The good folks at Akashic Books were nice enough to arrange
an interview with the author (an Edgar award finalist, no less), Mr. Robert
Arellano. They even offered to provide a
paperback copy of Curse the Names for
a giveaway, which you can enter using the rafflectoper widget at the bottom of
the page. Robert is with me today to
answer a few questions and hopefully shed a little light on some of my
questions. Hi Robert, thank you so much
for taking the time out of your schedule for this interview. I’m truly honored.
RA: Thank
you! I appreciated your review, and it’s very kind of you to invite this
conversation.
Q1) Alright, first question. We’ll start with an easy one. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
RA: I
was born at Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, shortly after my family
left Cuba in the 1960s. I’ve been writing since I was a kid, and over the past
10 years Akashic Books has published four of my novels as well as my short
fiction in their noir-anthology series. I also collaborated with several visual
artists on Dead in Desemboque, a
graphic novel from Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press, and Sunshine ’69, which when it was published by Sonicnet in 1996 became
the web’s first interactive novel.
Q2) Now what about Curse the Names? I’ve put
forth a synopsis in my
review, and of course there’s the blurb on the back of the
book, but how would you describe your novel? To you, what’s it really about?
RA: I
liked your—how shall I put it?—healthily
skeptical take on the blurb, and I have to confess that I wrote it myself.
I can understand the interpretation that the story itself seems to diverge from
it, but my thinking was to have the jacket copy focus on what seems to be
happening in the heart of the book so as not to lose the ambiguity around
James’s sanity.
Q3) I feel kind of stupid asking this question,
but I’m going to ask it anyway, ‘cos I want to know. The title, Curse the Names—what does it mean and how does it apply to the
story overall?
RA: One
of the book’s epigraphs comes from J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “father” of the
atomic bomb, who said this in a speech just two months after the nuclear
bombardment of Japan: “If atomic bombs are to be added as new weapons to the
arsenals of a warring world, or to the arsenals of nations preparing for war,
then the time will come when mankind will curse the names of Los Alamos and
Hiroshima.” That mirroring of Los Alamos and Hiroshima–the city that was wiped
out by the Bomb and the town that built the Bomb, where my novel is centered—and
the bridge to James’s belief, upon discovering his name in desecration texts, that
he’s been “cursed,” led me to use those three words as the title.
Q4) Ha! I
had a feeling my own stupidity was the culprit there. And as I said in my review, I’m still trying
to muddle through the overall meaning of the book and put it into some
semblance of order in my head. What
theme, if any, do you want your readers to take away from the novel?
RA: I really don’t know. It’s dark; it’s a nightmare … and at the heart of it all—it might make most sense for me to invoke the other epigraph, from Ted Hughes’s masterful translation of The Orestia by Aeschylus: “This was life. The luckiest hours / Like scribbles in chalk/ On a slate in a classroom. We stare / And try to understand them. Then luck turns its back - And everything's wiped out.”
Q5) Initially I didn’t think that your book
qualified as a Noir novel—it seemed too focused on horror to be Noir. But the more I thought about it, the more
Noir elements I started to see in the narrative. For instance, one of the primary tenants of
Noir is the affect of base human emotions (greed, lust, wrath, etc.) on
humanity and how they bring about our downfall.
But substance abuse could qualify as one of those negative emotions,
right? So what do you think? What genre (or genres) do you think most
exemplify Curse the Names?
RA: I’ve
loved what reviewers have come up with: “New Mexico noir,” “paranormal noir,”
“nuclear noir.” Today my favorite is from the Albuquerque Journal review: “a dizzying Thompsonian concoction of
noir crime thriller and alternately nightmarish and comic surreal psychodrama.”
Q6) Yeah, I have to agree. That sums it up perfectly. Now, James Oberhelm isn’t a very likeable
protagonist at times—in fact, there were several reviewers on
Librarything that mentioned as much.
I wasn’t bothered by it, but it seemed to affect a lot of people’s enjoyment
of the book. So my question to you is,
did you consciously decide to make James an unlikeable narrator, or did it just
evolve that way during the writing of the story? If it was a conscious decision, why did you
decide to go that route, especially considering that there are a lot of readers
out there who don’t take well assholes as protagonists?
RA: I teach writing workshops, where we
sometimes we talk about the unreliable narrator. I also like to introduce
discussions about the despicable narrator. In his feature on Curse the Names in the Taos News, Rick Romancito had some
thoughtful questions for me on this aspect of James’s character. My intention
was to take “unlikeable” to the extreme for the sake of the story, and my ideal
reader will still be interested in his fears, dreams, and the resultant
complications. As one writer friend put it recently: maybe the point of this particular
subgenre of noir is to put our protagonist up in the tree and start throwing
fruit at him.
Q7) James’s substance abuse problems (and his
delusions about said abuse) factor heavily into his mental break. Call me callous, but I actually had to laugh
when he complained about the unhealthy food in a greasy spoon diner when he’d
drunk his breakfast the day before. As
far as the book as a whole, though, was James’ substance abuse just a vehicle
to accelerate his downfall, or did you include it for more profound reasons?
RA: Yes,
laugh! I learned a lot of things about drinking the seven years I lived in New
Mexico, and alcoholism was such a part of James’s nature from the beginning
that it’s probably best for me to say it was profoundly simple to include it as
part of his unraveling. Of course, even characters who like to get high don’t
want to die; hence his obsession with cholesterol.
Q8) One of the items of criticism I mentioned in
my review was that the novel seems to lack focus. I believe I said that it started out like a
“’descent into madness’ type of thing, and what evolved was more like an
environmentalist’s harbinger of a nuclear nightmare.” But the more I thought about it, the more I
wondered if perhaps that was the point.
If you’re going to accurately tell the story of a man going batshit
crazy (and from his POV, to boot), how can you tell the story authentically and
keep the narrative 100% cogent? So what’s
your take on it? Why did you decide on
that particular direction for the book?
RA: I
like your batshit point, and I may quote you on that. As far as my take on why
(and, for that matter, whether) I decided on a particular direction—can I have
a few minutes to mull on that? Maybe skip to the next question?
Q9) Quote away, good sir—and you can have as much
time as you like. As for the next
question: the possibility of nuclear
disaster is a specter that looms over the novel. But given the context of the plot, I’m unsure
as to what we’re supposed to take away from the book in this regard. On the one hand, you make it plain that the
possibility of such an incident is some scary shit. On the other, well… I’ll keep mum for the
sake of spoilers, but I’m sure you know what I’m getting at. How do you look at it—in the context of your
book, and as it relates to the real world as well?
RA: I might call a spoiler alert on this
question for that penultimate sentence, but I’ve also heard from some readers
who’ve found clues and come to the conclusion that something does happen in the
end. Incidentally, have you been watching the news about the wildfires in New
Mexico? Last year, out-of-control forest fires got within a few miles of the
waste dumps around Los Alamos, and this year’s have been the largest ever.
Q10) You leave the ending to the book open
ended—it’s largely left up to the reader to decide if James is really seeing those
vision or if he’s just nuckin’ futs.
What’s your take? Or do you
prefer the “New Criticism” approach, that either interpretation is valid?
RA: Those
scenarios in my book around what could happen after a fire, earthquake, or
plane crash? Those are direct from U.S. Department of Energy reports. Please
don’t think I’m being coy when I say that the horror of the “open resolution” –
the looming specter you mentioned in the last question – is the point.
Well, that’ll just about do
it. I can’t thank you enough for
stopping by. It’s been a real treat to
pick your brain and learn a little bit more about your work.
RA: Thank
you. It’s really a pleasure, and I look forward to your reviews and to
following you on Twitter.
If you would like to learn
more about Robert Arellano or his work, you can visit Akashic Books or his Wikipedia page, or you could even go read
my review . But I already mentioned that, didn't I?
As for the giveaway I
mentioned, just enter using the handy-dandy Rafflecopter widget below. Unfortunately, this giveaway is open to only
entrants with U.S.
mailing addresses (sorry Ryan). If you’re
selected as the winner, I’ll e-mail you to get your mailing address and provide
that it the publisher. Failure to
respond within 48 hours will result in the drawing of another winner—and nobody
wants that to happen. Except maybe the
potential new winners. Whatever, you
know what I mean.
:( all the good giveaways are US only :(
ReplyDeletegreat interview, though :)
Do visit!
Sorry, Amritorupa. It really is only because of the international shipping fees. Otherwise I think more people would do it.
DeleteAnd thanks. I'll be popping by your blog forthwith. ;)
I know you were kinda iffy about this one when you read it but I like when a book stays with you like this one clearly did and you sit and mull it over and then it takes on a totally new meaning. I'd like to be entered pretty please
ReplyDeleteYou don't even have to add the sugar on top. Of course you can enter. ;)
DeleteThe title of your blog really caught me and the more I read the more I'm loving you style! I'm now following... If you'd like to stop by my site, I'm at http://threecatsandagirl.blogspot.com. It would be awesome to be entered in this contest too but alas I'm Canadian.
ReplyDeleteAll the best! Sarah
Never fear, I've sent an e-mail to the publisher to see if they'd be willing to ship to Canada. We never discussed exactly who would be entered, I just assumed (and probably rightly so) that they wouldn't want to spend an exorbitant amount on shipping. But shipping to Canada isn't much, so maybe they'll bite. I'll cross my fingers for you.
DeleteThanks for the follow, and right back atcha. Talk to you soon!
I like books that make you go hmmmmmmmmmm....... Sounds interesting. I feel bad for all the Canadian folks who are not allowed to enter US giveaways. To be honest a lot of people also say Continental US only and that eliminates me, so I know how you feel.
ReplyDeleteDorothy - The Alaskan Bookie
http://alaskanbookie.blogspot.com/
Yeah, it really does suck. I understand why, though, what witg shipping costs as they are. But when it comes to books, there's no reason to say continental US only. Media Mail shipping (or First Class if the book is light enough) via USPS is a flat rate to anywhere in the US. It's a jam up deal, but for some reason a lot of people don't use it.
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