Every novel presents a slice of life. A noir policier for example presents one slice, one that perhaps addresses social dysfunction or some sort of pathology, while mine present a slice that is more upbeat and affirmative.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Life is a means of extracting fiction.
A lot of movies are about life, mine are like a slice of cake.
One definition of noir is where a not-so-good man or woman tries to touch something good - and fails.
A novel is balanced between a few true impressions and the multitude of false ones that make up most of what we call life.
I always had this notion of a noir novel in Galway. The city is exploding, emigration has reversed, and we are fast becoming a cosmopolitan city.
A novel, even a social realist one, can't simply be a comprehensive rendering of what is. A novel requires a special angle or approach, whether in structure or language or theme, to justify itself.
I'm all about entertaining and keeping a reader on the edge of their seat, so to me, the social issues have to be meaningful and give the book what's really 'at stake,' but ultimately it's not about them - it's always a personal story of everyday people thrust into life-threatening situations and having to perform heroic acts.
I think a film noir demands a beginning and an end.
I am not interested in slice of life, what I want is a slice of the imagination.
Noir is dead for me because historically, I think it's a simple view. I've taken it as far as it can go. I think I've expanded on it a great deal, taken it further than any other American novelist.