Tuesday, January 11, 2005
"If we, citizens, do not support our artists...
...then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality, and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams." Like many others, this was one of my favorite quotes from Yann Martel's Life of Pi. I heard him read tonight (at the Folger, part of the PEN/Faulkner series). Apparently, we were all very astute in identifing what is the core of his artistic sensibility and his intellect in general--that true art is about artifice, not autobiography, that imagination is at least as important as experience. This sounds simple to agree with, but he also told us about the next book he is planning (he read tonight from his current book of stories, Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios. It's very interesting. I enjoyed it) He's writing about the Holocaust, an interesting choice for someone who is not ethnically or historically tied to the event, but he says that is in part why he is writing it--that what has already been done on the subject has been autobiography, not art, and that autobiography is not ultimately lasting and no one will be reading it in 150 years. The only work he cited as striving for true artistry was the movie Life is Beautiful, which he still did not think was entirely successful. Now THAT is a tad more controversial. I haven't digested it yet, really, so I'm not sure what I think, but I'm intrigued to be sure. It's worth noting that it won't be a historical story, but rather some type of allegory, symbolic of the Holocaust without referencing it directly. He likened it to Animal Farm.
I could go on and on about this, but I won't. He said lots more interesting stuff about Life of Pi, and the way he works, and Roccamatios, and that he is not particularly a cat person (someone asked). He also signed my new copy of Life of Pi, with my name and the date and everything. It is lovely and I smiled like a big nerd all the way home. Also, he has the most interesing accent--the way someone who has grown up all over the world speaks English, in his case, a cross between Irish and Canadian.
Next on my hit list: Michael Chabon.
I could go on and on about this, but I won't. He said lots more interesting stuff about Life of Pi, and the way he works, and Roccamatios, and that he is not particularly a cat person (someone asked). He also signed my new copy of Life of Pi, with my name and the date and everything. It is lovely and I smiled like a big nerd all the way home. Also, he has the most interesing accent--the way someone who has grown up all over the world speaks English, in his case, a cross between Irish and Canadian.
Next on my hit list: Michael Chabon.
