"Russian literature is marked by one overriding tradition, that is, never compromise and never become subservient. Any writer who is too concerned about marketing issues and who starts writing a novel by calculating its readership ceases to be a writer and becomes a slave to the market instead. You cannot simply go out and join some kind of “ism” and write according to its rules. You cannot give birth to somebody else’s child, but only to your own. Writing is always a ritual, an application or repetition of a magic formula."