Lawrence Block interview

magyar verzió

This week our guest is Lawrence Block, the grand master of detective novels. We asked him about New York, the Bernie Rhodenbarr series and script writing. You can even find out how he is attached to Hungary.

Many of your novels take place in New York. Why is this city so special for you? Why do you like it as a location?

New York has been my home for many years. I visited in 1948, on a weekend trip with my father, who grew up there, and I think I must have decided then and there that this was where I would someday live. And I have lived there, though not without interruptions, since 1956. It’s hard to say what makes it special for me, or why I find it such a good setting for fiction, but I can tell you that the characters I find myself writing about seem to be very much at home there.

Your novel ”Small Town” is about New Yorkers’ different responses to the tragic events of 9/11. Where were you at that time?

In New York. It was, as I’m sure you can appreciate, an extremely traumatic event for all New Yorkers. At the time I had written a portion of a big multiple-viewpoint New York novel, one I’d wanted to write for years, and it seemed to me to have suddenly been rendered obsolete by this transformative event. After some months, I found myself returning it, but repositioning it, setting its time-frame in the aftermath of 9/11.

One of your series is about a burglar, Bernie Rhodenbarr. Bernie is a burglar who commits crime, even spends time in jail. In spite of this he is a likeable character. How did you come up with him? Where did this series idea come from?

It came at the lowest point of my career, during a difficult time when I could not get books written or find a publisher for ones I’d completed. And I’d done nothing but write all my adult life, so I was qualified for nothing else. I found myself considering burglary as a career. You don’t have to persuade someone to hire you, you can set your own hours, its possible and even desirable to avoid human contact when you work – in fact, it’s a lot like the life of a freelance writer. I even went so far as to teach myself to open my own door without a key. But then I found myself wondering what would happen if I were caught, and thought I’d probably get off with a suspended sentence as I’d never been arrested previously. But what if there were a dead body in the house I was burgling? I realized that would be a problem, and in the next breath I realized it would be a book – and sat down to begin writing Burglars Can’t Be Choosers. So I think it’s safe to say that Bernie saved me from a life of crime!

(goodreads.com)

Bernie has an antiquarian bookstore. Why an antiquarian bookstore? Do you like old books?

In the first two books, Burglars Can’t Be Choosers and The Burglar in the Closet, Bernie didn’t have the store. But as I got to know him, I realized he needed more stability in his life. And a secondhand bookstore struck me as the perfect business for a fellow like Bernie, who’s a cultured chap and who – thanks to burglary – doesn’t need the store to be a profitable enterprise. And, as it turns out, a good number of readers have fantasies of running just such a shop. (But I don’t know that all of them would want to be burglars.)

Bernie likes to read a lot. How important is it for you that the burglar is literate and the cop is not very bright?

It’s just the way it turned out. And I suspect Ray Kirschmann is brighter than you may suspect.

In many stories someone collects something (stamps, coins, etc.). What are the backgrounds to these strange hobbies you give your characters?

Well, like most writers, my own personal history supplies me with what you might call a smattering of ignorance. I know a little bit about quite a few things, and that includes philately and numismatics. Similarly, I know a little about tropical fish – the breeding and raising of which is a concern of Leo Haig, the private detective in two of the Chip Harrison novels. (I don’t believe they’ve been published in Hungary.)

Carolyn is Bernie’s best friend and a lesbian. This is an interesting idea. Where did it come from?

At the time, there were at least three lesbians with whom I had close friendships. Carolyn combines elements of all three. And I felt she’d make a perfect best friend for Bernie; they’re of different genders, yet there’s no danger they’ll become sexually involved.

The palm removed rubber gloves. Where did this idea come from? Have you ever consulted with professional burglars for information?

No, and in recent books Bernie has dropped that item from his repertoire in favor of disposable gloves of plastic film. I have in fact known a few fellows who used to steal things, just as I’ve known a few who used to be cops – but they haven’t provided all that much in the way of tips for Bernie, or for me.

Bernie has a tailless cat. What is the truth: is Raffles a Manx or not? J

Now that’s a good question. I wish I knew.

In 2007 you co-wrote the script of the film “My Blueberry Nights” with Wong Kar-wai. How different is it to write a script than a novel? Can you easily work together with other writers or directors?

It’s very different. WKW was interesting to work with; this was the first film he ever made with an actual script, and he kept changing his mind as to what the story would be about. This was frustrating, but part of his own creative process. I’m more comfortable writing prose fiction, and find it difficult enough just transferring my own vision to the page.

The film by Scott Frank “A Walk Among the Tombstones” is based on your novel. Is it easy for you to let someone else write a script using your story?

It seems to me that the writer of a novel has two choices. He can either decline to let it be filmed – a legitimate choice, and one made by Sue Grafton, for example – or let go of control entirely. I took the latter course, and with Scott Frank’s adaptation of A Walk Among the Tombstones feel I was very well served. I’m pleased with most of the choices Scott Frank made, feel his was a sensitive adaptation that preserved the tone and flavor of the book, and thought Liam Neeson was quite perfect as Matthew Scudder.

From time to time you give your readers the chance to download one of your stories for free on Amazon. Why is it important for you to give something for your readers free of charge in the age of illegal downloading?

I don’t know that it’s important. I have a promotional purpose in mind, obviously, and like to reward loyal readers. As I believe you know, I’m apt to announce these giveaways in my newsletter, and this might be a good time to mention that anyone who’d like to receive it may do so by sending an email to lawbloc@gmail.com, with “Newsletter–HU” in the subject line. That’s all it takes, and of course it’s free.

You love travelling. You have already visited Hungary. What were your favourite places? Do you plan coming back for another visit?

We were very briefly in Hungary, and only in Budapest, and enjoyed our several days there very much – but that was 20 years ago. I would like to return, although we’ve been traveling less in recent years. And I do have ancestral ties to Hungary. My paternal great grandfather, Leopold Block, lived there before emigrating to the US around 1888. I understand he had some position with the railroad. My grandfather, Louis Block, may have been born in Budapest himself, or may have been born after the family reached New York; records are unclear. But either way I would seem to have a connection to the place.

You are one of the most famous detective writers. But who are your favourite writers?

Ah, there are so many. But I will mention a couple of very dear friends, all gone now, but still very dear to me, and still available to me and others through their fine books. Donald E. Westlake, Ross Thomas, Evan Hunter.

What are you working on currently?

Much of my time these days is spent republishing early work of mine – early mystery novels as part of the Classic Crime Library, early pseudonymous work in the Collection of Classic Erotica. And, while I keep thinking I’m done writing new fiction, I have something in the works. But I don’t like to talk about such projects until they’re completed.

drawing by Arnold Lee