British writer Louis de Bernieres uses human experience as the basis for his work ...though
not necessarily his own.
I use personal experience only up to a point.
If you exploit your personal experience too much, you end up with no material.
The point is to use other people's experience really.
If somebody tells me a good story, I just say "Can I have it?"
The author is best known for his 1994 book Captain Corelli's Mandolin, which later became
a film.
When I was writing Captain Corelli's Mandolin, I already had a mandolin, and I just started
diddling with it more and more, to get myself in the mood or to see what it is like to play
certain pieces.
There were things that I thought could have been a lot better, for example,
There were some lines in the script which I wouldn't have written if you heard boots?
stamping on my face at the time, like "I realise I couldn't live without you," which is just
the most appalling line which has been on every bad film for the last century.
But the scene where the young Italian soldiers were massacred is absolutely brilliant and
they did it in the place where it happened, and in a manner that it happened.
It was heart-wrenching, I thought the whole film was worth it just for that one scene.
But in any case, my attitude is that it's a bit like losing your virginity, it might
not be such a great experience, but it doesn't stop you having another go..
de Bernieres says the work he's most proud of is his 2004 novel Birds without Wings.
Well, you see, Captain Corelli's Mandolin was my first attempt at war and peace, and
I didn't quite pull it off.
And I felt with Birds without Wings, I had pulled it off.
And in Turkey, they are referring to it as their war and peace.
They use it to teach history in universities, and I think although it may not be appreciated
here in Britain or France as another war and peace, but it certainly is in the country
where it took place.
And I found that really satisfying.
The novel I have all but finished is in some way similar to what I've done before, I am
interested in various types of love.
So when I was writing Captain Corelli's Mandolin and Birds without Wings, I was interested
in love between friends, the love between parents and children, the love between brothers
and sisters as well as romantic love, and the love between people who have been married
for a long time.
So I am interested in all these varieties of love.
My collection of poetry is oming out in August.
22:18 The book is themed in a way, because there are poems inspired by my favorite Greek
poet, who was Constantinos Cavafis.
He lived in Alexandria, and he was obsessed with erotic love, in his case, gay love, the
ancient world and several poems in which he like to philosophize.
And I am interested in all of these things.
So because I always travel with Cavafis in my pocket, I tend to write Cavafis-typed poems
quite a lot.
Five of those poems were written the last time when I was in Hong Kong because I read
through the whole volume something like twice on the journey over in the airplane.
When I got to the hotel, I was in such an old state of mind, the time lag, the alcohol
and all that, so I wrote five Cavafis poems straight off.
Many people want to be writers without actually having to do any writing.
What I will say to people is it's all very well if you want to be a writer, but what
do you want to write?
And secondly - and more importantly, what are you good at writing?
So generally I say to people, what kind of things do you like reading?
Because those are the kinds of things you would probably be good at writing.
Everybody has an autobiographical novel, but not everybody has real fiction in them, that
is a specific form of insanity, which I think I am privileged to be born with.