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Paul Theroux 2011
Photo:
David Levenson / Getty Images
The book fair is a place of discourse.
This year we have to let it take place virtually.
Instead of a conversation at the trade fair stand, intellectuals and writers have agreed to provide information in a SPIEGEL questionnaire.
The first was the author Annie Ernaux, then the political scientist Herfried Münkler, Philippe Lançon, survivor of the terrorist attack on "Charlie Hebdo", the writer Jagoda Marinić, the intellectual Daniel Mendelsohn and the philosopher Susan Neiman answered.
Finally, the novelist Paul Theroux answers.
To person
Often classified under the misleading title of travel writer
Theroux
is one of the most diverse American writers.
He became famous through the novel "Mosquito Coast" and its film adaptation with Harrison Ford in the leading role.
In "Motherland" in 2018 he told the story of his family in a masterfully funny way.
Today he lives alternately in Cape Cod and Hawaii.
His last book, published in German, is an exploration of the border area between the USA and Mexico: "On the snake path" (Hoffmann and Campe)
What is your current state of mind?
I am fascinated.
And how do you feel about the state of your nation? And the world?
We are in the midst of various catastrophic crises - political, infectious, environmental, and economic. And that seems to apply to the world as a whole.
I think about that a lot - the rest of the time I am busy with my work, a novel that has nothing to do with any of this.
Corona, climate change, social inequality, digitization - where do you see the greatest threat to a humane society?
Human greed, stupidity, myopia, and intellectual laziness.
The twenties of the last century were called the golden, then the roaring twenties. What adjective can you think of for our decade?
Unbalanced.
Every book fair has a theme, what do you think should be the central theme this autumn?
The need to read.
Liberté, égalité, fraternité - which of the three terms of the French Revolution needs a revival?
The egalité.
And how would you go about it?
Vote out Trump.
What problem are you thinking about at the moment?
There is currently a serious shortage of ammunition in the US - 9 mm (Glock, Luger, for example) and 223 cal (for the AR 15 assault rifle).
Why is that?
What is it used for?
How will it end?
What book have you been thinking about lately?
I read books about surfing because my latest novel, set in Hawaii, is about a surfer and is entitled "Under the Wave at Waimea".
Does the pandemic convey a message?
The dangers of overpopulation and globalism, the ugliness of cities, the lack of preparation for such an emergency.
Is there a belief that you have remained true to since your youth?
In the words of Joseph Conrad: "We live as we dream - alone".
How has Corona affected your everyday life?
Not my everyday life at all - I've lived in lockdown since 1963, when I began to write seriously: I sit at home at my desk every day.
But I also travel from time to time, and it pains me that I can't make travel plans at the moment.
It's not an easy year. Was there a particularly beautiful, private moment and would you describe it?
Yes - I was driving through a rural part of Maine recently and saw the crimson and yellow and purple and pink foliage and thought how lovely!
And I also remembered Thoreau saying that falling leaves teach us how to die.
Do you have a favorite saying or spell that will help you get through these times?
"The unswerving punctuality of chance."
- "The unshakable punctuality of chance."
From the American by Nils Minkmar