Julian Barnes

I mean, her last complete sentence was she was brought home from the hospital on a stretcher and she was put in a bed in the sitting room.

And the guys who brought her in sort of rather dumped her on the bed.

And I said, was that a bugger?

And she said, a bit of a bugger.

which was wonderfully precise, you know, don't complain, just say exactly what the situation is.

And that was her last sentence.

And she died about 48 hours later.

I suppose you could say that she showed me how to die with grace and grace.

And also with a consideration for other people who are coming to see her.

She never got cross.

She never became tragic or upset.

So in some ways, we were well suited because I have that sort of temperament as well.

No, I never thought that.

I've never had any religious belief.

I think that life is all we have and there's nothing after it.

It's very hard to believe in a calm and loving God when you look at the state of the world.

I remember Stephen Fry, the actor, was on a chat show in Ireland where religion was in

healthier shape than it was in England at the time.

And the interviewer said, so give me one reason why you don't believe in God.

And Stephen Fry answered, child cancer.