Terry Pratchett: State of the Nation
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By Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 8/24/2009 2:10:00 PM
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Photo: Robin Matthews |
Did you expect this kind of response to Nation?
Let me put it like this: I knew I had written a good book. I knew it was good, mostly because I almost appeared to be channeling it rather than writing it. Nevertheless, in reality, I am surprised at the awards the book is picking up in the U.S., especially since my career in America was more or less a flat line until 1990. Then, oh glorious day! I suddenly ended up with two fine editors, for both children's and adult books, and even a publicist who knew how to spell my name, for all of which I am really thankful. It was a huge second chance and awards like this are a tribute to their help and encouragement.
What prompted you to write this story?
A question that is being asked these days is, "is Nation a fictional realization of your real battle with Alzheimer's disease?" which just goes to show that there is far too much psychology around these days! I wasn't diagnosed until about a year and a half ago, by which time I was at the late editing stage of the book, but the idea came to me several years previously, and I would have written it then had it not have been for the big Asian tsunami. After that, I thought it would be too soon for a book like Nation. As to its content, character, and philosophy, all I can say is that a lifetime of writing experience just seemed to open a big door and everything flowed into place. Nation very nearly wrote itself.
As an author, your name is synonymous with the "Discworld" series. However, Nation seems to be your most recent return to children's and YA stories. Do you feel that moving between genres is an important balance for you?
I write what I prefer to call fantasy fiction, even if it is pretty short, in some cases, on the classic fantasy ingredients. I take the view that fantasy fiction for children and fantasy fiction for adults are the same genre. I know adults read my children's books and children read my adult books. Nation was a children's book because the character and themes almost begged for that to be the case. I do like to alternate between adult and YA books, although I have to say I sometimes feel like Daphne's ancestor who went to fight the Wars of the Roses wearing a pink rose! Over here I have heard people suggest that I should decide what kind of writer I am.
What about children do you find compelling as characters?
Children as a whole are more interesting as main characters because, by definition, there is lot that they don't know, and at the beginning of the book there is a lot that the reader does not know and so they can learn together. Tiffany Aching in the YA "Discworld" books has a younger brother that she loves. Daphne in Nation is haunted by the memory of her dead baby brother, and Mau, of course, by the death of everyone he has ever known. Both of them are under the most terrible stress. You have to be quite cruel to be an author.
How have school libraries and school librarians played a role in the way you connect to young readers?
I have visited a great many schools and libraries over the years, and I can say from experience that some teachers and librarians know how to do it and some do not. A good day is when the kids have been primed by an enthusiastic teacher and ask really difficult and well-thought-out questions. Days like that give you a warm feeling for months afterwards. Regrettably, and even now, you still find those who regard a visit from an author, torn away from the sanctity of his word processor, as something to fill a gap in their day. For what it's worth, the best ones I have done have been in the U.S., though that isn't to say that there haven't also been a few problem ones. I am lucky; I have been a PR man and a journalist, and I am not phased by a blank audience, but for some authors visiting a school must seem like a punishment.
Is there one story of yours that means the most to you?
I still have a very soft spot for Wintersmith (Doubleday, 2006) and it would be a close run thing between Wintersmith and Nation. On the other hand, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents (Doubleday, 2001) got me the Carnegie Medal, and I am very grateful for that.
What kind of changes has your diagnosis with early-onset Alzheimer's brought to your writing?
I think my editors and Rob, my personal assistant, would agree that in terms of composition, plot, and character, there is no real difference. My unusual variant of the disease has a strange optical component, which interferes with my hitherto very fast typing and so now I dictate with, I think, very good results. We are now experimenting with speech-to-text software, although that becomes a chore for someone with the vocabulary of an author, which of course means very nearly every other vocabulary as well.
Do you find the YA and children's publishing world has changed since your first book was published in 1971?
In the U.K. at least, the Harry Potter phenomenon led to a huge amount of interest in children's books (mostly from journalists who hadn't read one since they had been at school). I'm not sure the phenomenon led to an increase in children's books beyond the Potter universe, but it did see a massive interest in older classics and interest in new writers as everybody looked for the next J.K. Rowling. This, of course, is a bit silly, because they shouldn't have been looking for the second J.K. Rowling, but the first Irving Binglebat, with something new to say. In the U.K. I think there have been at least five authors who have been hailed as the new Terry Pratchett. I think some of them have survived.
