Why I said yes to Professor Self

February 23, 2012 | 15 notes

Legendary novelist Will Self writes about why working at a university with people who pursue knowledge for its intrinsic value is truly liberating:

Here are two contrasting experiences. I read a short story I have written to a group of people, and when I’ve finished I invite questions, stressing that these can be as broad or specific as they wish. The first questioner wants to know how I see meta-fictional conceits in relation to the traditional philosophic novel, and when we’ve discussed this for a while she asks for further reading recommendations. A second questioner asks me how I view my work in relation to naturalistic fiction. A third makes a comparison between my story and a novel by Adolfo Bioy Casares (a doyen of Latin American science fiction writing), and it’s my turn to note down this suggestion for further reading.

The following day I speak to someone on the phone who’s read the film script I’ve adapted from the same short story. She asks me this question: “Why did you mention the brand name of a lemon squeezer in your script?” This is not a single bathetic instance – she follows it by asking me questions for a further 20 minutes, none of which suggest any familiarity with my work beyond this script and an article I wrote for the Guardian travel section about Trafalgar Square.

The first group was, of course, comprised of university students, whereas the individual phone caller was a journalist on a national newspaper.

Read the rest here.