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Is it possible to be a good writer without being a good reader? Probably; I think sense of story is innate, we all live by and think in terms of stories. I can imagine somebody who had lived on a desert island and never read sitting down for a year or two and writing the most fantastic tale. But in reality I haven’t ever met a writer who doesn’t read, and read avidly and seriously. There is a certain amount of flair or ‘art’ to writing, but there is a lot of craft too, and to read other novels is to study the craft. When I read I am always thinking about how the novel is put together, what is going on behind the scenes, and I learn a lot through doing that. According to a report of the Independent Book Publishing Association, over five million American adults belong to reading groups. What, do you believe, is the basis for this country’s love for literature and books? I think in general the human love of books is one of the most interesting and endearing of our traits. I don’t know why we do love them - I suspect there are a lot of reasons. But it’s good to know that in a digital age we are still doing the old fashioned thing of reading books. Our lives tend to be busy – a book is a physical cue to retreat, a physical barrier between you and the world, and a signal that you are temporarily unavailable. The act of reading itself is inherently solitary and still. Maybe we need that now more than ever. Have you ever belonged to a reading group? Yes, I do belong to one now, and apart from anything else it’s my best contact with the world of readers – I see them as a condensed version of the reading public and a very good gauge of tastes and trends. What advice do you have for reading group members when it comes to selecting books for discussion? Let everybody choose in turn, that way you get a broad spectrum of suggestions. We all get quite blinkered in our reading tastes, sometimes it’s good to read outside of your usual genre. What book(s) are you reading now or planning to read? I’m reading Ravelstein by Saul Bellow at the moment, and am loving it. If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only bring one book with you to read, what would it be and why? Possibly Siddartha by Herman Hesse – there are other books I like as much, but Siddartha is about an inner journey, and since that’s the only journey I’d be capable of on the island I think it would prove the most useful and entertaining. If you could have dinner with 3 writers (dead or alive) who would they be and why? Graham Greene, because he is a brilliant, unsurpassed writer, and I’d want to know more about the games of Russian roulette he played. Iris Murdoch, because she had an all-round amazing mind. Then either J.M. Coetzee, to tell him how much I loved Disgrace, or the Portuguese writer Jose Saramago, to sing his praises and ask about his absence of punctuation – could I not invite them both? Favorite book when you were a child? It’s too difficult to choose one. Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian, or Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl. Favorite first line from a book? "Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know." - from Albert Camus’ The Outsider. In nine words he does something miraculous – he establishes an entire character and sets the tone for the rest of the book. Book that changed your life? My own! There is nothing more enlightening than writing a book, you learn so much about yourself, and you are constantly inspecting, affirming or reshaping your values and beliefs as you go. When it’s done, you find something of yourself and your life on every page.
Copyright © 2008 Reading Group Choices |
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