The Hindu : New Delhi News : ‘All the Hollywood money can't create a child's imagination'

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‘All the Hollywood money can't create a child's imagination'

In conversation: British Author Anthony Horowitz interacting with children in New Delhi on Sunday.

Anthony Horowitz, the author of a popular teenage spy novel series, believes that reading books is the most creative thing you can do with your brain. In talk with Madhur Tankha….

Teenage spy Alex Rider of British author Anthony Horowitz's popular novel series may be one of the most read characters by children across the globe. But the prolific writer has a valid reason for deciding not to continue the series beyond one last.

Writing novels has been Anthony's primary urge. Even as an eight-year-old, he produced a manuscript. It didn't dishearten him in the least that his first attempt at writing a book didn't see the light of day. So he wrote another.

“I have been in the business of writing books for the past four decades. Barring romantic books and poetry, I write books dealing with different genres like horror, murder and spy stories,” says Anthony.

Writing a book is the most exciting part of Anthony's life. His imagination starts working overtime when he takes his dog out for a walk in the park. But he devotes a good amount of time to reading also. “Reading is not a passive leisure exercise. In fact, reading books is the most creative thing you can do with your brain. While going through them you get a feel of the landscape, the characters and gain so much knowledge. I still remember the books I read as a teenager.”

Before writing the Alex Rider series, Anthony was writing children's books that were selling 5,000 to 10,000 copies annually. But the transformation came when J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series became a rage. “Earlier one had a tough time locating children's books in the bookstores, but now children books are everywhere,” says Anthony in his good-humoured way.

A self-acclaimed fan of the James Bond series on the silver screen, Anthony's favourite hero as a kid was Sean Connery. “I loved watching Sean Connery on the big screen.”

Though he may have derived inspiration for his popular spy series from Ian Fleming's fictional character, Anthony named the hero of the spy-series on a boy named Alex who dropped at his house one day. “He was fluent in three languages and was good at taekwondo. So the first fictional character was named after him. The second name Rider was chosen from novels on medieval period in which knights often fought and killed dragons.”

Anthony believes that everything including his most read character has a shelf life. “I was pretty convinced that once Alex Rider becomes old I will discontinue writing the series. I will never like a reader to feel that my book is not as interesting as the previous one. So my next one “Scorpia Rising” that will hit the bookstands next month will be the last in the series.”

Anthony's first novel “Stormbreaker” in the Alex Rider series was adapted into a film but got mixed response from viewers. “It was watched in some countries but one of my American producers who was supposed to release it in the United States, didn't release it there.”

But he has no regrets. “The simple truth is that all the money in Hollywood cannot create a child's imagination.”

For Anthony writing books is more valuable than writing scripts for movies or television series. “Books are more valuable than scripts. Like my spy novels on Alex Rider have sold in 33 languages. So it has increased the reading habit among kids living in different countries. Writing books involves hard work but the good thing is that you are in total control of the situation. While in film or TV it is a collaborative effort. There is team work and you have certain limitations,” said Anthony, who wrote the screenplay for “The Gathering” that starred Christina Ricci.

Even in the age of computers, Anthony enjoys using the good old fountain pen to write. “For every single book I have used a fountain pen. Eighty per cent of the story is written in the first attempt. In the second attempt, I change the language here and there.”

Before writing fantasy series “Robin of Sherwood”, Anthony did plenty of research work. “I read all books on him. Without an iota of doubt, Robinhood was a real person who has become a legend. But his real name was Robin Goodfellow. Even William Shakespeare had mentioned Robin Goodfellow in his play ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream'.

Stating that it was important to host festivals in which literature was given prominence, Anthony was supportive of the children's festival “Aviva Bookaroo” that concluded at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts here over the weekend.

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