Writing a novel from scratch, which is to say without training, was
such an unexpected odyssey that I was prompted to recall the
discoveries in my new book, Release the Bats – as much to remind
myself where the power lay as to pass the keys on to others trying
their luck. I didn’t read a lot before writing a novel, but I realise
now that certain books helped set me up. Writing fiction means writing
vibrant human characters, and luck is with us in terms of research, as
we haven’t essentially changed since we came down from the trees. So
the best grounding for a fiction writer must be one that explores
human nature with gloves off. There’s nothing like literature from
ancient Rome bemoaning consumer culture to show that nothing is new,
or literature from Habsburg Italy telling how to hire nuns for sex
from the mothers superior of convents to put Fifty Shades in
perspective. Which is to say that if we haven’t figured ourselves out
by now, there’s still time: we’re not going anywhere.
DBC Pierre, Guardian
