Heather
asked
Tana French:
For weeks after I read one of your novels, I walk around saying "fair play" and swearing "sweet jaysus." You are greatly skilled in bringing your characters and Dublin alive for your readers. A new Tana French novel is gold in my hands. The Secret Place is set in a posh boarding school. Was it fun to work within the constraints of location, privilege, and the slang of youth? What were the challenges involved?
Tana French
Ah, that's only bleedin' deadly, so it is :-D
The slang of youth was *terrifying*. I think the heart of what it's like to be a teenager - the fever-pitch intensity, the vulnerability, the ferocious struggle to find a version of yourself that feels true *and* can exist in this complicated world - that stuff hasn't changed in the twenty years since I was a teenager. It was relatively easy to remember what that felt like.
The slang, on the other hand, has changed. I couldn't exactly have 2014 teenagers using 80s/90s slang - but nobody wants to be that cringeworthy middle-aged eejit who's desperately trying to be down with the kids and getting their slang all wrong. So I spent a lot of time lurking on messageboards for Irish teenagers, and a certain amount of time hanging around train stations when school was letting out, eavesdropping and presumably looking incredibly dodgy. Not that I think any of them noticed; when you're a teenager, some thirtysomething woman isn't even on your radar.
The slang of youth was *terrifying*. I think the heart of what it's like to be a teenager - the fever-pitch intensity, the vulnerability, the ferocious struggle to find a version of yourself that feels true *and* can exist in this complicated world - that stuff hasn't changed in the twenty years since I was a teenager. It was relatively easy to remember what that felt like.
The slang, on the other hand, has changed. I couldn't exactly have 2014 teenagers using 80s/90s slang - but nobody wants to be that cringeworthy middle-aged eejit who's desperately trying to be down with the kids and getting their slang all wrong. So I spent a lot of time lurking on messageboards for Irish teenagers, and a certain amount of time hanging around train stations when school was letting out, eavesdropping and presumably looking incredibly dodgy. Not that I think any of them noticed; when you're a teenager, some thirtysomething woman isn't even on your radar.
More Answered Questions
Carrie Lallo
asked
Tana French:
A comment, rather than a question; One of the most powerful devices in your books is auditory description. I have never read an author whose descriptions of the sounds of places are so powerful and haunting. I work hard on visual descriptions when I write, but rarely consider how things sound. I adore your writing. Keep going!
Jzj
asked
Tana French:
Secret Place:The endings were (although I love this book and only felt a little let down by this aspect!!!) so obvious to me from early on that I want to ask you: Was the whodunit-aspect not important to you in this book? and You took some risk by making the supernatural elements (light bulbs, hot and flying objects) sound real, literal. Why did this step seem necessary?
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