Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
So, first you’ve got my favourite book, The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov.
I think it’s the best book I’ve ever read. My dad and I never agree on books, and he came up the stairs one day in about 1990 and he had this book in his hand and he said: ‘I’ve just finished reading this and I think this may be the best book I’ve ever read and I have a funny feeling that you and I are going to agree on this one.’ So, he gave it to me and, like a lot of Russian, or in this case Ukrainian, novels, the first 30 pages are heavy going but it’s the only book I’ve reread several times. Beyond that, in terms of autism, it’s the book that inspired the song ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ and it’s all about compassion for yourself, for others and really how ultimately that’s all that matters. The story is that the Devil comes to Moscow for a week and it’s about what happens. The other part of the book is a conversation between Christ and Pontius Pilate. And, essentially, it’s about compassion. So, as a parent, and long before I became an autism parent, I was getting a crash course in compassion from Mikhail Bulgakov. It stood me in good stead. And anyone who has read that book will find it resonates with you all the time. There were many times, when we were going through all the stuff you go through as autism parents in the early years of autism…
How old is your son now?
He’s eight. He’s actually playing computer games right next to me now. He’s very, very much further along now, but in those early years it was very tough. I would say that having read that book several times, well, it’s a bit like a crash course in practical Buddhism, isn’t it?
Well, I’m so interested that you think that. I’ve always thought that it’s about truth and the fact that truth exists and is absolute.
But it’s compassionate truth. Like the lady who kills her child and is forgiven at the Devil’s ball. Basically, what the devil is doing is extending compassion to sinners and doing what Jesus is telling Pontius Pilate it’s all about and that’s why the Devil gets very upset with people who say they don’t believe in it. Really he’s the enforcer and dispenser of the divine law.
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The author of The Horse Boy, soon to released as a movie, was born in London to a South African mother and a Zimbabwean father. His first book, The Healing Land (Grove Press), was a 2004 New York Times Notable Book. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Kristin, and their son, Rowan.
