When asked what beauty is, Jean-Baptiste Andrea does not start with a painting or a poem. He talks about his dog, a walk in the mountains, the starry sky, the smell of the forest, music and a nice evening with a friend. “Beauty is everywhere“, says the French writer, screenwriter and director in a conversation about literature, childhood and faith.
Andrea is in Sofia to present the Bulgarian edition of his debut novel “My Queen“ at the invitation of the Orange Books publishing house. The author is a winner of the “Goncourt“ for the novel “To Watch Over Her“, but it tells of success without the self-confidence of a person who believes he has arrived at the final stop.
The dream begins at the age of nine
Even as a child, Andrea knew that he wanted to be a writer. “I wanted to become a writer since I was nine, and the whole world around me kept telling me that this was not a real profession“, he says. According to him, he never gave up on this dream and never had another profession – he always wrote or translated.
Storytelling has been a part of him since childhood. “I love telling stories to friends. I did it even as a child and I think that is why I wanted to become a writer“, says Andrea. For him, writing brings joy above all, and a book should create an emotional connection with the reader.
Literature should not give lessons
Andrea does not accept literature as an edification or political program. According to him, a writer can express his own opinion, but a book should not become a lesson to the reader.
„I do not think that literature should try to give lessons. It should say, express facts“, the writer states.He does not strive to reproduce what has been achieved. On the contrary - each subsequent book should be different. „I do not try to give people what they expect. I try to give them what they don't expect“, says Andrea.
The path to the divine is through art
In the conversation, the divine is not an abstract idea, separated from everyday life. Andrea connects it with people who do something significant for others, take care of animals and nature or create art.
“I think everyone can get close. In my opinion, the closest to the divine are people who do great things for others. But art is also a path“, he says.For the writer, cinema and literature are also closer than they seem. He doesn't think about cinema when he writes, but his words give rise to images. It is this sense of fusion between image and language that is the skill he has retained from his work as a screenwriter and director.
“My Queen“ is a risk for Andrea, because the main character is a naive child - that part of a person that, in his opinion, is rarely talked about. The author himself defines himself in one word - an optimist. And when asked what he loves most, he answers without hesitation: "Life".
Source: bTV News