I have, I must admit, despised the English countryside for much of my life - despised it and avoided it for its want of danger and adventure.

If you read the fables, 'Beowulf,' for example, you will know something about the person who writes them, and I like that. Secondly, they will not be about individuals; they will be about community. Thirdly, they're all about moralizing. Fourthly, the way they express themselves takes its tone from the oral tradition.

You stand beneath the arthritic boughs of any English oak, and you survey a thousand tales.

Jim Crace Quotes