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| Photo credits: Girl Well Read and Blue Heron Books. Do not use without written permission. |
Fredrik Backman was interviewed by award winning author, Terry Fallis, at the historic Uxbridge Music Hall. The event that was put on by Blue Heron Books, along with HarperCollins Canada, was in support of Backman's latest work,
Us Against You (the follow up to
Beartown).
Backman, a huge sports fan, grew up playing all sports except (ironically) hockey because logistically he couldn't get himself there with all the equipment and he was a "fragile" kid. That being said, he was always a spectator.
When doing research for
Beartown and
Us Against You, he said that he talked to a lot of people coming from the perspective of being an outsider which allowed him to ask stupid questions. Backman also admitted that he has never driven a Zamboni and Falls informed him that it was a Canadian invention to which he quipped "of course it is...you invented ice." What's remarkable about these two novels is that Backman initially thought that a book about hockey wouldn't do well. The books are doing so well in fact, that they have been optioned by HBO Europe as a limited series. Beartown could actually be any rural town in Canada and hopefully North American fans of the series will also get to see the books adapted for the small screen.
The idea of escape is prevalent in both the novels and in the writer himself. The town is in a state of economic decline and the hockey team is at the centre of the town—sports helps them elude their economic and personal issues. Backman fell in love with sports and literature at an early age and that was his break from reality. He said that he is "reality impaired" and that his need to escape is real. He used the example of going to a movie where it is a social contract of sorts to escape, but in his writing and life, he uses sports as the vehicle in which to do so. Backman hopes that the emotions he had while writing the book come through while reading it.
Throughout the novel, there is the repeated use of the word 'bang.' This was a conscious effort on Backman's part to not only explore the noise itself, but to link elements of the story. He also wanted the reader to think about the sound all throughout the chapter to figure out what kind of bang it was that they thought they heard.
Were there 'bangs' that could be taken out?
"No, I liked the bangs," Backman said. Part of the reasoning was he wanted to be long winded/bore the reader with a repetitious sound and then blindside them. Grief, pain, and fear work better when you are not prepared.
Backman plays with prejudice—especially with the people that say they aren't prejudice or don't have any. For example, Ove is the same person throughout the book, it is the reader that changes. Backman lets your preconception form and then he plays around with it.
The Beartown books are about the best and worst parts of sports and sports culture—the black and white of sports fans and by extension, the black and white of masculinity. He wanted to write a book that shows why hockey is so important and "hits the hockey fan over the head 150 pages in." Although more serious than what he intended, Backman's books talk about relationships and emotions. His characters become real to him because he cares about them and he explored what was important to each one with the town being the main character.
The whole book is about community and people making bad choices because it is something that they love—it is logical to them. "What is a community? It is the sum of our choices."
Describe your writing process, what does that look like?
Fredrik said that there are a lot of perspectives living in his head. He takes various notes on his phone and has to have a beginning and an end to start.
There is a brief window after the reader finishes where the author still has their attention and Backman wants to leave them with something.
In Sweden, Backman says that the all-seeing narrator is frowned upon. He actually feels the opposite and says that the omniscient narrator brings forth some awesome truths and offers foreshadowing. In the Beartown books, he needed the foreshadowing to keep the reader interested and to sneak up on them. The narrator is the town insider and outsider. They hate the town, but would defend it to its death. He never names them, instead uses 'we' to conjure up a "sense of belonging and intimacy." A book is intimate because it is between the author and the reader.
His writes his books in his native Swedish and then they are translated.
What is your approach to using humour?
Backman admits to sometimes being misunderstood, but that if you find something funny, you are more likely to care. "You like people that make you laugh." He also went on to say that "if you're funny, you tend to also forgive." He's also doesn't trust the reader to keep interested so he uses humour as a way to engage and keep the reader vested in the story.
What are you working on?
There will be another Beartown book. (Yay!) He also wrote a book about an involuntary hostage situation at an open house that was just published in Sweden.
Us Against You
Can a town that is already broken, survive more tragedy?
After a scandal rocks Beartown and leaves a town divided, the citizens are dealt another blow when they learn that their beloved junior hockey team will be dismantled. Hockey is what binds them together and brings meaning to the term community. The only people that are happy about this are the former Beartown players that now play for the rival team in Hed. Tension is at an all time high and things are starting to get dangerous.
A new team starts to form around the fastest player, Amat; the loner, Benji; and instigator, Vidar. Under a new and unlikely coach, the boys learn to grow together, breaking old bonds and forging new ones.
As the big game between Beartown and Hed approaches, the incidents between the towns are piling up and the hatred is growing stronger day-by-day. Can Beartown hockey and its residents be saved?
FREDRIK BACKMAN is the #1
New York Times bestselling author of
A Man Called Ove (soon to be a major motion picture starring Tom Hanks),
Beartown, and
Us Against You. His books are published in more than forty countries.
Backman lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and two children.
