INTERVIEW WITH JOHN BOYNE
Q: What is your favourite book? Why?
My favourite book from my collection is ‘The Absolutist' because that's the book I'm most proud of.
Every time I start writing a book I have some sort of goal for it and I think I was able to achieve that with ‘The Absolutist'. Sometimes you achieve it and sometimes you don't.
The novel is intensely emotional as its set in the backdrop of the Second World War about a gay man being a soldier. I wanted to explore this subject in all its seriousness and to understand the situation. The story has a cinematic quality so there has been some talk that it would be turned into a movie. Q: What do you think of the HSBC Galle Literary Festival? Any room for improvement?
Everybody is friendly and they are genuinely enthusiastic about the books and literature in general. I have enjoyed the festival a lot. I find it interesting as there are a variety of programs and events that gives me the chance to talk about the different books I have written in different segments as opposed to talking about one particular book during the entire festival and I find that refreshing.
I think the festival is very well organized and it involves the community which I think is great. I'm quite happy with the festival. Q: You write children's novels and adult fiction but who do you see yourself best as?
I don't like making distinctions but when I set out I generally have an idea who I'm writing for. In the 18th century, when authors like Alexander Dumas wrote books they could be read by children as well as adults. Books like ‘The Three Musketeers' are read by adults and children and there wasn't a distinction back then but now writing to a larger audience is slightly lost in the present literature. I don't see myself as either, I write stories which are sometimes more suited to children or adults. Q: Is it true that you wrote the first draft of ‘The boy in the striped pajamas' in two and a half days?
Yes, the first draft was written within 72 hours without any sleep just breaks for meals. I had this idea of two boys sitting on either side of a fence talking to each other and I wanted to put it down into a novel and I feared that if I stopped or walked away from it, I would lose it. Although the draft was edited several times, the closing structure is very similar to that of the first draft. Q: Are you critical of your writing?
Looking back at the books I see a life time of writing but you also can't expect to get it right every time you put out a book. I'm proud of all my books but I have also noticed an improvement along the years. With my last book, ‘The Absolutist' I was able to come away from it with this feeling that I was able to achieve what I set out to when I started writing it. I hope that I am able to come away with the same feelings from the books I write in the future.