Youth book author Femi Fadugba: "Physics is like poetry, only the other way round"

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Author Fadugba: "I believe that most 16-year-olds act without thinking about the consequences."

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Ernest Simons

SPIEGEL:

Mr. Fadugba, you wrote a thriller for young people in which you explain the theory of relativity.

Why do you get such an idea?

Femi Fadugba:

Because there has never been a book

.

I am a quantum physicist and am repeatedly asked to explain time travel.

After searching in vain for a good book on the subject for a long time, I decided to write it myself.

SPIEGEL:

In your novel you explain the fundamentals of physics by letting your story take place on different time levels.

Fadugba:

Exactly, there is 16-year-old Esso, who has a couple of good friends, but also gets a little off the beaten track.

One day he saves a child from an approaching car, but is injured himself in the process.

He gets into a reality that we do not know and that is called the "Upper World".

The second level takes place 15 years later: Esso seeks contact with the teenage girl Rhia because she has to help him undo something in the past.

She's a football talent and a physics genius, but she doesn't know that yet.

SPIEGEL:

Esso becomes Rhias' tutor and says: "Maths and physics need imagination." As someone whose favorite subject was not the natural sciences, that is hard to believe.

"Boys are socialized in a certain direction and, in the process, move away from their feelings."

Fadugba:

Here, can you see my cell phone?

It works with signals.

What happens inside is invisible to our eyes.

We can't see the signals.

Everything in physics takes metaphors to describe it.

Physics is like poetry, only the other way round: love, a lake, a relationship are placed on a higher level in poetry.

Physics does that too.

We take something abstract, this mathematical, invisible world of physics - and need metaphors to break it down into something concrete so that we can understand it.

SPIEGEL:

Esso is about to be expelled from school in your novel, but he's smart and reflective.

Why can't he be himself?

Fadugba:

Here comes a complicated answer: he's a boy, that's very important.

Boys are socialized in a certain direction and, in the process, move away from their feelings.

There are strong forces around Esso that make him only see the now and not think about the long-term consequences of his actions.

I believe that most 16 year olds act without thinking about the consequences.

SPIEGEL:

In one scene he is walking down the street with friends and suspects that they are about to run into a gang and that there will be trouble.

He could go home, but he doesn't.

Why is it so difficult for him?

Fadugba:

Yes, he has a choice, he can do the right thing - but that has a price.

Because the other guys embody coolness, Esso is not on their level yet.

If he stays he's cool, one of them.

Boys are about masculinity.

It is defined by the absence of femininity.

SPIEGEL:

Who were you thinking of while you were writing?

Fadugba:

...

SPIEGEL:

Is that a secret?

Fadugba:

A little.

Just very roughly, if that's okay: while I was writing, I lost someone, a person, similar to Esso.

Part of the novel is written for this person.

And for my 16-year-old who didn't have a book like this.

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Femi Fadugba

The Upper World - A Breath of the Future: A cutting-edge, exciting thriller

Publisher: cbj

Translated by: Alexandra Ernst

Number of pages: 416

Publisher: cbj

Translated by: Alexandra Ernst

Number of pages: 416

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SPIEGEL:

Will there be more volumes?

Fadugba:

I'm working on a second book that focuses on quantum physics.

My goal is for every reader to have a basic understanding of physics after reading the two books.

SPIEGEL:

That sounds like school reading.

Fadugba:

That would be fantastic.

We are already working on teaching materials.

SPIEGEL:

It often sounds bad here because it reminds you of coercion and dead interpretation in German lessons.

Fadugba:

Well.

Hopefully people who will read it will enjoy it, and hopefully those who have to read it will enjoy it more than they hoped

SPIEGEL:

There has been a lot of discussion in recent months about who is allowed to translate whom.

The translator of your book is white, you are black.

Do you think that the German translation should be by a non-white person?

Fadugba:

I don't see it in principle.

For example, I am a black person from the UK.

A black person from Germany may have different experiences and thus also other blind spots.

So it's not that easy at all.

In my opinion, the main thing is to be aware of this problem.

SPIEGEL:

How can you get that?

Fadugba:

It's about helping the blind spots.

You could also ask me about mine, by the way, in relation to my female characters.

SPIEGEL:

How did you deal with it?

Fadugba:

It was important to me that the women in my book have a credible voice.

That's why I gave it to some to test.

SPIEGEL

: The filming of your novel is already being planned, and in the end you signed with Netflix.

Did you write the script?

Fadugba:

No, that's a completely different medium.

I'm an

and I have contact with the writers and producers once a month, so I feel well involved.

It is important to me that the soul of the story is preserved.

But when it comes to details, I find it more exciting to see what other people can contribute.

SPIEGEL:

Will the film be very different from the book?

Fadugba:

I love the movie even though we're not quite finished yet.

So much can be said: Rhia's role in the film is a little bigger than Esso's.