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WHY READING IS
IMPORTANT TO ME
AS A WRITER
When I was five
years old I
discovered a
slim picture
book in my
grandparents'
creepy house. It
was about seven
pirates (and
their cat) who
sailed the seven
seas, looting
and pillaging as
they went,
killing all who
crossed them. At
the end they ate
poisoned food --
or touched gold
which was under
a magic spell: I
forget which --
and died, all
seven of them.
And their cat.
The final
picture was of
them lying out
flat, dead to
the world,
tongues sticking
out the sides of
their mouths,
little black
crosses for
eyes.
Cool!!!
That book has
never been far
from my
thoughts. It was
the first time
I'd encountered
death directly,
and I was
fascinated by
it. Most
children's books
don't confront
death. They
paint a portrait
of a world where
nobody dies and
everything is
rosy, and happy
endings are par
for the course.
I've read and
enjoyed many
such books over
the years, but
none ever made
half the
impression as
that
death-obsessed,
viciously funny
tale of the
seven doomed
pirates (and
their cat).
I think
children's books
should
face death
head-on. Death
partners life,
stalking us
patiently and
without pause,
and most
children are as
interested in
mortality as
adults. I don't
think we protect
children by
shielding them
from the truth:
we merely cheat
them.
I spent many
long hours
wondering about
death as a
child, and
devoured with
interest any
book which
wasn't afraid to
mention the
dreaded
D word.
There weren't
many of them,
and none could
match the
ferociously dark
humour of that
by-now mystical
pirate book, but
I treasured
those I could
find.
My interest in
death has never
abated, and I've
read many a
gloomy adult
book in my time.
And written
some! When, a
couple of years
ago, I decided
to try my hand
at a novel for
younger readers,
it was only
natural that I
turned to the
divide between
the living and
the dead. The
result was
Cirque Du Freak,
a scary tale
about two boys
who sneak out to
attend a freak
show one dark
night. There,
they lock horns
with an agent of
death, and their
lives and
futures are
irrevocably
altered. And not
for the better!
Cirque Du
Freak may
prove too
powerful for
some. Certain
readers won't
want their faces
rubbed in the
blood-red stains
of the night,
and will put the
book to one side
and return to
the safe,
comforting
worlds of the
average
children's book.
As is their
right. But those
like me ... who
want to embrace
the darkness ...
who lie awake at
night, wondering
about the
shadows outside
their bedroom
window ... who
shiver gleefully
at the thought
of losing
everything to a
cruel stroke of
fate ...
Those readers
now have a
suitable horrid
home -- the
Cirque Du
Freak!!
I believe
writers spend
their lives
coming back to
the books they
read as
children. We
move on and add
to our
repertoire, but
always we look
back. Thus in
Book 2 of The
Saga Of Darren
Shan:The
Vampire's
Assistant,the
leading
character
dresses up as
... a pirate!
And in Book 3:Tunnels
Of Blood ...
we catch up with
an unfortunate
cat!!!
Darren Shan --
"from within the
darkness" --
18/08/99 |
