John Banville’s Alter Ego

Amazing interview with John Banville in The Washington Post.

Banville fans know him well (he has passionate fans), and know that he also has been having a sort of catharsis – writing crime-noir books under the name Benjamin Black. Meanwhile, in his John Banville serious Irish literary persona, he won the Booker prize for The Sea in 2005. Since then, he has been writing noir thrillers under the name Benjamin Black and seems to be having a ball. FASCINATING. I am loving his journey – and all the interviews with him are very illuminating (he meditates for sometimes years over his “Banville books” – choosing every word, carefully … he writes his Benjamin Black books in sometimes a couple of months). He’s found it freeing.

I can’t WAIT to read the two new Benjamin Black books. I loved Christine Falls so much. I read it in one day, trapped at O’Hare, and despite the annoyance of my situation, I found that the world dissolved away for me … I was in 1950s Dublin – so so good. I loved how in the WP article, it is observed that while John Banville digs into the depths of experience with an acute sensitivity rare in writers (it’s why his books can be so sad) – the Benjamin Black books are not without lyrical prose. As a matter of fact, I found Christine Falls to be almost cinematic in nature. The prose was not fancy, but it was full of sensation and sense-memory … smells, tastes, the way the light looks on a watery Sunday morning when everyone in the city is in church except for Quirke … Brilliant stuff. I LOVED the writing in Christine Falls. I am also thrilled to read the new “John Banville” book (not out yet) … to see what influence Benjamin Black may have had on his prose as Banville. He hates his Banville books now. Hahaha Benjamin Black has set John Banville free.

But the best thing about being a reader and a fan of his writing is that I don’t have to choose. He is free to have a preference. But I get to eat it ALL up and that makes me happy.

It’s rare that a writer comes along who actually excites. It all began with my dad’s regard for Banville – Banville has always been on my radar because of his continuous presence on the bookshelves of my parents’ house, and basically … once you start paying attention, you will see that the name “John Banville” is everywhere. It was that way with my journey, too.

Here are a couple of my favorite excerpts from Wash Post article:

“You know, artists don’t really have all that much experience of life. We make a huge amount out of the small experience that we do have.”

I guess I just found that so … encouraging. I’ve been having a lot of problems lately. I won’t go into it. My life has been upended, and there are areas in my life where I have become paralyzed. To know that I can “make a huge amount out of the small experience” that I do have … It just helped me to stay strong and know that I was (am) doing the right thing.

(Oh, and I LOVED his story about getting Dubliners as a present when he was 12 – and being blown away by the whole thing – and immediatley starting to write stories in imitation of Joyce. A 12 year old imitating Joyce – and one of the opening sentences of these bad stories Banville actually remembers – and it’s hilarious!)

And here he is talking about The Sea, his most successful novel to date – the one that won the Booker:

“It seems to me to be packed with plot,” Banville says. “I don’t know what they want in the way of plot. I really don’t.”

I’m with him on that one. What on earth do these people THINK is plot? Car crashes? Torrid love affairs? Political intrigue? To say that The Sea has “no plot” is to completely misunderstand what the damn word “plot” means.

Then, here he is on his “Benjamin Black persona” and how much he loves “being” Benjamin Black … I don’t know, this quote makes me laugh. It strikes me as particularly Irish, it’s something I completely get:

“This, of course, is worrying. To enjoy writing is deeply worrying. I must be doing something wrong.”

Keep on doing that wrong thing, Mr. Banville/Black. I’ll follow you whereever.

Some of my posts on John Banville:

The Booker Prize brou-haha

John Banville/Benjamin Black

The Sea, by John Banville

Excerpt from The Sea, by John Banville