I have recently read your novel, The Road, and the novel talks about the future of the World, what inspired you to write this?
I was in a hotel, in a secluded town with my son, it was late at night, and I just happened to look out the window, and I started to wonder what my view from this window would look like in fifty years. I could hear the trains going by, but nothing else. My son was right next to me, and it was just a beautiful moment. I wanted people to realize that life is a good thing. People should be more grateful for what they have. This novel describes the after of a tragedy that brings the world to shambles, and how people lose base with who they are. It was greatly inspired by my son. I am a 73 year old man, and to have an 8 year old son. My son brought this whole new life to me.
Your son has really played an important role in the story.
Oh yes. Well, my son is an important part of my life, the novel is dedicated to him. In a sense it is a love story between my son and I, although I prefer not to use those terms because it can come off as upsetting, but when it comes down to it, the story is about the relationship between father and son.
The America you describe is lonely and harsh. Your writing brings chills to my spine. Why did you decide to structure the novel the way you did, and is this what you wanted to World to come off as?
I wanted the world to come as this real thing, and to be relatable. Not a futuristic fantasy novel about the end of the world. I think that one of the reasons the novel works so well, is because it comes off as conceivable. The world is dark and lonely, the descriptions really help you envision the place, and it's so scary because it you can imagine it happening. There is no real basis behind the structure of my writing. I don't plot or plan, no fancy gadgets. I used a typewriter. I just wrote it the way I imagined it would be. It came out in an abrupt manner, in a sense, cold and without feeling, and that's just how I imagined the World to be. I wrote it so that there was space between each paragraph and no indents, to give it more of this feeling. I must note though, I am a big fan of imagery, and I think it plays a very large role in the novel.
You say you wrote it with a typewriter, does this mean that you think material possessions and money is a wasted goal?
No, not necessarily. I think there's a lot of very nice things out in the World, I've just always preferred a typewriter. It's simpler. I've just never been effected by the need people feel to have money, and I've lived pretty rough because of that, but in the end it always worked out. I'm not saying that money is bad, just that you should focus on what you like and what you're good at, and happiness will come that way. Sometimes money too. I've always considered myself to be a very lucky man, I've spent my whole life doing something I love and want to do, and at the roughest moments, right before everything is about to come crashing down, something good happens, and that's just the way it's worked out for me.
Well, I see very much how that plays a role in your novel, but I don't want to give a way too much for the people who haven't read it yet, or people who want to see the movie, which is coming out next month.
So continuing on, the story follows a family of a father and son, whose names are unknown? What did you achieve by doing this?
By keeping the main characters nameless, I gave it a less personal feeling. The World has become this large, vastly wrecked place. Very empty and lonely. The details of names, just didn't fit in with the story. In this world where your only goal is to survive, names become unimportant, like many things.
This novel is written in third person. Why did you choose to do this?
I chose to write the novel in third person so I wouldn't only have the story through one character's eyes. It also gave me a better chance be able to describe the setting of the story. The setting plays a large role, and dictates the entire mood. For example it is almost Winter, very cold and bleak. Ruins are everywhere, rusting cars in the street, and collapsed bridges. It just set the tone of the story as very depressing and often without hope.
Well thank you so much for coming in today and letting me interview you, I know that you prefer to keep to yourself and not do interviews, and I am just very appreciative that you let me interview you. I really enjoyed reading your novel. Enjoy, seems like a funny word to use considering how depressing the book is. Incredible, might be a better choice of words. Overall though the book was excellent. Insanely dark and terrifying, but with just the tiniest tinge of hope to keep you reading.
An interview between the real Oprah and McCarthy
(Part 2)
