J.K. Rowling talks “Career of Evil” on NPR

Nov 03, 2015

Posted by: Catherine

Career of Evil, J.K. Rowling, JKR Interviews, News

As reported previously, J.K. Rowling (and…or Robert Galbraith) was to talk of her new novel, Career of Evil, and her Cormoran Strike series on NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour segment. For those who missed the segment yesterday morning, the transcript of the interview is available on NPR (if you’re short on time, they also posted a shorter “highlights” article of the interview), and a part of the segment has been uploaded for listeners, as well as a smaller segment from Morning Edition.

J.K. Rowling talks about being ousted as Robert Galbraith, the extensive research and planning that went into Career of Evil, her relationship with the characters (as we know she was very close to all of her Harry Potter characters), and keeping her family life private.

As J.K. Rowling tweeted, and mentions in the interview, her research for the novel gave her nightmares. That research involved reading case studies of real psychopaths, in order to grasp a mind set that is so far removed from her own. (J.K. Rowling would never hurt a fly). She worked hard to keep things terrifying and real, but not crossing the line of what she calls “violence porn.”

Many fans love Robin, and root for her and Strike, while discounting Matthew. However, readers don’t know her background, as they will discover within this novel. J.K. Rowling talks in length about Robin being a survivor and and a victim. (For those who don’t want to be spoiled, this part of the interview takes place at the time marker 13-14:30 minutes.)

When asked about her family on Morning Edition, Jo cut off the David, saying that is something she never discusses, particularly her kids. As we know, Jo is known for being protective of her family. She does receive a lot of support for this decision from her fans, who, in turn, are very protective of their her, their favorite author.

Excerpts of the segment transcripts can be read at the links provided above, and some here:

 

On her relationship to Strike, she says: “It would be wrong, wholly wrong, to suggest he’s an autobiographical character — he’s a disabled veteran, he’s a man, obviously … however there are things that I like in him, and that I would like to feel that we share. He has a very strong work ethic. He is a tryer, in all circumstances. And at the point where we meet him in the very first book, he is absolutely on his uppers, in a way that I too have experienced, in that he is as poor as you can be without being homeless.”

On Strike and discussing the oddities of fame, Rowling explains: It’s at a remove, because he himself when the series starts is not famous, but he’s the son of a famous man — so he has all of the drawbacks of being associated with fame and none of the advantages. So I look at the effect that an individual’s fame has on their family, for example, and the limitations that places upon your life to an extent — of course, it brings marvelous things too, but it brings them mainly to the individual. The people around the famous person often pay a price without reaping many of the rewards. And I find that an interesting area, and obviously yes that very much comes from my own experience.

On keeping her family private

There’s going to be debate around this as long as there are writers. Some readers and commentators really want to scrape your insides out to make sense of your work. Others say, there’s the work, it speaks for itself. Personally, I fall somewhere in the middle. I think it’s difficult to be honest about certain aspects of my work without acknowledging that I have experienced or felt or questioned certain of the themes in the books. But at the same time, I don’t feel I owe my readers details of my family’s private life, for example. So I’m happy to talk in general themes, but when we get down to specifics about my family, for me that’s always been off-limits. Of course, if my kids grow up and they want to write memoirs about what it was like, then that’s their right, and they should feel free to do it, and we may yet see J.K. Dearest! But until then, I’m going to protect them.

 





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.