Anne Robinson is set to cast aside her steely television persona for her new BBC books show, but don't some writers deserve a grilling?
So the witch of The Weakest Link, Anne Robinson, is to become the BBC's new queen of books, in the process shedding her black-clad inquisitor-of-doom persona in favour of a more pastel-hued approach to authors visiting her sofa.
The mood of My Life in Books, Robinson's new vehicle, with guests including Jeanette Winterson, PD James, Downton Abbey's Elizabeth McGovern and Sir Trevor McDonald will be a kind of literary Desert Island Discs, it seems. Which is in tune with the default approach to literature both on TV and radio: a little bit hushed, a little bit in-awe, a little bit forelock-tugging.
I'm no fan of the S&M approach to presenting quizzes, but I wonder whether Robinson isn't missing a chance to bring something new to books broadcasting. Wouldn't it be worth trying a slightly more confrontational approach to the literary interview? It would certainly bring something fresh to what can seem slightly tired telly.
Giving writers a hard time is, of course, hardly innovative, but it's usually done from the comfortable distance of the reviewer's own study. The written interview, which is often scratched out for print with sharpened claws, is always conducted wearing kid gloves.
Since ? as readers of this blog can testify ? passions run high in literary discussions of books, it would be refreshing to see a more Paxmanesque, if not necessarily Robinsonian approach to the literary interview.
"Mrs Munro: it's all very nicely done, but aren't you a bit parochial? ... Mr Roth, we know you're getting older, but is that really an excuse to drop all the jokes? ... Freedom: it's an American novel all right. But are you really asking us to believe it's a Great one? ... Mrs Rowling, you've got a generation reading, but you've done so with an antique public school fantasy that's both prolix and retrograde. Pleased with yourself?"
A touch brutal, perhaps, but at least authors would have the chance to turn the tables on their interrogator. Surely there must be some writers who deserve the inquisition?
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/jan/24/anne-robinson-weakest-literary-link
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