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Angst written growing pains
By Yao Min-G and Qu Zhi |
August 26, 2012, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
WHEN introducing British writer Joe Dunthorne in Shanghai last week, the 30-year-old's Chinese publisher, Shanghai 99 Readers, compared him to that most renowned chronicler of teen angst, JD Salinger.
Dunthorne, making his first visit to Shanghai, is used to hearing comparisons with the author of "The Catcher in the Rye." Critics have frequently likened the unusual and reckless behavior of 15-year-old Oliver Tate in Dunthorne's 2008 debut novel "Submarine" - set in the writer's hometown, Swansea - with that of Salinger's antihero icon, Holden Caulfield.
"The Catcher in the Rye" is one of Dunthorne's favorite novels and Salinger his favorite author, which makes him thrilled at the comparison - though it's one he firmly rejects.
"I would love it to be true, but it's not. But I am very flattered," the London-based author told Shanghai Daily, adding that the two central characters might be disillusioned in similar ways but comparisons don't go beyond that.
The first-person voice of Oliver Tate is fresh and distinctive, contributing greatly to the success of the novel, and Dunthorne acknowledges the importance of narrative voice in his work.
"I've always been led by voice more than anything else," he said. "It's a way of speaking, a tone, a turn of phrase, a metaphor that usually kickstarts my fiction. Young people tend to have idiosyncratic speech patterns, so that's fun to explore."
The novel was made into a widely acclaimed film of the same name in 2010, produced by Hollywood star Ben Stiller and written and directed by English comedian Richard Ayoade in his directorial debut. The author had no part in the screenplay, but says he enjoyed the film.
Dunthorne says the Oliver Tate in the novel - rather than the film - is more like the author himself, as he believes a writer's first novel is always autobiographical to some extent.
'A prose poem'
"There's 42 percent of me in my first novel," he said, precisely, adding that they share a similar middle-class upbringing, but Oliver's personality is exaggerated from parts of himself.
"I didn't write a diary though. I wasn't as strange as Oliver is and I wasn't that obsessive."
Dunthorne completed "Submarine," while studying on the University of East Anglia's acclaimed Creative Writing MA program. He stresses the importance of creative writing classes to his development as a writer, saying writing can be learned like other crafts. "Obviously, you have to be talented, but it is a craft as well - like painting or sculpture. There are things you can learn," he said.
"'Submarine' was quite different from most of the stories that I'd written before, and it was the first time I'd really felt a character's voice come through very clearly," he said.
"Prior to 'Submarine,' every time I'd tried to write 'a novel' I'd been paralyzed by the expectation that I put on myself - that a novel needed to be something grand, very literary and hugely ambitious. With 'Submarine,' I managed to stop myself over-thinking, and just wrote what I enjoyed."
Dunthorne is also a poet and finds his poetry and prose work well together, one feeding into the other.
"I steal lines from abandoned poems to help my prose. There are certain sections of 'Submarine' that I tried to write as if it was a prose poem, with particular attention to rhythm, repetition and sound," he explained.
Dunthorne was 26 when "Submarine" was published, considered young for a novelist in Britain, so he was surprised when he met 30-year-old Shanghai-based novelist Zhou Jianing, who had her collection of essays "Lover of the Gypsy Singer" published at 20.
At the Shanghai Writers' Association on Julu Road last Wednesday they gave a public talk about being young writers in their respective countries, finding as many similarities as differences.
"It is extremely unusual for someone to be published as young as Zhou Jianing in the UK. I can't think of a single writer published at 20," he said.
Dunthorne believes young writers ought to strive to surpass the achievements of older, more established ones by doing something very different.
Zhou was curious to learn why Dunthorne decided to go close up on one teenager in "Submarine," and how such tightly focused, personal subject matter became so popular in Britain, both through the novel and film.
"The success of the novel and the film is interesting," said Zhou. "It probably wouldn't have been the same if it was a Chinese novel or movie. Mainstream values in China don't care much about the personal level. They don't care about a 15-year-old boy trying to figure out whether his parents are making love in the other room."
"In China, your work is considered weak if it doesn't convey your opinions about society," she added.
Dunthorne shifted from the intense teen angst of "Submarine" for his second novel, "Wild Abandon," published last summer.
In "Wild Abandon," Dunthorne deals with the turbulent relations of a group of young people in a "utopia" - a farm commune - in South Wales. Like "Submarine," he tells the story with great comic energy and captures the distinct voices of young people.
Dunthorne is aware that the change of style and subject matter might put off some readers who enjoyed "Submarine." But he says it's vital to set new goals, admitting he never fully satisfied with his work.
"I never feel a novel is finished and when it is actually published, I even feel slightly that I've failed."
Dunthorne, making his first visit to Shanghai, is used to hearing comparisons with the author of "The Catcher in the Rye." Critics have frequently likened the unusual and reckless behavior of 15-year-old Oliver Tate in Dunthorne's 2008 debut novel "Submarine" - set in the writer's hometown, Swansea - with that of Salinger's antihero icon, Holden Caulfield.
"The Catcher in the Rye" is one of Dunthorne's favorite novels and Salinger his favorite author, which makes him thrilled at the comparison - though it's one he firmly rejects.
"I would love it to be true, but it's not. But I am very flattered," the London-based author told Shanghai Daily, adding that the two central characters might be disillusioned in similar ways but comparisons don't go beyond that.
The first-person voice of Oliver Tate is fresh and distinctive, contributing greatly to the success of the novel, and Dunthorne acknowledges the importance of narrative voice in his work.
"I've always been led by voice more than anything else," he said. "It's a way of speaking, a tone, a turn of phrase, a metaphor that usually kickstarts my fiction. Young people tend to have idiosyncratic speech patterns, so that's fun to explore."
The novel was made into a widely acclaimed film of the same name in 2010, produced by Hollywood star Ben Stiller and written and directed by English comedian Richard Ayoade in his directorial debut. The author had no part in the screenplay, but says he enjoyed the film.
Dunthorne says the Oliver Tate in the novel - rather than the film - is more like the author himself, as he believes a writer's first novel is always autobiographical to some extent.
'A prose poem'
"There's 42 percent of me in my first novel," he said, precisely, adding that they share a similar middle-class upbringing, but Oliver's personality is exaggerated from parts of himself.
"I didn't write a diary though. I wasn't as strange as Oliver is and I wasn't that obsessive."
Dunthorne completed "Submarine," while studying on the University of East Anglia's acclaimed Creative Writing MA program. He stresses the importance of creative writing classes to his development as a writer, saying writing can be learned like other crafts. "Obviously, you have to be talented, but it is a craft as well - like painting or sculpture. There are things you can learn," he said.
"'Submarine' was quite different from most of the stories that I'd written before, and it was the first time I'd really felt a character's voice come through very clearly," he said.
"Prior to 'Submarine,' every time I'd tried to write 'a novel' I'd been paralyzed by the expectation that I put on myself - that a novel needed to be something grand, very literary and hugely ambitious. With 'Submarine,' I managed to stop myself over-thinking, and just wrote what I enjoyed."
Dunthorne is also a poet and finds his poetry and prose work well together, one feeding into the other.
"I steal lines from abandoned poems to help my prose. There are certain sections of 'Submarine' that I tried to write as if it was a prose poem, with particular attention to rhythm, repetition and sound," he explained.
Dunthorne was 26 when "Submarine" was published, considered young for a novelist in Britain, so he was surprised when he met 30-year-old Shanghai-based novelist Zhou Jianing, who had her collection of essays "Lover of the Gypsy Singer" published at 20.
At the Shanghai Writers' Association on Julu Road last Wednesday they gave a public talk about being young writers in their respective countries, finding as many similarities as differences.
"It is extremely unusual for someone to be published as young as Zhou Jianing in the UK. I can't think of a single writer published at 20," he said.
Dunthorne believes young writers ought to strive to surpass the achievements of older, more established ones by doing something very different.
Zhou was curious to learn why Dunthorne decided to go close up on one teenager in "Submarine," and how such tightly focused, personal subject matter became so popular in Britain, both through the novel and film.
"The success of the novel and the film is interesting," said Zhou. "It probably wouldn't have been the same if it was a Chinese novel or movie. Mainstream values in China don't care much about the personal level. They don't care about a 15-year-old boy trying to figure out whether his parents are making love in the other room."
"In China, your work is considered weak if it doesn't convey your opinions about society," she added.
Dunthorne shifted from the intense teen angst of "Submarine" for his second novel, "Wild Abandon," published last summer.
In "Wild Abandon," Dunthorne deals with the turbulent relations of a group of young people in a "utopia" - a farm commune - in South Wales. Like "Submarine," he tells the story with great comic energy and captures the distinct voices of young people.
Dunthorne is aware that the change of style and subject matter might put off some readers who enjoyed "Submarine." But he says it's vital to set new goals, admitting he never fully satisfied with his work.
"I never feel a novel is finished and when it is actually published, I even feel slightly that I've failed."
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