By MaryAnne Kolton
Sly, profane, charming, alcoholic, sensitive, lonely, handsome,
addicted to drugs, ballsy, well read, wry, nasty, self-deprecating, savvy,
vicious, darkly humorous, vulnerable, cunning, insecure, emotionally damaged, loves
his music, melancholy, short-tempered, bookstore lover.
Jack Taylor or Ken
Bruen?
Do you always tell the truth?
Of
course, but bearing in mind Tom Waits dictate
...............Do
I tell you the truth or just string you along?
And of
course, never allow a little thing like the truth to ruin a good yarn.
Sean
Connery said...........tell them the truth and then it’s their problem.
Now
take all the above, add a large dose of incredulity and stir.
I’ve
always been a fine ...........stirrer, vital if you intend to write.
There
is a rumor making the rounds that one of your ribs was surgically removed, and
from this rib Jack Taylor was created.
What are the similarities between you and Jack?
I’m laughing at the
notion, great idea.
Jack is based partly on
my brother Noel, who was found dead , a homeless alcoholic, in the Australian
outback.
Does alcoholism run in
our family?
It gallops.
I wanted a character who
had my fascination with books, who showed the horror of booze and unlike the
other stereotype, did not love ‘His Mammy’
Jack says
‘My mother is a walking
bitch’
Jack is the road I might
have traveled if I’d another lifetime to squander.
He has alas, my short
temper, and love of hurling.
You
mentioned your fascination with books.
What about your passion for music?
Jack has a distinct love/need for the haunting, pulsing, rabid music of
the soundtrack of his life. Is it your
music or his?
I sometimes think that music is a spiritual ID.
Jack’s music runs pretty much parallel to my own.
It’s always:
Van Morrison,
Tom Waits,
Tom Russell,
Marc Roberts
The Clash
The Pogues
Gretchen Peters
Emmylou Harris
Iris DeMent
Many
of the people in Jack’s life appear to be soulless deviates. It would be too facile to say they are all
mentally deranged . Where do they come
from?
My
friends.
There seems to be a neon
sign over my head that proclaims
“Gather here ye rogues,
vagabonds, ragamuffins, marginalised, ye fooked, “
This of course in no way
includes my writer friends who are
Sane
loving
and dammit
Successful.
One of my best friends
said one time, the biggest surprise of her life was she read I had a real
education!
And the other who said on
hearing I did jail in South America who wasn’t
surprised but amazed.
..............They let me
out
I’ll forgive most
anything, even awful novels if they have a sense of humour. You’re ahead of the game when you realize,
they are not...........no way..........laughing............WITH...........you.
And yet your books are so dark and intense. Aren’t you using some of these characters to
define the nature of evil?
“Ralph tried to smile and hoped
the lunatic was going to leave, but the man said, ‘I get a very bad press, and
really, I’m a fun guy. You like tricks,
Ralphy?’ Ralph managed to utter a
yes. He knew if you could keep a psycho
on your side, you had a shot.
The man said,
‘Wonderful, I do love a player. Watch this.’
And he clicked his fingers.
A noose appeared above the statue of St. Jude. Last resort of hopeless cases.
‘Just for the hell of it, you’re going to hop up on
there, put that around your ecclesiastical neck and swing as if you meant it.’
Ralph felt his limbs move and he was walking toward St.
Jude.”
Yes,
the very dark characters do signify evil in all its guises and I studied evil
for my Ph.D dissertation and so it is reflected in all the books.
I
research evil but try to live as if it wasn’t a constant threat.
One
last ‘evil’ question. Do you believe
there is a spiritual aspect to evil?
Oh God no, the
two terms are so far apart. I do believe
there is zealotry where spirituality is hijacked in the
name of evil.
Spirituality
is almost always absent in those who claim to be spiritual.
True
spirituality is akin to humility, i.e. once you think you have it, you’ve lost
it.
Do
you see yourself as a religious man?
I believe that
religion is for people who are afraid of hell.
Spirituality
is for those who’ve been there.
Thus, I’m
trying to be the latter.
The
books Jack buys, reads and quotes from are not those of an uneducated
thug. More likely those of a man who has
a desperate need to educate himself in spite of the lack of opportunities given
him—or one who has a painful wish to know the ‘how and why’ of the world he occupies. Which is it?
It's a dual
motive with Jack.
One the
fierce thirst to know and connect with the world.
To try
and self educate, the noblest act in a fractured world.
A
bookless world to Jack would confirm the bleak view he already suspects.
‘You get a call out of the
proverbial blue that knocks the bejaysus out of you, I’d had a dream, on Thursday night, that I’d
still hadn’t been able to shake. Laura
was back in my life. I swear, I could
feel her hand in mine.
For no reasons at all.
We were feeding the swans at
Claddagh , and she leant back into my shoulder and I was deliriously happy.
And woke.
Tears on my face, coursing down
my cheek.
Hard arse that.’
Pure
poetry, that. . .Does Jack have relationship problems with every women he meets
because they are afraid of him or rather because he is afraid of himself?
Thank you
so much, MaryAnne
What a
lovely thing to say.
And how
wonderfully perceptive of you, yes, he is afraid of relationships
because of himself, he doesn't ..............dare to be happy.
And his
self-loathing is such he is suspicious anyone could love such as him
How
do you explain the fact that here in the United
States we bow down to you as The King of Irish Noir and in
Ireland
A couple of
things I believe. My constant assertion that my influences are US not Irish and
that is always going to be a bitter pill here. I'm supposed to trot out the usual tired
hackyned Irish giants.
Two, I
don't play the Irish events calendar, I have as much interest in Literary
heritage as I do in The Waltons.
And......................
in truth, they don't think I'm much cop in every sense.
Thank
you for the US
You
spend a fair amount of time in the US ,
honoring cities like New York and Las Vegas New York
is understandable, but Las Vegas Sin City
I love Vegas as I got married there, oh so
many years ago when I thought happiness was separate from reality. We'd no money and the whole biz cost about 150
bucks.
Vegas used to convey
a certain edgy glamour and you felt anything was possible.
That notion is quickly
dissipated by a visit to the pawnshops on the ridge of the city, to see dreams
shattered by the items on sale, a real wake up call.
Though I had real fun
setting a scene there in 'American Skin'
And.............. I think
Bouchercon in Vegas was the greatest gathering of mystery writers ever, legends
abounded.
Some
have said you are also a card shark extraordinaire!
I'm highly impressed, MaryAnne, that you
tracked down that.
Indeed, as I write, I've
been reading Al Alvarez and his superb book on Poker.
My father believed you'd
never be lost if you had one great skill so instead of cars, he taught me poker
and phew-oh, it saved me arse on many an occasion and true, in Vegas, I had one
amazing evening when the cards were alchemy, it was like winning The Edgar and
all the other mystery prizes in one night and as much as a rush
Texas Hold em
is especially gripping these dark days
Since
we’ve determined you are not Jack Taylor, but rather a successful writer with a
wife and daughter, what is a typical day in Galway
like for you and your family?
I
make breakfast for the family.
Then
write, always, no matter how barren my mind is.
I kid
you not, 2 hours of cycling which is a blast.
Afternoons,
a blend of writing and email
Then,
with my dog to feed the swans.
Intersperse
with friends, household biz, new books to read and night is for the
DVD's
Breaking
Bad
Game of
Thrones
Walking
Dead
Review
what I've written, usually I go
Jesus
wept..................................what was I thinking
Breaking
Bad, the perfect choice: a man who has
lost his soul. . . and what’s for breakfast?
Breaking
Bad............. just superb. I'm reading Life Of Pi and
the biography of David Foster Wallace.
Breakfast is always,
Greek yoghurt, with honey and a banana crunched in. A pot of Colombian,
that's coffee I mean.
Truth to tell, I yearn
for the cholesterol nightmare
Three rashers
2 eggs over easy
Mushrooms
Toast with Irish butter
2 Dietrich sausages
and you have to have tea
with that to get the full lethal taste.
What’s
due to be released next and what are you working on?
I'm working on the final Taylor
Titled...........C-33.
And a TV series
And a new standalone
Jack Taylor
The Guards (2001)
The Killing of
the Tinkers (2002)
The Magdalen
Martyrs (2003)
The Dramatist (2004
Priest (2006)
Cross (2007)
Sanctuary (2008)
The Devil (2010)
Headstone (2011)
Ken Bruen [b.1951] is one of the most prominent Irish crime
writers of the last two decades. Born in Galway ,
he spent twenty-five years traveling the world before he began writing in the
mid 1990s. As an English teacher, Bruen worked in South
Africa , Japan ,
and South America , where he once spent a short
time in a Brazilian jail. He has two long-running series: one starring a
disgraced former policeman named Jack Taylor, the other a London
Praised for their sharp insight into the darker side
of today’s prosperous Ireland Galway . You can
find his website at http://www.kenbruen.com/
Author Photograph © Reg Gordon Photos
MaryAnne Kolton’s fiction has appeared or
is forthcoming in numerous literary publications including the Lost Children
Charity Anthology, Thrice Fiction and Connotation Press among others. Her story “A Perfect Family House” was
shortlisted for The 2011 Glass Woman Prize.
Author Interviews have appeared most recently in the Herald de Paris , Los
Angeles
© MaryAnne Kolton
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