Books and Reading Year News April the Thriller
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Books and Reading Year News Eva Muñoz April 05.04.05 The thriller: a history of the genre according to Ken Follett Ken Follett (Wales, 1949) was forbidden by his very religious and strict parents to watch television, go to the cinema and even listen to the radio. So the only entertainment for the young Follet was reading. It seems that at some moment he decided to dedicate himself to writing books that might entertain readers. And there is no doubt that he achieved this. The author of Pillars of the Earth is today one the most popular and widely read writers in the world. But the thriller is the genre that he has cultivated most —in Spain he has just published Whiteout, about the theft in a pharmaceutical laboratory of an extremely dangerous virus—, and he gave a lecture on the history of this genre on 5th April at the auditorium of Random House Mondadori. What is a great idea for a novel? Follet is obsessed by this question but at least he already knows the condition that defines it: “A good idea for a novel is one that generates forty or fifty good scenes.” And the main characteristic of a thriller? “The danger that threatens the protagonist.” These two ingredients —who knows whether by planning or chance— were in The Riddle of the Sands by Robert Erskine, published in 1903, “the first thriller in history,” according to the British writer. When Carruthers and Davies, its two young protagonists, set out to enjoy a pleasure cruise through the Baltic, they discover that the German navy is planning the invasion of Great Britain. An idea that, undoubtedly, offered many scenes, in which our protagonists would also have to save themselves from the moment the enemy discovers them. However, its publishers did not have everyone on their side when they decided to publish it, “because it was a completely new genre,” so they pretended that it was based “on a true story”, a magic formula that always seems to add an extra attraction. Even Daniel Defoe implied the same with respect to Robinson Crusoe, recalled Follet, and, in 1790, there were not many published novels —one should note that Don Quixote, considered the first modern novel and published in 1605, did not create a real novelistic tradition until a century after its publication. The Riddle of the Sands “is the foundation of most thrillers of the 20th century,” asserts Follet. However, twelve years would have to pass —can you imagine the number of thrillers that would appear in the next twelve years?— until the appearance of The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan (which would later be adapted for the cinema by Alfred Hitchcock). Hannay, its protagonist, not only has to save himself but prevent a war, which amplifies the dimension of the danger. One of the characteristic aspects of the early thriller, apart from the absence of female characters, is the status of the protagonist: a hero, “an upper class” man. Why would the reader want to identify with him if he was a vulgar and ordinary man? Moreover, the thriller, like the western, another genre that appeared at more or less the same time, will almost always have a violent ending. But violence did not impede Phillips Oppenheim soon after from taking the thriller to glamorous heights, now populated by beautiful enigmatic women (as Ian Fleming would do years later through his impeccable James Bond). The Dreyfus case and the disquiet of the European bourgeoisie over communism is the context in which Follet situates the appearance of spy novels, such as The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad, the first exponent of what would come to be called the psychological thriller, although Follet asserts without hesitation that “the archetypal psychological thriller is Hamlet.” However, he adds, “if I had written it, in the first place it would have been much more difficult for him to enter the castle. It is far too easy for Hamlet to get access to his enemy the King, his step father, given that he also lives in the castle.” But we are left with the Shakespearian option and allow Follet the possibility of a remake. In any case, it seems that the honour of having written the first psychological thriller of the 20th century lies with Conrad for his aforementioned The Secret Agent, a trend which would later be embraced by the master Graham Greene and later John Le Carré. For her part, Daphne du Maurier would inaugurate with her Rebecca (1938) —also adapted for the cinema by Hitchcock— a kind of psychological thriller “especially aimed at the female public”, in which all the dangers faced by the protagonist “are in her head.” Although they are often confused with each other, detective novels “are not exactly the same as the thriller.” The fact is that neither Miss Marple nor Inspector Poirot are ever really in danger, a condition which is shared by all the protagonists of the thriller genre. But the American Dashiell Hammett will impose this condition on his protagonists, a moment in which “for the first time an American author influences the thriller,” considers Follett, and who will be followed by Raymond Chandler, with his popular detective Philip Marlow, and many others. And what happens after the Second World War? On the one hand, the novels of Follet himself are an example of the phenomenon. The Second World War will become one of the favourite subjects for the plots of thrillers, a genre that will reach its peak with the Cold War and authors like Ian Fleming and John Le Carré. At the same time, the genre diversifies with writers of the stature of Patricia Highsmith, who persuaded readers to identify with the attractive and immoral murderer Tom Ripley, or with curious variants like that developed by Mickey Spillane, author of “the sexiest stories”. By way of example look at two of his titles: The Erection Set or My Gun is Quick. “His attitude was as bad towards men as it was towards women,” comments Follett, “but his paperback novels sold in their millions.” But perhaps the most mythical author of the time was Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond. At least he was for Follet who confesses: “I read Casino Royale at the age of twelve. Of course, from that moment I wanted to be like James Bond.” The sophisticated agent 007, at Her Majesty’s service, “is the first secret agent with a salary, a civil servant,” comments the author of Jackdaws. The distinguished Bond, “provides us with a vicarious excitement,” says Follett. Without doubt, that of experiencing dangerous adventures always compensated by sexual favours from a fabulous woman to share a bed with surrounded by luxury and glamour. But the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 obliged the authors of the genre to seek out new plots for their intrigues. Organised crime was a logical alternative, with a “masterly” precedent by Frederick Forsyth and his Chacal, published in Spain in 1971. One of the important aspects of this novel is that “Forsyth was painstaking in the practical aspects of how to carry out a murder. After Chacal we all had to be much more careful when describing this type of scene,” recognises Follett. Another alternative comes from novels about psychopathic murderers, with Tom Harris and The Silence of the Lambs, the book that I would like to have written,” confesses the Brit, at the top of the genre. Or those of professionals in danger, scientists, journalists or lawyers, like those in The Firm by John Grisham. In any case, concludes Ken Follet, the thriller “is perhaps the definitive literature of the 20th century. It is of course one of the most important genres.” And “until one hundred years ago,” explains the author of Hornet Flight, “it was the military and volunteers who would make war.” However, in the 20th century there was a change and all men and women were convinced that one day we would fight or die in a war. And perhaps this is why we are fascinated by stories of danger. Because they speak of anxiety and anguish peculiar to men and women of the 20th century.” A friendly third degree After the lecture, Sergio Vila-Sanjuán, curator of the Books and Reading Year, submitted our protagonist to a friendly third degree. This was the result: “Everyday I sit at my desk and rack my brain.” This is Follet’s not very mysterious “trick” for creating stories, who, before he writes says that he dedicates an entire “year” to “planning them”. “Planning a story takes time because you have to organise everything correctly.” This methodical writer never starts with the end. “It would seem suspicious to me,” he argues. “I would write five hundred pages about the end.” The Second World War is one the most recurrent scenes of his novels. And “the Nazis embody in the contemporary imagination the archetypal villain.” Moreover, “today we continue to see it as a war between good and evil, and there is no other war that has given rise to this consensus,” he explains. There is an abundant bibliography about the Second World War for research, but Follet also always makes use of the sources when possible. For this he has a paid researcher in charge of finding the right people. So, to write Jackdaws, he contracted as consultant “the best expert on infiltration of enemy line,” while for his latest novel, Whiteout, he consulted three people who design security systems for laboratories and nuclear plants and asked them “what would they do if they wanted to outwit one of these systems.” “My experience as a journalist helps me, of course, but imagination is more important than research,” he concludes.