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Bernard Cornwell speaks with Sharp's Book Co. Part 2

Bernard Cornwell speaks with Sharp's Book Co. Part 2     

Here is the second part of our interview with Bernard Cornwell....

[SBC] The character of Sgt Obidiah Hakeswill is truly objectionable; is he based on anyone from real life, or is the character a “pastiche” of unpleasant characteristics!

[BC] I am offended, wounded. Hakeswill, that splendid man, is entirely based on me.

 

[SBC] What are your thoughts on the proliferation of E-books during the past 5 years?  Do you think that this is a technology to embrace for the future, especially with news of an electronic device being developed, not much larger in thickness and size than A4 card, which can be used to display text and subsequently read like a book?

[BC] I confess I had no idea they had proliferated. I never encounter them, know no-one who has read one, so I fear they're not on my radar. My own view (antediluvian though it is) is that a book is one of the most efficient devices ever invented, and it does no good to make them electronic. Reading a computer on the beach or in the bath is no fun.  And think how frustrating it is when your battery dies just before Sharpe goes into battle!  Electronic devices on shelves do not decorate a room.  A useful thing, say, for the 20 volumes of the OED, but I'll bet most folk will stick with books.

 

[SBC] Do you support the view that published writers should be paid royalties when their works are taken on loan from libraries etc.?

[BC] I support PLR, and why not?  I'd like to see a rule that no fiction could be put in libraries until a year after the hardback publication, but I know I'm whistling into the wind. I can't complain, so I'll shut up.



[SBC] What is it about military conflict, in any historical, era that provides material you obviously feel so comfortable with.  Do the themes of camaraderie, treachery and betrayal, bravery, loyalty, and the parfait knight; inform your approach to your plot?

[BC] I think the appeal is that in wartime the usual moral constraints, and indeed the usual laws governing our worst behaviour, are removed, and it's fascinating to see what folk do when they're let off those strong leashes.  War is also hugely useful for plotting - you don't have to struggle for a complicated ending to the story, but just slaughter the bad guys in a battle. The epigraph to 'Sharpe's Eagle' says it all, really - 'Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier', Sam Johnson, so I suppose I'm compensating like mad.



[SBC] Do you have your own heroes/heroines who have been a source of inspiration to you?

[BC] Probably the easiest way to answer that is to say that I have five framed portraits (with autographs) in my study, and they are, in no particular order, Edmund Burke, the first Duke of Wellington,  Ellen MacArthur, Jonny Wilkinson and Jason Leonard. I also have my wife's picture, but she hasn't given me an autograph yet.



[SBC] What motivates you to carry on writing, and are there as yet undisclosed ideas for future series or sequels?

[BC] I write because I love it!  I get paid to tell stories?? What could be better?  And yes, I have loads of ideas for future books, even a new series or two, but I have too many unfinished series around - so who knows whether I'll get round to them.


Our thanks to Mr Cornwell for talking to us and we hope you enjoyed what he had to say.

Bernard Cornwell’s website can be found at http://www.bernardcornwell.net – The site includes news, information and interactive areas including a forum.

by..Sharp's Book Co