells him that the characters in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland really exist in the world. A theme in the story — and throughout the novel — is that blurring of the distinction between the real and the unreal. In fact, you could say that it's a theme in a lot of your work. What keeps you coming back to the idea?



A: I ask myself the same question. When I'm writing novels, reality and unreality just naturally get mixed together. It's not as if that was my plan and I'm following it as I write, but the more I try to write about reality in a realistic way, the more the unreal world invariably emerges. For me, a novel is like a party. Anybody who wants to join in can join in, and those who wish to leave can do so whenever they want. I think novels get their driving force from that sense of freedom. Continue reading the interview on NewYorker.com... A: I ask myself the same question. When I'm writing novels, reality and unreality just naturally get mixed together. It's not as if that was my plan and I'm following it as I write, but the more I try to write about reality in a realistic way, the more the unreal world invariably emerges. For me, a novel is like a party. Anybody who wants to join in can join in, and those who wish to leave can do so whenever they want. I think novels get their driving force from that sense of freedom.