A Bookshop Interview with RUPERT THOMSON

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

PLEASE NOTE: To hear and see Rupert Thomson reading from 'How To Make A Bomb' (aka 'Dartmouth Park'), visit the Community Page on this channel and look at today's entry (30th April 2024).

[@robjohnston5673]

Great to see Rupert Thomson on the channel. Looking forward to reading How to Make a Bomb. I saw Rupert on a book tour for The Insult when it had just come out, and I'd just read Dreams of Leaving. An amazing novel, all the more so for being his first. Rupert told a great little story which still makes me chuckle about some fans telling him how much they loved his third novel, 'Earth, Wind, and Fire' ... 🙂

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yes, he's an interesting scribe and a lovely guy in person, glad you enjoyed this.

[@EDDIEBOYCALVERT]

That was so great Steve! So nice to listen and watch back such a memorable event. Will pass it on to Rupert now as I’m sure he’ll love to see it. Great work mate, as always! Xxx

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Yes, it was a great night- and Rupert was such a sweet guy. You made it what it was though, well done! The rapport and understanding of RT's oeuvre was obvious. Thanks for making a sterling appearance here too!

[@rickkearn7100]

Stephen, I'm sure Rupert must sometimes think: "God bless Liz Calder". What an extraordinary life this man is enjoying (at least nowadays, enjoying his success). I was compelled, thanks to this episode of yours, to read a condensed bio on him and it was striking to me, that his early adult life struggles are an oft-seen component of many successful writers' bios. In a different reality, I would give my left pinkie finger to have as interesting a life as it seems he's had so far. Would that it were (minus losing the pinkie). As always, OB, you find the cream and present it in the most palatable of fashions. Cheers!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Cheers Rick. Yes, Liz Calder gets a lot of kudos within the industry in the UK and was a favourite of many writers- she's deserving of a biography, I'd say.

[@thekeywitness]

My TBR grows yet again.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

I know the feeling....

[@mike-williams]

I started reading his books from Dreams of Leaving onwards. I must admit that I've missed post-2000 books due to my period of living in the US where so many English authors are not seen on shelves. His second novel Five Gates of Hell is my favourite.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Mike, as ever, you are a walking fount of culture, good man!

[@michaeldaly1495]

Just finished 'The Insult', which I'd not heard about prior to your channel and it certainly made an impression - I feel like my brain has been thrown in a blender and given back to me in a large margarita glass with a parasol and a pink straw. Loved it. At times it reminded me a bit of Frankenstein (the old film mostly and the little girl by the river), Of Mice and Men and at other times Flannery O'Connor and Italo Calvino. I must read more - any suggestions for next one? I will watch the interview after reading a bit more by him - cheers!

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

'The Insult' is a very strange book indeed, agreed. I'd suggest 'Divided Kingdom', a little more conventional maybe, covered in my 'Obscure Dystopias' video some 2 years back, but a good one to go with.

[@chocolatemonk]

I want to document my moments more because of this video

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

It's not a bad thing to do. When I think of all the stuff I could have filmed a few years back and didn't...

[@erikpaterson1404]

Here we are, settling in for another shot of outlawbookseller. 👏

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Thanks for watching!

[@erikpaterson1404]

@@outlawbookselleroriginal ordered my copy of Dreams of Leaving and Divided Kingdom. Debating whether I should read his memoir, The Party's Got To Stop...

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@erikpaterson1404 It's apparently very good- only his third book: he had quite an interesting youth by all accounts.

[@sylvanyoung]

31:32 Hi Steve . Thanks for the video. Rupert seem so difficult to " pin down " I am getting shades of psychogeography , magical realism , horror and who knows what else . I need to find some of his books ( sans online shopping ) . But is he an " easy read " ? Who is like him ? . ( My foolish questions? ) . I should go to the reading befor i post , but i wanted to get in an early hit .

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Hi Sylvan- let's just say he's digressive and unpredictable - easy to read, yes, but you just have to go with his flow, which is very dreamlike. If I were to critique his books, I'd say they are sometimes too long, but again it's about expectations. As my friend Edward said in his interview, RT has a more European than British style, something I completely agree with. Great ti hear from you.

[@jonsharp923]

Discovered your channel recently and have been binge watching, lovely stuff. One comment if I may, not necessarily in respect of this video, but you need to invest in a microphone as would improve the sound quality immensely.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Thanks for joining us here. People say this at times- and sometimes I use a different microphone (shooting in a public setting where one cannot control the environment as one would like to is different, obviously) - but I think a lot of the time, it's the device(s) the audience watches/listens on. I've sat in front of a big, visible high quality mic in some videos (without it actually being plugged in) and people have said the quality is better when I've actually just used the inbuilt on the camera. But I'll think about this again...

[@jonsharp923]

@outlawbookselleroriginal fair point. I personally watch on phone and I'm having to crank the volume right up when watching your videos compared to other things I watch. Just a small observation, really enjoying the channel.

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

@@jonsharp923 I'll see what I can do.

[@erikpaterson1404]

I've picked up a few of his books since this video - his first novel, Dreams of Leaving, after reading the first page has me mesmerized - what would one call this work... literary fiction? would one place it on the same shelf as McEwan, and the like?...

[@outlawbookselleroriginal]

Well, 'Literary Fiction' is strictly speaking a Book Trade bit of terminology- in the way it's used online - to designate fiction that is not published or marketed as genre fiction or mass market bestseller, so it's a bit of a tainted term- some things are, of course, more literary than others. I call non-genre fiction 'The Mainstream', which is an old SF fandom habit I'm proud to keep using as it makes sense to me. Thomson clearly is Literary, but I'd just say 'Mainstream'. He does, however, incorporate elements of the Fantastic and Speculative into his work- so, for example, I'd call his dystopian novel 'Divided Kingdom' SF- as dystopias are SF by default.

[@ChibiChubbyRobo]

lol Rupert gettin a lil savage with the interviewer. Interviewer - “You have a very British sensibility” Rupert Thomson - “I don’t really know what that is.”