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TRANSCRIPT
READING GROUP NOTES
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A Conversation with John Ironmonger
• Not Forgetting the Whale seems to be a uniquely optimistic apocalyptic novel. What inspired you to write such a novel? Are you an optimist?
Every time I read an apocalyptic novel or watch
an apocalyptic film I find myself saying, ‘people
just wouldn’t behave like that!’ We’re expected to
believe that, at the first sign of trouble, we’ll all
be shooting each other. But think about Britain
in the Blitz. Think about countries where food is
scarce. People don’t tear each other apart. We pull
together in times of crisis. That’s what I believe.
I’m not sure if this is optimism or realism. But I
have thought for a long time that it would make
a better story than the over-worn survivalist plot-
lines that we are all used to.
• There are strong religious undertones in the story. What does the book say about faith and God?
I’m not sure that it is the job of a novelist to strike
up a position on the nature (or the existence)
of God, and I try not to stray into that kind of
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territory. But I grew up in a very God-fearing
family, and I do see religious echoes in many of
the things I write about. Certainly the end of the
world would be a very ‘biblical’ kind of event. So I
think it was reasonable to populate the novel with
religious and non-religious characters to see how
each of them would respond to the crisis.
• You begin your novel with an epigraph tak-en from Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan. Is Not Forgetting the Whale your response to his claim that man is by nature selfish?
Yes. I rather think it is. Rousseau criticised
Hobbes for his bleak take on human nature, argu-
ing, instead, that our natural state is one where we
all work together for the common good. I think
modern literature (and films especially) tend to
take a Hobbesian perspective of humanity. So, in
a very small way, this is my attempt to introduce
some balance.
• The subject of supply chains and our over- reliance on them is discussed in depth in the novel. What led you to investigate this domino effect? Has rapid globalisation been a blessing as well as a curse?
I suppose I have become fascinated by the systems
we rely upon these days, for farming and distribut-
ing food. The whole process, from the farm gate to
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the kitchen table, has become labyrinthine in its
complexity, involving high-tech farm machinery,
refrigerated warehouses, networks of specialist dis-
tributors and complicated packaging. The fact that
it all works amazingly well means we don’t tend
to think about it as a risky process. Yet there is a
view that these systems are becoming increasingly
fragile; so much so, that any significant disruption
to the process (like a pandemic, or a sudden short-
age of fuel) could trigger a catastrophic collapse. It
strikes me as odd that developed countries pay so
much attention to defence (for example) and so
little attention to food security. So, yes, I do rather
fear that globalisation might bring along with it
the seeds of its own destruction. Does that make
it a curse? I don’t know. I like being able to buy
avocados and tuna and Australian wines. But I am
nervous about our ability to feed our cities once
the networks start to fail.
• You have Cornish heritage and spent a few years of your childhood in Mevagissey. What does it mean for you to share this part of your identity in the novel?
I was seventeen when my parents retired to
Mevagissey. My mother had grown up in the
village, and she longed to go back. They bought a
general store, in the square by the harbour, and I
worked for my father during school and university
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holidays, stacking shelves, slicing bacon and de-
livering groceries to houses on the cliffs. I thought
at first that I would hate it. My friends were a long
way away, and this little town (especially in winter)
was quiet and so remote. But, like Joe, I discovered
the most extraordinary community. Within weeks
I had learned the names and faces of dozens of vil-
lagers, I had made new friends and I had started to
understand the support network that every villager
seemed to be part of. I have wanted to write about
this for a long time. It feels like a privilege to be
able to share this.
• Can you tell us where the seas take Aminata and Joe? Do they have a future together?
Ahh – well even if I knew I wouldn’t tell you. One
of the enduring strengths of any novel is the way
it sets the characters and our imaginations free.
I know that if I ever sat down to write a sequel
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(which I have no plans to do) the characters would
surprise me with their determination to do things
and say things that I had never planned. So please
feel free to imagine whatever future you wish for
Aminata and Joe. That will be the future they
have. That’s the unique power of fiction.
• Who are your favourite writers? Which of them has influenced your writing?
I am a fairly eclectic reader and I read novels from
a wide range of genres and traditions. I like mod-
ern American authors such as Jonathan Franzen,
Donna Tartt and Garrison Keillor, and I love the
non-fiction writing style of Bill Bryson. I’m also a
huge fan of Damon Runyon’s short stories. But I
knew I wanted to be a writer when I first read John
Irving’s The World According to Garp, and I’ve been
a committed Irving fan ever since.
• What are you working on at the moment?
I’m putting the finishing touches to a novel
(working title: To Cast Away Stones) about a Super
Recogniser – someone who never forgets a face.
And I’m part of the way into writing a fifth novel
about four unlikely characters who find themselves
cast away together on a raft. I’m not altogether
sure if it will work but I’m enjoying the writing,
and that always helps.
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For Discussion
• ‘Memory is all we have, fragile though this may
be.’ How significant is the placement of this line
in the opening paragraph? How greatly are Joe’s
actions influenced by his memories?
• The novel draws from the Biblical story of
Jonah and the Whale. How many other Biblical
and mythological references in the text can you
find? Why are they noteworthy?
• What does the novel say about individual
self-interest and, more generally, human nature?
• Joe flees a high-flying, well-paid job in the City
to settle in a rural Cornish village. Do you think
the story favours the simplicity of country-living
over city life?
• How realistic does Cassie’s forecast of a rapid
social collapse in the novel seem to you?
• ‘Flu exists so it must be part of God’s purpose
. . . We live in the best of all possible worlds.’
Discuss.
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• How essential is the motif of the whale to the
plot? Why is it symbolic?
• ‘And the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish,
and short.’ (Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan.) How
successfully does the heart-warming narrative
confront this bleak vision?
• What did you think about the ending of the
novel? Would you have liked to know more about
Joe’s future?
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If you enjoyed Not Forgetting the Whale, you might like these books . . .
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian
by Marina Lewycka
The Humans by Matt Haig
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
by Mark Haddon
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Capital by John Lanchester
The Coincidence Authority by John Ironmonger
Collapse by Jared Diamond
The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
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CAN’T WAIT FOR JOHN’S NEXT BOOK?
HAVE YOU READ HIS COSTA-SHORTLISTED FIRST NOVEL?
On his twenty-fi rst birthday, Maximilian Ponder shut himself away from the world to embark on his greatest project: an attempt to record every memory in his brain. It should have taken three years. But three long decades pass. Now Max lies dead, surrounded by his magnum opus. And before his friend Adam can call the police and inform them of Max’s death, one rather gruesome task remains . . .
Now Adam tells the story of the man he knew – a man whose life changed dramati-
cally the day he buried a dead Labrador and fought a duel with his father . . .
Shortlisted for the 2012 Costa First Novel Award
‘Original, touching and extremely well-written’ Guardian
‘Huge fun to read’ Mark Watson
Available in paperback and eBook from Weidenfeld & Nicolson
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Since Azalea Lewis was abandoned as a child at a fairground, her life has been afflicted by unlucky coincidences. Overwhelmed by the patterns in her past and convinced she can’t escape her destiny, Azalea decides to consult an authority.
When she enters the office of Dr Thomas Post – the man she collided with on an escalator the week before – it must be fate.
But Thomas, the authority on coincidence, sets out to prove Azalea wrong. And as he unravels the mysteries of her past, he finds his certainties about love,
life and statistics are shaken up in ways he could never have imagined…
She believes in fate. He believes in fact.What are the chances of a happy ending?
‘This story twists like a pretzel, the author teases and tantalises the reader, and it’s
delightfully unexpected’The Times
‘A love story that is also a story of
ideas . . . touching’Metro
Available in paperback and eBook from Weidenfeld & Nicolson
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