Description

As a sound test, Hoban recites part of Edward Lear’s “The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo.” Gregory asks about Canterbury Cathedral with its painting of St. Eustace, given its appearance in Hoban’s book Riddley Walker. They talk about the book and wordplay. Hoban discusses Schrodinger and H. P. Lovecraft. Hoban discussed his works in progress. He lists Joseph Conrad and “years of science fiction” as influences. On the second side Hoban discusses “all the nice things science fiction has done for me." McCaffery says critics have connected Hoban to dystopian fiction. “I don’t think my writing is pessimistic,” Hoban asserts. Gregory asks about the duality of human beings as creators and destroyers, mentioning Hoban’s book Pilgermann. They all discuss life and death and their representation in Hoban’s work. At the beginning of the second tape Hoban reads from his review of the performance piece “No Weapons for Mourning” by the Impact Theatre Co-operative. Hoban discusses the “mythopoeic” way of thinking. McCaffery cites a Hoban quote about fantasy being vital, and they talk about this and Hoban’s descriptions of sound. Starting the second side of the second tape, they talk about process and revision. Gregory read Riddley Walker, and thought that book was “wonderful” but Hoban’s earlier ones were just “good,” so she asks what changed. Hoban says he feels closest to his book Kleinzeit, where he found what he thinks of as his authentic voice. He discusses writing the books Riddley Walker, Turtle Diary, The Mouse and His Child, The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz, and Kleinzeit. They discuss recurring images and his related personal life. As influences, Hoban mentions Dickens and Jorge Luis Borges, and talks about John Berger and his book G. Hoban discusses Le Guin’s and his own fiction. McCaffery asks about the differences between men and women in Hoban’s books. They discuss what Hoban calls “the male principle” and “the female principle." An edited version of this interview appears on pages 126 to 150 of Alive and Writing: Interviews with American Authors of the 1980s, ed. Larry McCaffery and Sinda Gregory, 1987, University of Illinois Press.