Keith Ellis
asked
Tana French:
Were edits made for the US editions? I've noticed many US-specific cultural references which I thought would be obscure to others. For example, one character jokes someone having a house in the Hamptons. I don't read many Irish books, but do read many UK books and I've never noticed so many US references in the latter. If not edits, is it the case that Dubliners are more aware of American culture than other Europeans?
Tana French
No edits for the US editions - occasionally there's a piece of Irish slang in the original that I'll change because it would be incomprehensible in the US, but that's as far as it goes.
In Ireland, because the vast majority of our cultural intake (films, music, TV shows, books, everything) is imported from either the US or the UK, people tend to be very, very fluent in international cultural references - to the point where we wouldn't consider, say, a Simpsons reference to be specifically 'American' at all: the show is as much a part of the fabric of Irish culture as of US culture. I think that in countries that produce a bigger proportion of their own cultural intake, there's less of a tendency to appropriate references from elsewhere.
In Ireland, because the vast majority of our cultural intake (films, music, TV shows, books, everything) is imported from either the US or the UK, people tend to be very, very fluent in international cultural references - to the point where we wouldn't consider, say, a Simpsons reference to be specifically 'American' at all: the show is as much a part of the fabric of Irish culture as of US culture. I think that in countries that produce a bigger proportion of their own cultural intake, there's less of a tendency to appropriate references from elsewhere.
More Answered Questions
Brendan
asked
Tana French:
I love how the protagonists in your books are characters we've already seen in smaller roles in previous novels. How far in advance do you plan that? When you're writing a supporting character into a book, do you know that you intend on making them a main character in a different story?
Carrie Lallo
asked
Tana French:
A comment, rather than a question; One of the most powerful devices in your books is auditory description. I have never read an author whose descriptions of the sounds of places are so powerful and haunting. I work hard on visual descriptions when I write, but rarely consider how things sound. I adore your writing. Keep going!
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