Imaginales 2008 : les interviews !

Par Linaka, le 05/07/2008 à 14:00

Notre entretien avec Robin Hobb (en anglais)

When did you start writing ? Who or what brought you to this passion ?: When I was a very small child, I knew that I wanted to write, from the time I was... seven or eight years old. And I think it was reading certain kinds of stories and wishing there were more of them - and thinking that I would write more of them.
What incited you or pushed you toward imaginary literature ? Why does it attract you ?: Again, I think that from the very beginning it was my preference. I enjoyed fairy tales, myths, mythology and legends. From my earliest readings, these were the kinds of stories that I loved.
What book would you first advise to someone, for him to discover fantasy ?: Oh, my ! There are so many. So much would depend on the sort of person... The Lord of the Rings remains a touchstone for me, but for many people they look and say : « This is too long of a work to begin with ». So... I think I would have to meet the person, to decide what I'd recommend to them.
What book have you read lately ?: Oh, I have been recommending Brandon Sanderson, as an author ; I have been enjoying his works. George Martin, of course, I keep up with his books as fast as they come out, and often re-read them. For an author that is new to me, recent to me, I would probably recommand Brandon Sanderson.
Some writers need to get completely isolated from the rest of the world to be able to write ; is it the same for you ? How do you work ?: That sounds like a wonderful luxury ; I think that if I were able to simply have quiet and space, I would probably write a lot more than I do. But in my life it's not possible, so I write whenever I can and wherever I can.
Even if there's only fifteen minutes, you can still get part of the story started, and I had to learn that what is preferable is to have a two or three hour block of time in which to write. If you don't have that, you still can write.
Do you believe fantasy has its place at university ? Do you think it should be studied in college ?: I think that fantasy has as much to say to people as any form of literature. I think we do study fantasy in universities, it's simply not recognized as such. If you are studying the myths and legends of people, then your are studying their fantasy. So it is studied ; I think that the modern fantasy also has its place in literature.
Where does this human fascination for the myth, the fantasy, the imaginary come from ?: I think that, as we are taught in school, myth is a way of explaining something, that people did not initially have a scientific explanation for. I think that when we write stories, of any kind, we are trying to impose order on the world to make sense of a world that frequently does not make sense.
Stories have a beginning and an ending, which is actually, you know, very unlike our own lives. You will not stop tomorrow and say : « And today, I'll live happily ever after ». But with many stories, of all kinds, the writer brings the reader to a place where things are going to be calm or peaceful for a while and says : « And here the story ends ».
Do you build your imaginary with the real world around you, or mostly with your past readings ?: It is always I think a combination of all sources. You can't really separate it out. The first germ for a fantasy story usually starts with a « What if ? » question. That will occurr when you're walking down the street, and you see something and think, you know : « What if this were different ? »
From there, then you will end up doing the research, because then you'll have several : « If this were so, what would happen then ? » And you have to look into how things would be affected.
Is there a place among all the places you created that you cherish the most, a place where you'd like to live in ? And is there a character that you love more than the others ?: I think all of them are places that I would like to visit, but ultimately I'm happiest in my own world. These other worlds would frequently reflect some fractions of my own world.
But I would like to visit any of them ; if you propose to send me off on a long sea-voyage, on an old fashioned sailing ship, I would probably say : « Hmm, no thank you ! » (laughs)
All the characters are my friends, in many ways, as a writer I write the friends I wish I had. That sounds very pathetic perhaps...
No, no, not at all.: Even the villains are people that I find interesting, though perhaps I would not want to spend a great deal of time with them.
Now this is a question almost mystical : do you believe in the presence of the fairies, the lutins, in a world which is hidden to us but from where all our legends come from ?: Certainly, I believe in Story, and I tried to explain before what I feel that is : I feel it's like a river or a current, and when somebody is doing an excellent job of telling a story, they have found the current and they are in it, and then there are books that you feel like they are tied at the dock, that they resist the way that Story wants them to go.
So I think that, as human beings, we create a shared reality, with things that we agree are so, and it differs slightly from one culture to another. But that does not mean that any one culture is right and another is wrong, we agree to our reality, and if we say : « A tree is just a tree », then for us, it is. If we say : « A tree has a life, and although we may need to use it, before we use it we should apologize and ask it permission before we cut it down », then that is another reality. I don't think that my reality is necessarily more true than someone else's .
Why did you have this need to come back to Fitz and his universe, when you thought you were definitely done with it ?: Well, I was working on the Liveships, and I would catch myself writing things in his voice, whether with an e-mail or a note to myself about something else.
And because I was so sure I was finished with his story, it was a little bit annoying! So I sat down to write one more chapter that would be just for myself, to see where he would be and what he would be doing, and very easily I fell into the flow of that story again and realized : well then, there is more to tell.
They were characters with whom I really enjoyed spending time, not just Fitz or the Fool, but Chade and Burrich and Patience, and in many ways I did not want my time with them to end. I couldn't quite leave them.
So you had to face the wolf's death ? What did you feel when you wrote that scene ?: I felt that it was inevitable. I felt that it was an event that happened, rather than something that I made happen - given the character of Night Eyes and that he had not, in many ways, wanted Fitz to interfere with who and what he was. Many readers who have sent me emails have said : « Why didn't he use his Skill or the Wit to save the wolf's life? »
And my answer to that would be that he did not have the right to do that. He respected Night Eyes ; it was Night Eyes's choice to leave, and he invited Fitz to go with him, but it was not Fitz's time. It was a very hard scene to write, yes.
Shall we, one day, learn more about the Fool : his infancy, the country he comes from ?: I do not know ; if I had an idea for an absolutely wonderful story, I would not hesitate to write it. But I don't want to just write more about him for the sake of selling another book. That would be a cheat to me and a cheat to the reader. There has to be a plot as well as a setting.
I think that one of the things that makes your writing so powerful is your ability to build subtle characters. Where does this psychological perspicacity come from ?: I like to watch people, I like to observe people. Sometimes I feel I'm more of a person who observes than a person who does. If it all adds up, it's a form of research itself, I think. To write people, and to say : « Perhaps this should make him happy, but perhaps it does not », is part of characterization.
You said at the Paris panel, that The Farseer started with this question : « What if magic was addictive ? » So what about this new magic system in the Soldier son ?: The system of magic for that world was completely different, it was more the case of a force using Nevarre rather than Nevarre trying to master a magic and use it. The magic sometimes allows him its strength, but he is never able to take it up and simply use it as he pleases.
Could you tell us a bit more about Dragon Keeper, the book you're working on, just to tease us ?: It does take place in the Rain Wilds. The events come chronologically, after the end of the Tawny Man trilogy. It will deal with the dragons that emerged from their cocoons in the Rain Wilds, the ones that were the serpents in The Liveship Traders. It will be a new cast of characters ; there may be mentions of characters we have seen, but it will not be focused on those characters.
What did building a new world for the Soldier Son bring you ?: It was a very good experience to explore a different time setting in fantasy, and to say, you know : « Can you write a fantasy that has gun powder and the beginnings of other technology and still have a very good story of fantasy ? »

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Imaginales 2008 : les interviews !

Notre entretien avec Robin Hobb (en anglais)

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