Paperback Q&A: Boris Akunin on He Lover of Death | Books

How did you come to write He Lover of Death?

I finished She Lover of Death and saw that it was like one hand clapping, which is all right for Zen but not good enough for literature. That’s why I had to make it into a diptych. In my next novel, The Diamond Chariot, I use the two-stories-under-one-cover strategy which works better clapping-wise.

What was most difficult about it?

Flowery style has always been my trademark, but He Lover of Death is a novel with a clumsy turn of phrase and extremely limited vocabulary because the narrator is a half-literate juvenile delinquent. In this sense Émile Ajar’s novel La vie devant soi was an inspiration and big help. Or Georges Perec’s La Disparition, a novel which is written without a single letter “e”.

What did you most enjoy?

The challenge of describing beautiful things and noble feelings in unicellular language.

How long did it take?

A couple of months? When I finally get down to writing it’s very quick, like skiing down a mountain slope – you go fast or you break your neck.

What has changed for you since it was first published?

Everything. It was written 10 years ago. I write differently. I am different.

Who’s your favourite writer?

I cannot give you just one name because I do not know a perfect author. Each of the authors I admire is unsurpassable at something but is less so in other things.

What are your other inspirations?

Anything talented. When I see a talented film or a talented dancer, hear a song – it really can be anything – it makes me stronger, more confident. This is the most precious thing about talent: it’s contagious, it emanates creative energy.

Give us a writing tip

Write a perfect haiku. If you can achieve that nothing would be unattainable.

What, if anything, would you do differently if you were starting the book again?

I would have spent more time on the final part. It turned out sloppy because I was out of breath.

What are you working on now?

Many things at once. I am finishing a novel about the Crimean War. I do my blog. I’m relaunching all Fandorin novels in illustrated digital format for electronic readers and tablet computers. And I am trying to write a book just for myself.