Reasons To Be Cheerful-ish # 221: Michael Collins

Never blummin’ happy, those writers. A couple of weeks back we had Claire Kilroy pouting about TENDERWIRE being marketed as a (heaven forfend) thriller, a sulk only slightly ameliorated by the fact that the delectable Ms Kilroy has the most potent pout since Scarlett realised Rhett didn’t give a damn. Now the devastating mean ‘n’ moody Michael Collins (right) is moaning, via the New Zealand Herald, that his most recent release is being touted as a murder mystery, to wit:

Which is why it rankles with the US-based author that his eighth and most challenging novel, THE SECRET LIFE OF ROBERT E. PENDLETON, was marketed in the US as a crime novel titled DEATH OF A WRITER. “To position it that way, you run into readers who are expecting a standard murder mystery,” says Collins. Even among critics, he laments, “there was a measuring of it against how a regular crime novel would play itself out. There were numerous levels of different issues in the novel, but they were the ones least addressed.”

Fair enough, sir. But really, if you’re going to devote a significant chunk of your story to a murder mystery, and reap the narrative benefits such a plot-strand offers, then it’s a little disingenuous to protest when readers tend to focus on it. Plus, in the pouting stakes, you’re more Rhett than Scarlett. We humbly suggest the stoical mean ‘n’ moody approach might be more beneficial in the long run …

Thrills, Tills And Bellyaches

Some of the more lascivious elves here at Crime Always Pays have been lusting after the delectable Claire Kilroy (right) for some time now, although most of the elves tend to celebrate the more cerebral elements of her novels, ALL SUMMER and TENDERWIRE, both of which, if the reviews are anything to go by, are rather thrilling. But does the delectable Ms Kilroy consider herself a writer of thrillers? One particularly eagle-eyed elf (she was genetically engineered in a lab) spotted this exchange from an interview conducted by Declan Meade, editor of the Stinging Fly magazine, and published in the Winter 2006/07 issue, to wit:

Declan Meade: There’s an element of the thriller in both of the books, in how the story is told.
Claire Kilroy: “Certainly when all the reviews came out for TENDERWIRE, they were all saying it was a literary thriller, which I’m not sure about. You’re always a bit cautious to end up in a genre, and I’m not sure exactly what that genre is. The last review I got was in the TLS, and it said the publishers are pushing this as a whodunnit and it’s not. It’s one of those things: you want people to read your book, so if the publishers say calling it a whodunnit means that more people might buy it, even by accident, that’s fine – it’s better than people not buying it at all.”

Hurrah! Stupid thriller lovers send the tills ker-ching buying literary fiction by accident, and everyone’s a winner, especially the delectable Ms Kilroy! Glad that’s settled. Oops, no it’s not …

DM: We’ve spoken about plot and pace but your novels also have some beautiful descriptions and phrases that arrest the reader’s attention. How important is that aspect of the writing to you?
CK: “It means far more than pace. See, to me, the thriller is an inferior form. I’ve never read a thriller – so I shouldn’t say it’s an inferior form (laughs) – but I’m not interested. The one quasi-thriller I did read was MISS SMILLA’S FEELING FOR SNOW, and it started off great, but then it became just a thriller, so what’s the point? Language is the all, and trying to express specific experiences, emotional experiences, through imagery and metaphor, that is what it’s about.”

Erm, yes, possibly - if you’re a poet. The delectable Ms Kilroy appears to have forgotten that language is not in fact ‘all’, but is simply one of the tools available to a novelist telling a story. But lo! The delectable Ms Kilroy hasn’t forgotten that, because her novels are constructed in – shock! – linear narratives in which characters engage in – quelle horror! – criminal acts in order to further the – ooh, the humanity! – story! So is the delectable Ms Kilroy really the self-consciously literary snob she professes herself to be? Or doth the lady protest too much in order to perpetrate a hilarious post-modern double-bluff? YOU decide!

Nobody Move, This Is A Review: Tenderwire by Claire Kilroy

Dublin writer Claire Kilroy has been drawing favourable comparisons with Patricia Highsmith for this, her second novel – a recommendation that isn’t undeserved in the slightest. The parallels between both authors’ styles are obvious: Tenderwire boasts an unreliable, emotionally unstable narrator – professional violinist Eva Tyne – a whirling dervish of irrational jealousy, grief and obsession whose composites all vie for prominence. Eva’s compulsive acquisition of what might be a stolen Stradivarius violin, bought from a bunch of vaguely menacing Chechens whose speciality is racketeering in priceless antique violins smuggled out of Europe, takes her on a frenetic, often addled journey through Manhattan, to Germany and eventually to Dublin. As with a Highsmith novel, expectations are overturned by the denouement and tensions are finely wrought between characters – and there are plenty of memorable ones, like Alexander, an illegal Chechen, who’s “a giant of a man and as blond as a child,” and Claude Martel, a seemingly disingenuous, overbearing luthier (violin maker and repair expert). Loss, ambition and the descent into warfare brought on by soured female friendships are recurring themes that Kilroy weaves into the novel with depth, precision and lyricism. – Claire Coughlan

Kilroy Iz ’Ere

And Claire Kilroy ain’t going away, if the reviews for Tenderwire are anything to go by. Quoth The Times: “The book’s appeal lies in this variety and in its humanity. Claire Kilroy’s writing is dramatic and lyrical by turns and the exotic features are just colourful background for a good and substantial yarn.” Over at Mostly Fiction, they largely concur: “This novel should gain some American fans for its Irish author. Its story is a good one, with some narrative twists along the way that deepen Eva’s character. While not brilliant, this novel manages to satisfy, and the reason is does is no mystery.” The readers over at Amazon UK are also on board, to wit: “If you like a well written literary thriller that keeps you turning the pages but also fulfils your need for some excellent writing, this is the perfect book,” while the folks at Amazon US are equally impressed: “This book was almost impossible to put down, very fast paced and exciting,” and “I loved this book – it is so tightly written, so well-paced, so interesting and exciting. I could barely put it down.” Which is nice …