Patrick McGrath: "Love? In its intense phase, this is nothing but foolishness"

TURIN – Sunday, July 1st Patrick McGrath , a literary star born in London in 1950, will be on the scene of Collisioni in Barolo, the tenth edition of music and literature festival. umain and madness ("Follia" is also his greatest success, published in Italy by Adelphi in 1996), McGrath spent his childhood near the Broadmoor asylum, where his father worked. It is this contiguity to mental illness, he said himself, which marked him as a man and forged as a novelist. It is precisely the "madness" (in all its possible forms) that is protagonist of all his novels, sometimes violent and sometimes more hidden and indecipherable. "Grotesque", "Haggard's Disease" (both for Adelphi), "Trauma" and "L'estranea" (Bompiani) are some of the titles that made it a case of global publishing, a of these authors (little) loved by both critics and the public. His latest work is "La Guardarobiera" (La Nave di Teseo, 2017) and tells an obsession, a different and more ambiguous feeling than the sheer madness of some of his previous novels. It is an underground impulse, less overtly declared and, as always happens in her novels (and sometimes in reality), she increases page by page. His approach to the subject, long meditated and elaborated also in the literary sense, continues to fascinate and remains surprising.

Where lies the fascination of mental illness and why she finds it so interesting that she is its protagonist. stories?
"When I was little, I lived near a madhouse I was aware of the great suffering that existed in this place and acts of horror and violence which had been committed by (and about) many of these patients.I never had fear of this and I was able to quell the fear and anxiety that would be the natural response of all. a child.this has also happened thanks to the love of my parents and to their comfort which has given me great solace.At the same time, I started reading stories of Horror, I must say with some enthusiasm.When I was nine, I liked Edgar Allan Poe very much.In fact, I liked all the writers of horror. Today, I think it was so that I was able to control and contain the worrisome world in which I grew up, later I started to create myself. even horror stories and, d Unexpectedly, I was drawn to madness as a true literary theme. With the pbadage of time, I was deeply involved in painting the chaos of madness in the order of fictional fiction. My fascination with this problem has never been interrupted until today. "

What Role Does Love Play in the Stories You Tell? And What Kind of Love Does It Interest As a Writer?
" Love and Love Madness, it's a complex and profound question. Love in its most intense expression is close to madness, and it is a very dangerous territory. I was sent to my novel Follia but I am sure I will come back to talk about it. "

Because he put" La guardarobiera "in London, in the immediate aftermath of the war and in the world of culture … and the theater?
" The novel takes place in 1947 , in order to explore the condition of England immediately after the Second World War, and I put history in a theater to investigate the ideas and identities related to the profession. As luck would have it, I discovered that in 1946 fascism was still very much alive and active in England and I was surprised, that's where I was. realized that I had to transfer this extraordinary event to the ruins of the war. "

In the novel there is a very original narrative expedient: the narrative self is a refrain. How was born the idea?
"I just imagined a group of older women in the theater (maybe ghosts?) Talking about characters as they were telling their story." And that reminded me of a Greek chorus. "

What is your favorite character?
"I loved them all as if they were my children.These are my children.I created them and I loved those who were most impossible to love: Constance Klein, Spider (played by Ralph Fiennes in David Cronenberg's 2002 film, ed. ), Sir Hugo, Edward Haggard, Jack Rathbone ".

His next novel will take place in Spain and will talk about the Spanish Civil War and Francisco Franco. The history of the twentieth century is an important source of inspiration for her. Why?
"I continue to be fascinated by the horrors of the twentieth century and, in particular, by fascism. Spain is the first place where a conflict between fascism and democracy took place. It was only the dress rehearsal that would lead to the second world war. Hitler was involved, as was Mussolini. The fascists won and Franco held power for nearly forty years. I'm trying to find a story to tell in this larger story, because it's the individual stories that make up the story. "