Review: John Banville as Benjamin Black

This was a wonderful opportunity to sit back and catch one of Ireland’s greatest writers wax lyrical about crime fiction for an hour. And more specifically, about the creation of his alter ego Benjamin Black.

Disappointingly, John Banville didn’t show up looking like he had walked out of a detective novel. He looked an awful lot like, well, John Banville. No harm anyway, they’re the same person, right?

So while my expectancy was a noirish vibe of lamplight, dark rooms and in character readings, what I got instead was Benjamin Black laid bare and a chance to listen to John Banville talk in depth about his love of crime fiction and he goes about writing it.

Interviewed by Michael Wood, Banville talked at length about his reasons for creating the ‘6 year old’ that is Benjamin Black, namely a mixture of monetary and recreational reasons. For a man who claimed that he doesn’t do holidays and only likes to work, it was clear that Benjamin Black is John Banville’s working holiday away from being John Banville. It was really interesting stuff and showed distinctly how the working methods of Benjamin Black and John Banville differ. Banville said that he rarely plans his Black novels and works off of a rough idea, allowing himself to shape and mould the plot as he writes. He also said that the perfection of sentences that he strives to achieve in his other work is not something he struggles to attain in his Black books. The interview painted a picture of a man who really enjoys writing as Benjamin Black, dislikes the formalities of ‘genius’ and enjoys the freedom his alter ego gives him.

The mics weren’t working the best in the Parade Tower and so the Q&A session ended up being a bit ramshackle but Banville answered any question honestly and with a lot of his deadpan wit, touching on subjects like the upcoming tv version and his use of the weather. The best example of that deadpan wit was when one person criticised him for adapting a real life Dublin abortionist from the 50’s into a fictionalised version for Christine Falls. Banville looked at the man as if to say ‘And?’ before replying that he’s a writer, and thus a magpie. ‘Nothing is original’ he said. Certainly, the myth of genius was quite cruelly dissected by Banville at any opportunity. It was a witty, casual and ultimately inspiring talk.

Although it did strip away the lot of the mystery of Mr. Black himself, the mysteries that make up the Quirke novels seems to be in no shortage for the coming years.

John

John Banville as Benjamin Black

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