Interview/discussion by emails with Ken Bruen between
2008 and 2010, except for the last question, which Ken answered on August 5th,
2012. Some of this material has been published/translated in French, but it is here
for the first time in its original version.
"ZEN" BRUEN: THE DARK KNIGHT RESISTS
If some people earn the right to complain about the shitty cards life has dealt them, Ken Bruen is certainly amongst those, and I don't know anyone who wouldn't let him do it. But here's the thing; this gentleman has decided to make the most out of these cards without complaining publicly and without spending the rest of his life pissed off and trying to get some sort of revenge. Ken Bruen can see life as the constant battle between light and dark, or good vs evil, that it is. Life can sometimes get so dark that it becomes blinding; all you face is the emptiness in your days, like an abyss that tempts you to let go and plunge into it. Ken Bruen has faced his own abyss and he has tried to fill it up with boiling rage, with booze, and he even considered it with a bullet. But he has resisted being angry at the world, he has resisted drowning his pains in alcohol, and he has resisted blowing his brains out. He felt the pull of the void and he probably lost a part of him to it, as there is certainly a part of the void left inside him. Ken Bruen decided to fill up the abyss with sharp words, with bleeding pages, and with stories of hurt. Like a wounded knight unexpectedly emerging from a desperate battle, he came out of the dark to show us what true evil can look like, but also how beautiful and worthwhile the alternative can be. That's how he played his cards.
His books have won many awards and piled up raving reviews in many countries. Born on January 3rd, 1951, Ken Bruen possesses the gentleness, the generosity, and the intelligence of a very old soul. Here is my interview and email/talk with him.
--Let's start with a little politic if you don't mind.
Québec has often been compared to Ireland, for different reasons, like wanting
to be recognised as a distinct nation and getting out of the British
system; population is pretty much the same (we're just over 8 millions in
population, I think Ireland is close to 7 millions); we love our beer(s) of
course; and Montréal has one of the largest Irish community in North
America and the second biggest St. Patrick's Day Parade after the one
in Boston. We could probably find other similarities and links. What is the
situation in Ireland; from what we hear it seems pretty calm right now. What's
your view on life in Ireland?
K.B.--We went from Mass on
Sunday to Microsoft with no preparation and like any poor nation, went crazy
when we got rich and we got greedy. I'm glad we're not poor any more but we
lost a lot too, we've become a mini America, and now we're heading for
meltdown, we're really fooked if we have to go back to austerity, and quel dommage, the poor get poorer as the
rich get richer.
--Can you share some of your experience of growing up
in a violent Ireland. Did you grow up wanting to become a writer or a
teacher, or did you have something else in mind?
K.B.--I wanted to be an
actor, books were banned in our house and I read under the blankets with a
torch, I became a teacher as my Dad said actors were homosexuals!!!!...
I always wrote.
The violence in the North
was a constant dark and darker cloud, it becomes part of your spirit, the
belief that peace is unattainable.
--As if that wasn't enough, you went through a
traumatizing experience (to say the least) in South America while
teaching. It's certainly something that will stay with you always, but
what was the turning point that 'saved' you and gave you the will to
survive without being a lost soul on earth; where did you find
the strength to start enjoying life again?
K.B.--I attach a blog I
wrote recently that explains fully what saved me.
(you can read it at the end of this interview)
--When you started writing, did you know you would
write crime stories or did it come naturally? I read interviews
where you mention rage fuelling your writing; one would think you could write
pretty scary horror novels also. Did you ever think of writing in a different
genre?
K.B.--I wrote three
mainstream novels, re-published in a FIFTH OF BRUEN but I felt something was
missing and crime novels fulfilled me in ways I never expected.....I've written
a lot of short stories recently dealing with the supernatural, and even one
Western......I try to stay open to different genres and am currently
writing a play for the national broadcasting service.
