Tyla
asked
Chris Pavone:
THE ACCIDENT Do you think adding a perspective of Charlie would add a deeper insight?
Chris Pavone
Probably! This is a great question. The main reason I didn’t include Charlie’s POV is that I wanted him to remain the elusive object of other people’s speculations—not only the fictional characters’, but also real-world readers’—and someone who is essentially unknowable. The manuscript itself, and Charlie at the core of it, are meant to be objects in this story. The subjects are really the other characters—the author and agent and editor and sub-rights director and film producer and etc.—whose lives are affected by the manuscript.
In some ways, Charlie and the ms. are irrelevant; it’s the other characters’ ambitions that drive the plot. Ambition is the main theme of The Accident, and I think the concept of ambition can be divorced from its vehicle. Whether in publishing or politics or espionage—or anything—ambition is its own motivation, and satisfying ambition is its own goal and reward. Abstract, just like Charlie.
In some ways, Charlie and the ms. are irrelevant; it’s the other characters’ ambitions that drive the plot. Ambition is the main theme of The Accident, and I think the concept of ambition can be divorced from its vehicle. Whether in publishing or politics or espionage—or anything—ambition is its own motivation, and satisfying ambition is its own goal and reward. Abstract, just like Charlie.
More Answered Questions
Liz
asked
Chris Pavone:
My book club read The Expats as our August 2014 selection. About half-way through the novel there is a scene where the music “Hotel California" is playing in the background, with its ominous lyrics “you can never leave.” We recalled this scene at the end of the book, wondering if any of the characters could successfully “leave”. While the question is left intriguingly open, any thoughts you'd be willing to share?
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