Harry Potter author JK Rowling was interviewed by BBC arts editor Will Gompertz about The Casual Vacancy, her first novel since her phenomenally successful Harry Potter series ended in 2007.
Арт эдитор Вилл Гомпертц на BBC взял интервью у Джоан Роулинг, автора книги о «Гарри Поттере» о, известно, что ее первый роман, цикл которого завершился в 2007 году имел феноменальный успех
When I had the book, the first 30 pages I was thinking "this is JK Rowling, the woman who wrote those Harry Potter books" and it took a while for me to get through that process. Maybe it was me and the way I was approaching it, but I sensed there was a certain nervousness in your authorial voice in the very beginning.
Я прочла всего 30 страниц книги, и подумала "и это Джоан Роулинг, женщина, которая написала эти книги о Гарри Поттере", и это требовало времени для меня, чтобы пройти через этот процесс. Может быть, ее написала и, и сделала все сама, я чувствовала, присутствовала некая нервозность в авторском голосе в самом начале.
I don't mean this in an arrogant way but I did not sit down to write this novel thinking "got to prove". I had nothing to prove. Now I certainly don't mean that in an arrogant way, I certainly don't mean that I think, well, you know, I can't improve as a writer. I certainly don't mean that I'm coming from a place of self-satisfaction.
Может быть это и самовлюбленно, но когда я садилась за написание этого романа, я не задумывалась над тем, что «надо что-то кому-то доказывать». Я ничего не собиралась доказывать. Сейчас, конечно я не считаю что это самовлюбленно, Это конечно не означает, что я думаю, что, ну, вы знаете, что мне не надо улучшать свои писательские навыки. И конечно же это не означает что я идеальная.
But Harry Potter truly liberated me in the sense that there's only one reason to write, for me: If I genuinely have something I want to say and I want to publish it. I can pay my bills, you know, every day. I am grateful for that fact and aware of that fact. I don't need to publish to make a living.
We both know what it takes to write a novel, we both know how much blood, sweat and tears go into writing a novel, I couldn't put that amount of energy into something purely to say I need to prove I can write a book with swear words in it. So no, there was no nervousness - and again I don't mean that arrogantly. I felt happy writing it, it was what I wanted to do.
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I've been asked this question so many times, do you feel you need to write a book for adults?
No, I don't need to write a book for adults. I think it very likely that the next thing I publish will be for kids. I have a children's book that I really like, it's for slightly younger children than the Potter books, and I think probably the next thing will be for children.
I loved writing for kids, I loved talking to children about what I'd written, I don't want to leave that behind. But I wanted to write this as well.
Casual Vacancy has lots of swear words in it and lots of adult themes, do you worry that children who are fans of yours will be on an internet site where you can easily download books in one click, and they'll suddenly be faced with really quite vivid language?
Well, I hope that we've made it really clear that this isn't a book for children. I've been very open about what the themes are, we've talked about what the story's about. I would have thought that parents can make a very clear choice... I would have to ask why have kids got such untrammelled access to the internet that they are downloading… Well, I would be more worried about other things they could be downloading if they're running amok on the internet on their own. There is something of Dickens about this book.
I'm very flattered! When I did start writing it I was aware that I was doing a contemporary version of what I love, which is a big, fat 19th-Century novel set in a small community. So to an extent, swear words notwithstanding, that is what the Casual Vacancy is. It is a parochial - literally - novel that's looking at slicing through a society, with everything that that implies. That's what I wanted to do.
Do you aspire to be the Dickens of our day?
No [laughs]. Again, I think it's a curious thing being me, because it was all an accident and then, when you become very successful, people assume there was a game plan. So there are no motivational posts on my wall saying "Be next Dickens" - well, because he's Dickens. It would be so outrageously presumptuous to say that. You pay your respects to him and then move on.
This is your first published adult novel. It is inevitably going to sell truckloads. It is going to get reviews good, bad and indifferent. People around you are going to say nice things about it. How will you judge if it's been a success or failure?
The simple answer is speaking to readers. I have to say that latterly with the Potter books, when the hype became insane, it was a monster that was out of control. Speaking to readers really brought you back to what it should be about.
So ultimately, the people who have read the book, who are not paid to have an opinion, are generally the best benchmark of whether you have done what you set out to do. But you're right that that was a consideration for me, particularly with being published next time round.
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It was very important to me to approach publishing the book in a certain way. I didn't want to have an auction, I didn't want to announce that I had a new book and watch a feeding frenzy, so it was important to me to go out quite quietly, and find the right person.
I had a great conversation with David Shelley [at Little, Brown & Co] and I just knew he understood what I was doing and he was prepared to take not a risk, in the sense that clearly the name would shift some books, we all knew that. But equally, if you fall flat on your face, it's a much more public experience.
It was important to me simply to have an editor who understood what I was doing and to have a quiet conversation about that before I committed to any deals. And I found the right person. David is that person. <….>
A couple of tangential questions - firstly Leveson. You gave a very moving account of what happened to you. Do you think it will change anything?
Do you know, I just don't know. I'm fascinated. I'm following it very closely, not just because I participated, but because I think it's a massive question for our culture. We've got to get it right.
I passionately believe in freedom of the press. But having been on the receiving end of some dubious / illegal behaviour, how do we mop this up? I don't know. I hope and pray it does change things because I think it's toxic, what has been allowed to go on.
Do you think it will?
If I had to bet, I'd say it will change things but I think there will be massive resistance on the part of some aspects of the media.
It was a big deal giving evidence to Leveson, because you're in that paradoxical position of trying to stick up for your privacy whilst slightly invading your own privacy. So I had to think long and hard about what went into the statement and there were a couple of things that didn't go into the statement because, even though they represented some of the worst things that had happened to me at the hand of the press, or my family, I would have been invading my own privacy quite seriously to talk about them. So that's the odd thing about an inquiry like this.
Another random question: In 2001 you were awarded an OBE. You've sold hundreds of millions of books, you've given thousands of pounds away to charity. I personally am quite surprised you haven't been made a dame.
No comment! (Laughs)
Do you think literature is overlooked slightly in our culture?
I can't talk about this on camera.
In an interview very recently, you said you were pro-Scottish union. Why?
I think devolution has been fantastic for Scotland, I really do, and I suppose, pragmatically, I think we've got a great deal, currently. I think that independence right now is not a great idea. We're in the middle of a huge, terrible, terrifying world recession. I just think now is a time for stability. And Scotland's doing great under devolution. I think economically we're in a pretty stable, sound condition. I would be personally quite averse doing anything that destabilised that in the next few years. Jo Rowling, thank you very much indeed.
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Casual Vacancy has lots of swear words in it and lots of adult themes, do you worry that children who are fans of yours will be on an internet site where you can easily download books in one click, and they'll suddenly be faced with really quite vivid language? В Случайной вакансии можно увидеть нецензурную лексику и множество чисто подростковых тем, не беспокоит ли вас, что дети, которые являются вашими фанатами, сидя в интернете, с легкостью скачав вашу книгу, с помощью одного клика, встретятся лицом к лицом с по-настоящему раскрепощенным языком?
Well, I hope that we've made it really clear that this isn't a book for children. I've been very open about what the themes are, we've talked about what the story's about. I would have thought that parents can make a very clear choice... I would have to ask why have kids got such untrammelled access to the internet that they are downloading… Well, I would be more worried about other things they could be downloading if they're running amok on the internet on their own. There is something of Dickens about this book.
I'm very flattered! When I did start writing it I was aware that I was doing a contemporary version of what I love, which is a big, fat 19th-Century novel set in a small community. So to an extent, swear words notwithstanding, that is what the Casual Vacancy is. It is a parochial - literally - novel that's looking at slicing through a society, with everything that that implies. That's what I wanted to do.
Do you aspire to be the Dickens of our day?
No [laughs]. Again, I think it's a curious thing being me, because it was all an accident and then, when you become very successful, people assume there was a game plan. So there are no motivational posts on my wall saying "Be next Dickens" - well, because he's Dickens. It would be so outrageously presumptuous to say that. You pay your respects to him and then move on.
This is your first published adult novel. It is inevitably going to sell truckloads. It is going to get reviews good, bad and indifferent. People around you are going to say nice things about it. How will you judge if it's been a success or failure?
The simple answer is speaking to readers. I have to say that latterly with the Potter books, when the hype became insane, it was a monster that was out of control. Speaking to readers really brought you back to what it should be about.
So ultimately, the people who have read the book, who are not paid to have an opinion, are generally the best benchmark of whether you have done what you set out to do. But you're right that that was a consideration for me, particularly with being published next time round.
It was very important to me to approach publishing the book in a certain way. I didn't want to have an auction, I didn't want to announce that I had a new book and watch a feeding frenzy, so it was important to me to go out quite quietly, and find the right person.
I had a great conversation with David Shelley [at Little, Brown & Co] and I just knew he understood what I was doing and he was prepared to take not a risk, in the sense that clearly the name would shift some books, we all knew that. But equally, if you fall flat on your face, it's a much more public experience.
It was important to me simply to have an editor who understood what I was doing and to have a quiet conversation about that before I committed to any deals. And I found the right person. David is that person. <….>
A couple of tangential questions - firstly Leveson. You gave a very moving account of what happened to you. Do you think it will change anything?
Do you know, I just don't know. I'm fascinated. I'm following it very closely, not just because I participated, but because I think it's a massive question for our culture. We've got to get it right.
I passionately believe in freedom of the press. But having been on the receiving end of some dubious / illegal behaviour, how do we mop this up? I don't know. I hope and pray it does change things because I think it's toxic, what has been allowed to go on.
Do you think it will?
If I had to bet, I'd say it will change things but I think there will be massive resistance on the part of some aspects of the media.
It was a big deal giving evidence to Leveson, because you're in that paradoxical position of trying to stick up for your privacy whilst slightly invading your own privacy. So I had to think long and hard about what went into the statement and there were a couple of things that didn't go into the statement because, even though they represented some of the worst things that had happened to me at the hand of the press, or my family, I would have been invading my own privacy quite seriously to talk about them. So that's the odd thing about an inquiry like this.
Another random question: In 2001 you were awarded an OBE. You've sold hundreds of millions of books, you've given thousands of pounds away to charity. I personally am quite surprised you haven't been made a dame.
No comment! (Laughs)
Do you think literature is overlooked slightly in our culture?
I can't talk about this on camera.
In an interview very recently, you said you were pro-Scottish union. Why?
I think devolution has been fantastic for Scotland, I really do, and I suppose, pragmatically, I think we've got a great deal, currently. I think that independence right now is not a great idea. We're in the middle of a huge, terrible, terrifying world recession. I just think now is a time for stability. And Scotland's doing great under devolution. I think economically we're in a pretty stable, sound condition. I would be personally quite averse doing anything that destabilised that in the next few years. Jo Rowling, thank you very much indeed.