Interview: Henry Martin, author of The
Mad Days of Me:
Escaping Barcelona
By Sabrina Williams
Henry Martin, author of The
Mad Days of Me:
Escaping
Barcelona, graciously agreed to answer some questions for me. The Mad Days of Me is the story of
Rudy, a man who is assaulted and robbed while visiting a foreign
country and is
forced to live on the streets for several months. The
book is incredibly powerful, with many
philosophical interjections and a fascinating study of the coarse
motivations
of humanity. Since the novel provides
the reader with so much fuel for thought, it was an honor to discover
some of
the basis of the story and get a better understanding of the author’s
intentions.
1. You have
mentioned that your inspiration for The Mad Days
of Me came from your own intrigue of the homeless teenagers around Harvard Square. Did you meet with
any of the teens to become familiar with their stories?
I remember talking with a police officer once, who
told me
that most of the "kids" hanging about the subway station were
actually not from Boston, but from all over the country. This
conversation
spiked my initial interest in what reasons they could possibly have to
be
there. Did I meet any of them? Yes and no. While waiting for the "T",
as it is called in Boston,
I
sometimes stopped to have a cigarette; occasionally some of them would
ask me
for one and we would talk for a minute. It was never anything
substantial, but
over time I noticed a similar pattern -- a lot of the ones I talked to
didn't
get along with their parents. Other than that, the inspiration came
from
observing the world around me.
2. Rudy
experiences some very serious physical conditions as
a result of his homelessness. For example, the sensation of starvation
and his
body's reaction to his lack of food create ongoing difficulties; weeks
of
walking in the same socks and shoes cause his feet to bleed and meld
into his
socks. How did you learn of the physical aspects and ailments that
might
afflict a homeless person?
Just look at anyone who has been living on the
streets for a
long time. The things you notice almost instantly are their teeth,
hands and
feet. I thought of how hard your socks become after only two or three
days
without changing them, (you know, hiking, camping, traveling light),
and I
immediately considered that to be a problem for someone who wouldn't
have the
luxury of changing socks for weeks or even months at a time. Having
placed the
story in February, Rudy was not likely to be able to walk around
barefoot, so I
had to write that into the story.
3. How did
you decide on the sequence of events leading to
Rudy's homelessness? Did you consider other options/storylines?
I did consider other options. Basically, when I
write, I
work from my head. I knew the end of the story, I knew some of the
obstacles I
wanted to throw in his way, but I didn't know how to begin. In other
words,
what would be a sufficient reason for him to endure all he has to
endure
without him giving up, in order to make it the story I wanted to
create? To simply
be a runaway was not strong enough. The same goes for the
"technicality" issue regarding his passport; after all, if he wanted
to head home, he could have left without it. With the scenario of rape,
a crime
so heinous that it would affect him not only physically but also
mentally,
combined with his being arrogant and stubborn, Rudy is fighting an
inner
conflict between shame and pride, his instinct of survival and the
struggle to
retain dignity in an undignified world. It was the combination of his
character,
his state of mind and the sequence of events, that lead to his
homelessness.
4. The
entire novel takes place in Barcelona, Spain. How did you
decide on the locale?
I briefly passed through Barcelona
in the early nineties and I immediately fell in love with the city. It
has a
certain ambience; the place
where Africa meets Europe,
with
specific scents, culture and an astonishing mixture of characters I
have not
found anywhere else. At the same time, being a port city, it has its
dark side;
anything from prostitutes, illegal immigrants, thieves and pickpockets,
to drug
dealers and more serious crimes. There are both the shiny new buildings
as well
as the dark alleys and narrow streets in the old city, a place where
anything
could happen. I wanted the novel to have a cosmopolitan appeal and Barcelona
seemed to have it all -- diversity, antiquity, art, architecture, the
sea.
There are literary thousands of photos, webcams and interactive maps
available
on-line and this helped me to get a "feel" of the city without
leaving my home.
5. In his
wanderings, Rudy becomes somewhat of an amateur
philosopher, making very serious observations about class, greed,
society, etc.
Which of Rudy's philosophies do you share?
Working on the story and specifically taking the
approach of
writing in first-person, real time narration, I grew to see the world
through
Rudy's eyes and inevitably have Rudy see the world through my eyes. Am
I a
"prophet of doom"? No, not really. At the same time, I do think that
we, as humans, are heading the wrong way, growing farther apart from
Nature,
from art and from our fellow men; from everything that makes us
"human", while making useless attempts to fill the void with gadgets
and consumption. In our stress and fear driven society, we hardly take
the time
to reflect on our experiences and actually understand what we are
chasing
after.
6. Can we
expect to see more fiction from Henry Martin in
the future?
If I find a publisher willing to put their name on
it, then
certainly. I am currently working on my third novel and then there is a
disturbed monologue, balancing on the line between philosophy and
fiction I
have been having in my head for some time, which is waiting to be
written down.
I would also like to do a book of fifty short stories; one from each of
the
continental states.
7. At the
end of the novel, Rudy's future is wide open as
far as possibilities. Do you think we will see more of Rudy in future
novels?
The intention is for Rudy's story to become a
trilogy.
Although each of the subsequent books begins where the previous ends,
they all
take place in a distinct location, under very different circumstances.
What I
am attempting to create is for the reader to see the world through
Rudy's eyes,
somewhat of a "psychological realism" if you will. In each book, the
writing style is a direct reflection on Rudy's state of mind. As he
grows as a
person, his ideas and philosophy change, his thought process changes;
and, by
using real time narration, the reader can experience this growth with
him.
8. The Mad Days of Me is your first novel.
Previously you
have written poetry collections. How does the process of writing a
novel differ
from creating poems? Do you prefer one over the other? The
Mad Days of Me is my first novel to be
published, but
not by any means the first thing I have written. I have been playing
with words
as far as I can remember. Most of my older writing, fortunately or
unfortunately, has been lost; perhaps the world is a better place
because of
it. As far as poetry goes, I have never considered myself to be a poet,
hence
the world "occasional" in my bio. The poetry collection, which has
been since taken out-of-print, was an attempt to "get my feet wet" so
to speak. Poetry is something I write when an idea, a sentence or an
emotion
awoken by a place or an event, bothers me long enough that I just have
to write
it down. Fiction, however, is and always was my main focus. A blank
sheet of
paper is like an empty canvas where I can paint worlds, stories and
characters,
using words instead of a paintbrush. I feel that through fiction a
writer can
approach a wider audience and achieve a larger impact on the lives of
others.