Julian Barnes

That's a wonderfully sort of wise approach to it all.

I haven't got a vegetable garden anymore.

I used to have one.

And when I planted cabbages, they didn't do very well.

That's the only fault I can find with Montaigne's view of death.

I've certainly been thoughtful about it.

I've certainly been afraid of it.

And it's a kind of moot point if you're

Very familiar with the idea of death and the way it happens, whether you therefore enjoy life more knowing that it's so passing.

I don't know the answer to that.

Do you feel like you enjoyed life more because of your – Well, I actually think that people who don't think about death at all enjoy life probably just as much as people who do.

So that's a bit of a downside.

There must be some advantage, I think, in –

realizing and reflecting on the fact that you're not going to be here forever.

And in my case, I won't be here for 10 or 15 years.

Definitely not.

Probably.

But I don't think of what I've got as in any way comparable to what she had.

I've got something which will be with me for the rest of my life and I may well live a sort of normal span.

She had a catastrophic diagnosis and was dead in 37 days.