Start Again . . .

Hullo, I've decided to start blogging again. I have no idea why. To celebrate here's me reading from The Canal over at InDigest Magazine.

Brutal Myth . . .

I hope this clears up a few things: it's not the symbolic beauty of the swan I find remotely interesting, it's the return of the image of the swan back to butal, violent myth that interests me:

Bookslut: Swans form an important piece of imagery in this novel. Can you talk about the role they play in your book?

Lee Rourke: Oh, I love swans so much. When I see a swan on the Regent’s canal in London it’s quite hard for me not to be affected by the stark juxtaposition of beauty and environment, I mean they are just brilliantly, beautiful creatures and I always want to say to them: what are you doing here? Why here? Of all the places for you to live your life, why the Regent’s canal?

But seriously, swans figure symbolically throughout the novel. I am interested in the myth of Leda and the Swan in its various interpretations (there is much Greek myth interwoven within the structure of The Canal, for instance and returning to your earlier question, if I was to give the woman in The Canal a name it would have to be Cassandra). Apart from the beauty of the swan and Leda’s naked form portrayed in the Hellenistic Reliefs, or da Vinci’s paintings, it is a rather brutal myth, and one that forewarns a major catastrophe (catastrophe is something that hangs above The Canal like a phantasm). Leda was Tyndareus’s wife, a Spartan king, although this was never enough. There was always the suspicion that Leda wanted to transcend this position. When Zeus, in the guise of a swan commits his despicable act upon Leda, she is yielded by him four eggs and is given god-like status. She gives birth to Castor, Polydeukes, Clytemnestra and most importantly Helen. An act of violence, not only rape, but fratricide (many Reliefs depict the siblings attacking each other), begets the bigger catastrophe: the act of genocide committed in the Trojan war. I am interested in Yeats’s reading of this myth in his poem "Leda and the Swan" -- it is a poem that underpins the whole of my writing of The Canal. Yeats’s poem can be read as a completion of image, taking in and re-processing the various iterations of this myth over many epochs. Yeats takes the image back to antiquity, back to the myth. In "Leda and the Swan" Yeats says: "A shudder in the loins engenders there / The broken wall, the burning roof and tower / And Agamemnon dead." Not only is he returning the image back to violence, but also back to myth -- where it belongs -- away from beauty and form.

I wanted to repeat this completion of image in my own iteration of Leda and the Swan as myth within The Canal. There is a sense of the unknown in The Canal, a sense that the actions inside the novel are a signal to an impending catastrophe. The woman is fully aware of this; she forewarns the man right at the beginning when they first meet. It takes the man right up until the dramatic conclusion to work out exactly what it is she means. Like Cassandra she is misunderstood, or more directly he refuses to believe what it is she is saying. Yet, there is always something to reveal. In messing around with this myth in The Canal I am hoping to reveal to the reader a mythical past that is our continual present.

[read more]

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Booker (not) . . .

It's time for The Guardian's 'Not the Booker Prize' again and it looks like a few people have nominated The Canal. I can't thank people enough for this. I'll be interesting to see who makes it on to the short list.

"This year, the fun of complaining about the Man Booker prize has been rather spoiled by the fact that the judging panel appears to have compiled a pretty strong longlist. Disappointingly, nearly all the books appear to be interesting – and at least two on the list – The Slap and Room – are even proving excitingly divisive and controversial.

The talk hasn't been so much about dull worthiness and yet more Irish dolour and north London angst as about abuse, tangled race issues and outrage. Oh, yes – and pleasure that some fine authors are getting recognition. As ever, there's been plenty of comment about notable omissions – but this year, most of it has related to Ian McEwan and Martin Amis, and few are claiming that the current novels from the web's favourite whipping boys have suffered an injustice."

My money is on 'Even The Dogs' by Jon McGregor.

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Author Events . . .

As I type this we are just eight days away from the *UK launch* of The Canal. Below is a list of my readings and events for July & August:

July 12th:

To Hell with the Lighthouse, featuring authors Adam Marek, John Niven and Lee Rourke (free, from 7.30pm at Peter Parker's Rock 'n' Roll Club, Denmark Street WC2H 8LP).

July 14th:

Literary Death Match London is thrilled to make its Concrete debut with an '80s-themed night of literary mayhem celebrating the launch of Bret Easton Ellis' Imperial Bedrooms (think Less than Zero 25 years later). The seventh London LDM will feature readers Nikesh Shukla, poetess Clare Pollard (representing Bloodaxe Books), novelist Lee Rourke (The Canal), and Milly McMahon.

July 15th:

*Official UK publication date* for The Canal. Available in all good bookshops and online stores.

July 20th:

Launch Party for The Canal, 6.30PM, To Hell with Books, 10 Woburn Walk, London, WC1H 0JL. Q&A with author & literary critic Stuart Evers. Free drinks.

July 21st:

Reading from The Canal at The Big Green Bookshop, Unit 1, Brampton Park Road, Wood Green, London, N22 6BG.

August 3rd:

Reading from The Canal at Broadway Books, 6 Broadway Market, Hackney, London, E8 4QJ.

More events to be announced . . .

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The Canal . . .

The Canal is now published in the US and available from all good bookstores and the usual online booksites such as Book Depository, Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Powell’s, et cetera . . . You can also cut out the middle-man and order it direct from Melville House, if you so desire.

It’s a great feeling. I have just arrived back from a mini book tour of the US and we had a wonderful time hanging around Brooklyn and meeting everyone at my publishers Melville House. I’d like to thank everyone who came to my launch and readings – I really, truly appreciate it.

So far things look good. The Canal seems to be selling and it has been quite well received (there are further reviews about to be published). There were a couple of sarcastic reviews on Goodreads.com – but that is to be expected. I’m fine about that.

I am now gearing up for the UK launch of The Canal. The official publication date is 15th July and my launch will be on Tuesday 20th July (6.30PM) at the wondrous To Hell With Publishing Bookshop in London. I will post more details about this and a busy reading schedule in the coming days.

If you are a US reader reading this and you have finished reading your copy of The Canal then please tell your friends about it . . . and if you feel inclined, I would especially be grateful for a quick review on Amazon.com – there are a few on there already, but some more would, of course, be great.

Expect lots more here soon! In the meantime check out my interview with Catherine Lacey over at the excellent HTMLGIANT.

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Vapour Trails . . .

I am currently missing the planes above London. I always watch the planes at they make their way to Heathrow, or climb into the sky from City Airport. The sky is oddly quiet without them. And I miss the vapour trails, those vapour trails we all deplore, yet still they are so beautiful up there, cutting accross the sky.

Anyway, that's enough of that; here are some things I have been up to of late:

1/ The Canal is now at the printers all set for the US launch in June. I think I will receive my copies in May (that's if there's no more volcanic and geothermal activity).

2/ Writing my Fables book.

3/ Sitting in the garden drinking wine.

4/ Cooking lots of good food.

5/ Burning my face.

6/ Reading lots of Jon McGregor (I'm a late-comer to his work - he's very good!).

7/ Fostered an addiction to Ricola.

8/ Re-reading Kafka (shorter fictions/Diary and letters).

9/ Re-reading Blanchot (his writing on Kafka).

10/ Reading Plato.

11/ Wondering if I should buy some new clothes.

12/ Going to the British Library a lot.

And I reckon that's about it. as you can see, I don't lead an exciting life, buy hey! Once the fables book is written (I have a deadline for the 25th May), things should start to hot up on here again in preparation for the launch of The Canal.

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Islington Tunnel . . .

The Canal, a novel by Lee Rourke.

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Canal Art . . .

The Canal, a novel by Lee Rourke.

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The Canal . . .

This is the cover for The Canal (a novel by Lee Rourke) published in the US on the 15th June and in the UK on 15th July.

The cover may differ from the published cover i.e., new blurbs and quotes et cetera.

The Canal is ready to pre-order here and here.

Journalists wanting to write about The Canal please contact Megan Halpern [megan at mhpbooks.com] at Melville House.

Book reviewers please email me [ljrourke9 at hotmail.com] and I will put you on the review copy list.

Also, you can follow The Canal's progress at Random House's 'author spotlight' - sign up here.

There will be more details to follow.

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Canal Biking . . .

(between 1.59 and 2.10 is of particular interest)

The Canal - a novel - is published by Melville House Books US 15th of June and UK 15th July

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Smallest Stuff . . .

The Canal is published on June 10th [Melville House].

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Go Around . . .

The Canal is published on June 10th

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In Flight . . .

My novel The Canal is published this year.

New Decade . . .

Well, that's another decade of my life reduced to mere memory. Happy new decade to all who find yourselves here.

So, 2010, eh! I don't know what to say, really. But for a start I was completely honoured to have been included in Bookmunch's thorough '50 Books you'll want to read in 2010' list. It's always heartening to be mentioned alongside so many writers I admire.

For those of you who have not seen the list, it is here.

And, just for the sheer hell of it, here is my pick of the bunch (in no particular order, ahem):

Richard - Ben Myers.
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet - David Mitchell.
The Pale King - David Foster Wallace.
Chronic City - Jonathan Lethem.
Castle - J Robert Lennon.

In a few days I'll post my own list of books I'm looking forward to reading this year. And I'll also begin to post all the reviews and criticism I had published last year.

I met Jonathan Lethem the other night (I’m interviewing him for the New Statesman). He’s a truly interesting man and completely engages with the art of writing fiction. His writing seems to tap into so many different things, it’s all rather incredible. He has been labelled the poet laureate of Brooklyn (which is a fair enough assumption), but I feel his work is far more universal and isn’t necessarily exclusive in that way.

I've been busying myself with my final edits on 'The Canal' - it's all looking good. My editor and publisher Dennis Johnson has done such a great job with the book and has truly whipped it into shape. He just seems to notice the little things that make all the difference - I never see these, maybe they are too obvious and I'm looking to change bigger things. I guess that what makes a true editor (and the fact that Dennis, along with running Melville House, is also an award-winning writer himself, probably helps).

Plus, I need a haircut!

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The Canal . . .

My novel The Canal goes into production this week with Melville House. This is something I am extremely excited about. Working with my editor; seeing the book develop; reading through the galleys . . . all of that. I like the contact with a manuscript. I like working on manuscripts. Deleting words here and paragraphs there. Changing the feel of a particular scene, or a snippet of dialogue; tweaking individual sentences until they are just right. It is this process, for me, that makes it all worth while.

In honour of my novel going in to production I have compiled a list detailing 10.5 things I like about the Regent’s Canal in London.

1) The old Wharf at Wenlock Basin
2) The graffiti under the bridges
3) The coots, swans, Canada geese and moorhens
4) The reflection of the tower blocks at De Beauvoir Town in the water just before the Kingsland Road bridge
5) The local children fishing in the dirty, scum ridden locks
6) The wood-burning narrow boats and their smug, sometimes moody occupants
7) Islington tunnel
8) The grooves in the brickwork under the bridges, where the ropes from horse-pulled barges have worn away the brick dating back from the 19th century
9) The group of Russian men who sit on the bench below Gainsborough Studios drinking Vodka until they fall asleep
10) The sound the towpath makes in places when cycling along it at speed
10.5) The silence that can be found there

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