Inside Slough House: Mick Herron in conversation with Declan Hughes
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- Опубліковано 7 січ 2023
- How many converts to the spy thrillers of Mick Herron the Apple TV series of Slow Horses may have added is impossible to say. What’s certain is that the Slough House series already had a massive cult following among crime writing aficionados. His latest novel, Bad Actors, is the eighth in the series. Discover what makes the successor to John Le Carre tick when he talks to critic and uber-fan, Declan Hughes.
I liked the way he said that as fast as he writes about the current political situation the more events get increasingly uncontrolled. It reminded me of a line from the drama "A Very Peculiar Practice" where the creative writer at the university bemoans how the actual people on campus outweird anything he tries to write.
Wonderfully relaxed interview.... and a fabulous last question and answer.
Archetypes anyone?
They are part of the deep, unspoken power of these novels.
Lady Di [Taverner] is the flip-side of the original Lady Di. The former is calculating, cold-blooded and unscrupulous, where the former was spontaneous, sensitive and vulnerable.
Lamb, on the other hand, is a part of ourselves we are longing to let loose on the world: apparently chaotic, blind, unthinking and invulnerable, he's our Dyonisian side, as is Shirley (as she is in the books, but not the show, unfortunately).
We are sandwiched between our Di(e) and Dander sides, colliding and just longing to emerge...with Lamb in the middle, as perhaps what we could and should be, but they missed that mysteriously in the series.
These characters give vent to it for all of us.
Fans of Charlie Muffin will take naturally to this. Unlike Brian Fremantle, though, Mick Herron is not (apparently) an ex-spook.
Disappointing. You should never meet your heroes or in this case, watch them.
One cannot make a blanket statement in this case for I have met some of my own, including my Mother and Wayne Dyer.
That's a bit harsh ... but understand the sentiment.
I love his writing and got Apple + tv so I could watch the tv series. Which I thought was a great adaptation.
As for meeting your heroes.
On Apple + tv they have a music documentary series titled ' 1971 ' , it's about the music of that year , and the social issues at the time.
I'm 70 yrs old, so thought I'd watch it , as I well remember that time.
It had quite a lengthy piece on John Lennon, who back in the day was my favorite ' Beatle '
Looking and listening to him in that series, reminded me what I've thought of him in my later years. What a pretentious prick.
So much for holding people up, that you don't know as hero's.
Our fault .... not theirs.
It is a very harsh comment. I've found Mick Herron's interviews fairly interesting. The adaptation of the Slough House series is bloody good to say the least, and as for meeting your heroes, here we go:
Jeremy Irons: my chancellor at University, one of the loveliest people I've ever met.
Will Todd: fascinating composer and interesting individual.
Jo Callaghan: lovely lady and fascinating author.
We can't tar all authors/heroes with the same brush. I appreciate what you're saying, but blanket statements only cause problems rather than address them.
In principle, I fully agree, but here...well I cannot get enough. Too bad they sacrificed Shiley Dander, though. In the books, she's an uproarious treat, and a foil to Lamb...at the other extreme from Lady Di(e). I guess Will Smith just had a blind spot to all that. Too bad. Too late now to fix it. What they will try do with her fiasco later on, I hate to guess.