Already a subscriber? Log in
Throughout the seven months it takes to write the novel, Martin continually questions Child over the choices he makes, whether it’s regarding the placement of a comma or the ethics of assisted suicide. Martin’s presence should be distracting, but instead it allows Child, always one of the most self-aware and articulate of novelists, to explain his decisions with a steely logic that Reacher would certainly approve of. There are master-classes on creating suspense (‘we don’t want to know too much too soon’), a debate on the non-existence of characters and a trashing of the concept of genre.
Along the way, Martin performs a running act of literary criticism, situating Child in an existential framework or, as he puts it, ‘Lee Child is like Camus, only with more fights.’
Martin takes a broadly structuralist approach to identify the typical Lee Child narrative: the lone hero riding into town and rescuing the locals from marauding bullies. It’s the beating heart of every Saturday afternoon Western and a good reason why Child is so successful. Martin goes further though, stating:
By the end of every book Reacher has negated the narrative and returned the world to its incoherent meaningless default mode. That was the whole point of Reacher. Not justice, not violent retribution, but killing off the plot.
He spends a long time analysing Child’s use of negation and the deliberate repetition of negation as both a narrative tool and an allegorical one. There’s a great discussion on verisimilitude, in which Martin quite rightly points out: ‘You have to be unrealistic in order to achieve realism.’
But, even though this is a book about writing novels and the inherent problems faced by the novelist, one of the most illuminating anecdotes has nothing to do with writing. Child recounts how he regularly used to outwit judges over parking fines and always got off scot free — a revealing slice of anti-authoritarianism and razor logic that the author shares with his protagonist.
Andy Martin has created something new here: a fusion of literary criticism, biography, and fly-on-the wall meta-novel which serves as a remarkable insight into the creative process.
Because you read about book review
Also by Stav Sherez
Latest
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in