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Reminder: any words in the squiggly {brackets} are places where I couldn’t quite understand, in the recording, what was said.Part Three
Francesca: Going back to good books, what’s the last good book you read?
Jasper Fforde: The book I’m reading at the moment, which I’m really enjoying, is called Fly by Wire by William Langewiesche. It’s a book which is an account of the ditching of Flight 1549 into the Hudson River last year. And it’s just fascinating. It’s brilliantly written – he’s the most astonishingly good writer – you could make it into a stage-play, it is so good. It covers all the aspects, not just the political climate within US Airways, and deregulation, which is all about politics in the United States, and the dwindling power and respect that airline pilots now command. Where once they were sort of magicians strutting around in their uniforms, and for many years they had huge salaries {to match}, but now, with the advent of technology, they’re being sidelined to, really the role of coach driver. It’s social, it’s political and everything. And then there’s a big section about geese, and what were Canadian Geese doing there, and where are they from. When they got the aeroplane, they actually did DNA testing to try and find out where these things came from, and eventually they find out where, and then they talk about testing engines to talk about how much of a bird it can ingest before it can explode. And also the politics between Boeing and Airbus about fly by wire. And all that sort of thing, which is a very big political hot potato at the moment, because the battle between Airbus and Boeing is going to be very, very big over the next ten years. Boeing are in trouble at the moment, they have basically three entire countries bankrolling them, so, it’ll be very interesting to see what happens. So, with all the characters, all the politics, all the technological aspects of airplanes – because I love airplanes – it’s the most brilliant read. Very, very exciting, very, very interesting.
F: Okay, just a couple more questions: You are on the Eggs Benedict tour, seeking the best Eggs Benedict… so, related to that, what is the best breakfast you’ve ever had?
JF: It was in Singapore. I was in Singapore doing part of a book tour, over in the far east and in Australia., in about 2005. And I’m trying to remember the name… Oh, I haven’t got it. It used to be the German social club, and now it is a hotel. This beautiful old colonial building. Their breakfast was amazing, because you could have Bread and Butter Pudding – which is a really good British pudding – and it was exceptionally well made, and dim sum, on the same plate. They had this incredible fusion of post-colonial British puddings, and far eastern cuisine. In Singapore. Because Singapore is like a fusion of all these different bizarre, culinary things. Anyway, the breakfast there was just exceptional. We stayed in the breakfast room for about two hours, and it was just brilliant.
F: That sounds like an interesting combination…
JF: Yeah, you could have anything on your plate. It was great. Eat as much as you want, buffet. It was brilliant. And then you could have pancakes and a bit of bacon, and then a bit of rice and some stir fry as well…
F: And then someone needs to roll you to your room because you can’t move or eat anymore.
JF: Yeah, basically.
F: Why do you write?
JF: Well, primarily it’s my job. I’m a professional writer. [And] I chose to be a professional writer because it’s something I really enjoy doing. I mean, the best way to choose your career, of course, is to find out what you really like doing, and then make it pay for you. And that’s what I did with all my careers. I’ve never done anything that I didn’t enjoy doing. When I got into the film industry, I always loved movies. I wanted to be in films since about the age of ten. I always liked photography so I got into the camera department.
You find what you want to do, what you enjoy doing most, more than anything, and then just make it pay. When I was in my late 20’s and I discovered that I really enjoyed writing, [I] did it as a hobby for ten years, and then I made it pay for me. And now I’m a professional writer. So, that’s how I got into it, but the reason I do it, is because I love it. It’s a hobby and everything, but I also get paid for it, because I’m a professional writer. I mean, obviously I don’t do it simply for the cash, although I do do it a bit, obviously. I just couldn’t think of doing anything else to be honest.
F: What is the best thing about being a professional writer? And the worst thing?
JF: The best thing about being a professional writer… You really are the captain on your own ship. And when you’re actually doing the book writing part of it, rather than the discussing with publishers over what it’s going and when it’s going to be, you’re in there, in the wheelhouse, and you’re just captaining this strange beast of a book out of the {I tried to figure out what this word was, but I just couldn’t! Sorry!} and onto the page. And that’s probably the most exciting and fun bit. –And when you get a really good idea, that is exceptionally good fun. When you suddenly hit upon a notion that you find very, very exciting and new and different and bizarre. And that’s great as well.
The worst thing about being a writer? … I can’t really think of much to be honest. What could there be bad about being a writer? … I suppose the bit I least enjoy about it is, there’s a period when the book has gone away to the publishers, and the copy editing is done, and then there’s a three and four month wait in which I can do other things, obviously, but I will be constantly wondering whether I could have improved the book, made it better, or that people are going to read it and go, “Oh my god! What a load of shite this is! What the hell did he think he was doing?” So I think that’s probably the worst bit about it. Is the kind of little worry that writers get – well, I don’t know, maybe they don’t. I do – that I just didn’t do it well enough, or I could’ve done it better, or if I’d spent a little less time monkeying around with my hobbies – cars and aeroplanes – that I could have done it that little bit better. So that’s probably the downside for me.
Oh, and bad reviews. Yeah, they’re nasty. Don’t like that.
F: Yeah?
JF: Oh yeah. You get a hundred good reviews and you ignore them all, but you get one bad one, and it’s all you think about for weeks and weeks and weeks, and it can change entire books. You’re thinking, writing the new book, you go, “Now what was that comment in that review for the – some tiny little magazine somewhere with a circulation of 9…” And that’s the thing that sticks in your head.
I tend to avoid all reviews. Unless someone says, “Oh look, this is a really good one.” I tend to avoid reading any bad ones or looking for any bad ones, or on Amazon, I stay away from the reviews section. I just try to stay away from that really.
F: I think you could probably go crazy looking at all that stuff…
JF: But only for a while. Afterwards you just get, “Oh, for Gods sake … I was writing for ten years, and no one wanted to publish me, and now I’m published.” And then the arrogance kicks in, and you go, “Oh what do they know?” And off you go again. But it always sticks in the back of your head.
F: Is there anything in particular, as a writer, that you’d like to accomplish?
JF: I think I’d like to write a really good book one day. I mean, that is the goal I suppose: To write a great book that will still be in print in a hundred and fifty, two hundred years from now. It’s a bit of a nebulous dream [though], I have to say. But it would be wonderful to write a classic that everybody reads and you go, “Well it’s on the ten ‘must reads’ of classical 20th century fiction.” That’s the goal. I’m not sure it’ll ever happen, but it’d be nice.
F: But maybe it’s like with artists where, after they die is when they get really popular…
JF: Yeah, but that’s no fun.
F: I know.
JF: I want to know now.
F: Well, as a fan, who’s read all of your books, I’d say you’ve written a bunch of good books.
JF: Yeah, but they’re not classics in the way that you can look at something like Catch-22. I’m talking about going up there amongst giants. It’s a very difficult thing to do. If you’re asking me about the ultimate goal of an author, I suppose, that. But I’m very happy with just entertaining people in my own little way. I’m absolutely fine with that. I go and give talks and people say, “You know, I love your books, and they helped me get through a bad time in my life.” Well, that’s done it for me. I’m there. You’ve fulfilled what I think I could possibly have wanted. And never mind about writing the classic. That’s terrific.
Someone spoke to me at a talk, and they said, “I just have to tell you this story, because it’s really important to me,” and he said: “You gave me my grandmother.” And I went, “Okay, how does that work?” And he said, “Well, I’m 16, and she’s 92, and we’ve never had anything to talk about. Until now. I never had my grandma before, and all of a sudden, we’re chattering away. And I have my grandmother, and that’s down to you.” And I go, “Well, that really is good.” And, yeah. I’ll take that. That’s nice. That’s a good feeling. So yeah, I think, {if I can} bring people together and make people want to read more, or look at the world in a slightly different light, or maybe go through life with a slightly jauntier stride than they’ve been before, then I’ll certainly, gladly, humbly accept anything that comes my way in that regard.
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If you want to know any more about Jasper Fforde, be sure to check out his very fun website, although you might want to free up your afternoon and get some hot cocoa, because there's a lot there to read and enjoy.
Again, my deepest thanks to you, Gentle Reader, for reading, and to Jasper Fforde! For gracing me with his time, his wit and his words. And I know that I, for one, have had a much jauntier step ever since I had the fortune of conducting this interview! Thank you!!!
:) xoxo