The Curious Case Of Dr Banville And Mr Black

Bob Thompson conducted a fascinating interview with John Banville / Benny Blanco (right) for the Washington Post last weekend, two snippets of which runneth thusly:

How did a cheerful, prolific crime novelist come to inhabit the writing mind of one of the most angst-ridden perfectionists on the planet? The answer says a good deal about the Jekyll-and-Hyde relationship of so-called literary fiction and genre fiction. But it also makes you wonder: Are Dr. Banville and Mr. Black really as different as they seem?

“Benjamin Black is like a schoolboy who’s been given an extra week’s Christmas holiday,” Banville says. “This, of course, is worrying. To enjoy writing is deeply worrying. I must be doing something wrong.”

The Big, Big Question: Is John Banville a pretentious oul’ bollocks, or a wily po-mo dilettante who may require surgery in the near future to remove that tongue from his cheek? Only time, that notoriously prevaricating doity rat, will tell …