On his second visit to India, celebrated author Ken Follett, a consistent bestseller, is very excited to talk about his Indian connection. “I have an Indian daughter-in-law and she is from Chennai,” he chuckles.
A few years back, he came to India as a tourist. Cut to 2010, he is travelling across the globe to talk about his latest moolah-churner and makes for a fitting finish of the year. At the Odyssey outlet at the IGI Domestic Airport, Follett looked relieved and got ready for the last interview before he could fly to Chennai for yet another book reading session. While introducing Fall of Giants, the first installment of the trilogy that he intends to present to his staunch readers, he tells us, “It is the story of five families — Russian, English, American, German and Welsh — all of them interrelated to each other. The events covered in the 850 page thick magnum opus include World War I, Russian Revolution and the struggle for women’s vote.”
Follett’s writing is razor sharp and that makes the readers completely lose themselves in the story. Fall of Giants is the story of several interesting characters, including Billy Williams who has to enter the adult world in the Welsh mining pits even though he is just 13 years old. Then there is an American Law student Gus Dewar, who is surprised to start a new career in the White House. Lady Maud Fitzherbert makes the mistake of falling in love with a German spy.
Follett wrote Eye of the Needle when he was just 27. That helped him get a standing in the literary world. But it is The Pillars of the Earth that he calls his favourite. “Oh, it still sells a 100,000 copies in the US annually. That is very close to my heart,” he says.
English cathedrals got the czar of medieval historical literature, interested in the genre. He says, “When you see those amazing structures, the question that comes to your mind is, the people who constructed them were very poor, no qualified architects, but still they could erect these with precision. Their expertise stunned me.”
Does he intend to write in any other genre or may be short stories? “No,” comes a quick reply. “It is difficult to write about everything in a few words. So writing a novel is lot more easier for me than writing short stories,” he adds.
Follett swears he read Hamlet 25-30 times and he is a big Shakespeare fan and loves the way the Bard constructs. But among his contemporaries, whose writing thrills him?
Len Deighton? Stephen King? “Len’s stories are dull. I have not met him in years. But yes I love King’s writing. His stories are very strong and engaging. I also like Lee Child. He is a terrific writer.”
Follett has no plans of writing about India or its habitants. He feels that there are so many good Indian writers, who will write much better than him. But when quizzed that he is writing about Russians, Germans then why not Indians? He says, “It is not my territory. I had an Indian FBI agent in one of my books though. I won’t rule out the possibility for an Indian story.”
India is a prospering nation and Follett is impressed to see bright young people managing this “chaotic” country. Jhumpa Lahiri tops the list of his favourite Indian writers which is quickly followed by Arundhati Roy. He also likes to read Hanif Qureshi, Salman Rushdie among others. “Jhumpa is a clever woman. Her writing is not high voltage, no big drama. And it is difficult to analyse her work. But that is her appeal. She writes about mundane things yet manages to keep the reader engaged. Also R.K. Narayan’s Malgudi Days has been my all time favourite purely for its quality and innocence,” he elaborates.
Follett is now working on the second chapter his ambitious trilogy which will be out in 2012.