Interview with Man of the Moment Tom Rob Smith by A.L. Harper
You may not have heard of Tom Rob Smith yet but you will, and soon, as he is the next big thing in crime/political thriller novelists. Think Sue Grafton having drinks and a laugh with Ian Rankin at a party thrown by John Grisham and that should go some way to help you understand where Smith’s début novel Child 44 fits in. Based heavily on the life and crimes of Andrei Chikatilo, the Butcher of Rostov, Smith’s novel has everything; plot twists, political intrigue, unimaginable violence and even cannibalism. He weaves a completely believable tale that has the flavour of true literature about it. It’s penetrating and richly textured, with none of the glossed over plot holes or depth-less superfluous characters that other such novels in this genre can suffer from.
“One of Smith’s talents lies with his ability to be absolute, honest, raw, never grandiose, overwrought, or declamatory. “
One of Smith’s talents lies with his ability to be absolute, honest, raw, never grandiose, overwrought, or declamatory. And that ability ensures that Child 44 maintains a feeling of utter believability throughout. Smith paints a bleak, frank picture of life in communist Russia. So real, so frighteningly vivid are the images of this time and place it would be easy for you to believe that Smith is himself a survivor of that era, but in truth this 28 year old Englishman is probably only just old enough to remember what the cold war was like at full chill. So complex and deeply layered is Child 44 that even before publication it attracted the attention of Ridley Scott, who has already bought the film rights, and is working on adapting this intrigue filled novel for the big screen.
And it would be reasonable to assume that Smith might be resting on his laurels, but you’d be wrong. He is currently working on the sequel at his home in London. He was nice enough to take some time out from his very busy schedule to have a chat with me about his new book. I was surprised by how unassuming and gentle he is, given the gruesome, grizzly crimes in his novel. Soft spoken, intelligent, open and welcoming Smith was an interesting and fun person to spend an afternoon talking with.
So tell us about your novel Child 44. It is a very violent novel but without ever feeling like the violence is gratuitous. Was that intentional?
Yeah, it’s interesting the question of violence because, it never really crossed my mind. I’m not particularly interested in violence from that point of view. I guess because lots of it is plucked from real sources, and actually often the case is I tried to find the least violent forms. For example the torture, the camphor oil, which was a treatment that was used. There were much more violent tortures, more bizarre that I could have used. At least with this one you could do something with it and it’s not about ripping someone’s fingernails off.
“The thing about a thriller is people being in danger. The danger in Child 44 is primarily from the State.”
I think it was a very violent world, it was a very violent time, and people died easily. So yes it is violent. But I never felt like I was binding it in that way. The thing about a thriller is people being in danger. The danger in Child 44 is primarily from the State. It’s not from a guy with a knife, it’s not from a guy who’s going to cut your head off. The State is the threat here. The State is a threat to Leo. The State is a threat to Raisa.
Do you think the story is more about Leo and Raisa (the protagonists) than about the murders?
My approach to the serial killer aspect is that it is the way into this world. It strikes me that there are many different ways that you can spin a story but with a serial killer narrative you can have a great puzzle. Which is you have a kind of Moriarty like villain who runs around setting puzzles for your hero to solve. That’s great fun, I like that as much as anyone. But there are also investigations which are about the world in which they are set.
And your story borrows significantly from the life and crimes of Andrei Chikatilo. You even begin your story with a child being eaten, and that’s what happened to Chikatilo’s older brother in the Ukrainian famine.
“It’s like explaining someone’s preference for the colour blue rather than red. It just this insane destructive preference.”
He grew-up under the shadow of hearing that his brother might have been eaten. I thought, “well if we’re going to start with that we might as well have it there”. From a visual point of view. But the thing about that is… I spoke to an Italian journalist the other day and she was saying that she loved the book but she had one criticism; she never really got the psychology of my Andrei. And I said “I have read whole case studies about the real Andrei and if you asked me right now why he did what he did, I couldn’t tell you.” I could speculate, I could give you little bits and pieces, but just feels to me like, who knows. In the end the real killer, his motives were that he enjoyed inflicting pain.
He discovered very early on that he didn’t enjoy sex, he enjoyed suffering. How do you write about that? It’s like explaining someone’s preference for the colour blue rather than red. It just this insane destructive preference. And I thought, “well we’re going to have to reconfigure it.”
That was the one part I have difficulty with myself. It’s difficult to follow his motive.
The thing about the psychology of the killer, I’m perfectly prepared to accept that this killer doesn’t exist. Serial killers are quiet uninteresting. They’re quiet difficult to write about because their motives are so closed. Their motives are like “because this is what I like. I like dominating. I like this, I like that.” It’s very simple and it’s very blunt. It’s very nothingy, like there is nothing there. It’s like trying to explain the psychology of a stone. There is a kind of deadness about it. So as soon as you try and do something from a narrative point of view, I think there is an element that doesn’t ring true.
Child 44 is a stunning success. Never weighed down with overdone or obvious political commentary, or excessive violence or melodrama. Smith’s writing is always austere and elegant. The literary equivalent of simple clean lines and great open spaces. Every word seems perfectly placed, meticulously considered for it’s brevity and weight, you never feel overawed or confounded. Each thought, motion, action and phrase is chosen as would be an ornament in a minimalists living room. This is a book I recommend you read now before you’re just following the crowd. I guarantee you won’t regret it.
A.L. Harper is a freelance writer and motorbike fanatic originally from Salt Lake City, Utah but now living in Scotland. In edition to being the Managing Editor for All Things Girl, A.L. is the Assistant Music Editor for Blogcritics.org and a freelance writer for hire.
