The question, "Have you read any good books
lately?" can be a useful conversation-starter. Or it can be an
excuse to display one's erudition. I hope it's the former, but even when
it is, much depends on the meaning of "good" in the context of the
subsequent conversation. Let's say that "good" means
thought-provoking, well-written, cogently argued, witty, a useful contribution
to discussions about the human condition, or some combination of some or all of
these and other qualities. It can also be used as one criterion to
identify classes of fiction, to distinguish literary fiction from Harlequin
romances, whodunnits, westerns, Young Adult fiction, science fiction, etc.
Serious literary critics focus their attention on serious, or what is often
described as "Literary fiction." They rarely define what they mean by
this term, but many could probably parry the question with the same rejoinder
offered by a judge who had to assess a literary work accused of being
pornographic. Asked to define pornography, he replied that he could not define
it, but could recognize it when he saw it. In the same way, I like to
think I can identify literary fiction, and offer convincing examples, although
I'd be hard pressed to define it.
From time to time I've flirted with the question,
or tried to answer it in posts on my blog. Here is another attempt.
Consider three currently popular authors, P D James, John le
Carre, Alexander McCall Smith. Are their works literary fiction? All have been
interviewed by Eleanor Wachtel. I regard being interviewed by Eleanor
Wachtel as one of the indicators that a writer creates literary fiction. I
regard the works of P D James, John le Carre and Alexander McCall Smith as
literary fiction. The first two are on many other people’s lists; Alexander
McCall Smith is on my list because he is a philosopher-ethicist, and rather
frequently he smuggles tricky ethical problems into his otherwise light-hearted
stories.
Eleanor Wachtel is one of the brightest stars in
CBC's excellent firmament. Years ago I used to make sure I had no other
commitments from 3-4 pm on Sunday afternoons, tune the radio to CBC Radio One,
and listen "live" as her conversations with writers came over the
air. I rarely do this now, because these interviews are available as
podcasts, and many of the best ones have been published in books: Writers
and Company, More Writers and Company, Original Minds, and
most recently, The Best of Writers and Company, published a few months
ago. If you love books and reading, and want to get better acquainted with some
of the best living writers, dip into any of these collections. No. I defy
you just to dip in. You won't be able to stop until you've read the entire
collection. Several of the writers she has interviewed have volunteered the
opinion that they have never encountered an interviewer as good as Eleanor
Wachtel. On the Sunday of the Labor Day weekend, she reprised her
interview with Nuala O'Failan, the most Irish of modern Irish writers who, at
any rate in this interview, demonstrated the uniquely Irish combination of
hilarious, high-spirited comedy and heart-breaking personal tragedy. Her family
history illustrates by example the common Irish tragedy of family social
pathology, inability to form and sustain loving relationships with other members
of the family. Alcohol dependence plays a role too, as does the
distraction of precarious employment. Eleanor Wachtel captured all this and
much more in a 50-minute interview.
That interview isn't among the 15 in The Best of
Writers and Company. Perhaps Nuala O'Failan doesn't rate high enough on the
scale of excellence (which raises another interesting and useful question:
Is it possible to "rate" the excellence of literary works on a
linear scale? I don't believe it is).
The subjects of Eleanor
Wachtel’s 15 best interviews include Nobel Laureates, Booker Prize winners and
other literary luminaries, promising young comers, and writers who are
interesting for various other reasons. They include Jonathan Franzen, Doris
Lessing, J M Coetzee, Hilary Mantel, Orhan Pamuk, Seamus Heaney, Toni Morrison,
Mavis Gallant, Alice Munro, Zadie Smith, and others. I’ve named some of the
authors she has interviewed. She has also visited countries and regions of the
world where she has interviewed representative authors whose interviews I
particularly enjoyed, but all are worth reading. In correspondence with her
I’ve suggested that she could do more of these regional clusters, and I hope
she will.
If there are readers of Ottawa Review of Books who are not yet
acquainted with these collections of interviews, I encourage you to get
acquainted. Eleanor Wachtel is without doubt one of Canada’s leading literary
luminaries. She will bring you into close contact with some of the most
interesting writers now plying their art and craft.
