- It is very interesting that today we are talking online with you and we will talk about the continuation of your novel "Loneliness on the Net." You used to say that this story is over for you. What made you change your mind?
- I welcome everyone who took the time to talk to me through RT.
As for the book, this is a very long story. Publishers sold Loneliness on the Net in a huge print run ... Of course, they wanted to continue! I was asked to write it already two years after the release of the novel in Poland, but at that time I thought that a sequel was not needed. This is a personal story for me. I wrote it during a period of great sadness caused by my personal problems.
Then the publishers forgot about everything - or simply did not want to put pressure on me. And in 2017, a teacher at a lyceum in Poland brought me this book for signature. I began to read it.
Honestly, I first read it in its entirety for the first time - before that I had only seen passages that the editors asked to rewrite. I specifically did not read the novel earlier, because I knew that I would like to change everything.
And this time I noticed that the book takes place in 1996, the son of the main character is already 20 years old - he is now an adult. I thought that I would make him a student, fall in love with some interesting woman and write a sequel from the point of view of the new generation. And the main characters will be this son and his woman.
AST now publishes me in Russia. Yuri Chaynikov (he already translated my books) made an incredibly good translation from Polish into Russian. This novel will be available to my Russian readers, which are very important to me. I know that people are waiting for this book: I receive letters. In Russia, the novel will be called Loneliness on the Net. Return to the beginning. " In Poland - “The End of Solitude” or “The End of Solitude”. In Ukraine, the book was called "Spectrum Offset." This shift of the spectrum plays a huge role for me, the author.
- The continuation of "Loneliness in the network", of course, about love. Nevertheless, it pays attention to the relationship of father and son. Why did you choose this topic?
- This is an important topic, including for me. I lost my parents very early. First, my mother died, then dad. And my relationship with dad was very close. I wanted to return to this topic.
- In the second book we also learn that the main character is Agnieszka. Why did you give her a name now? Is it a matter of convenience? Or did you thus shift your focus to another female character - Nadia?
- I decided that the reader should know what her name is. This story happened in real life, and this is her real name. Her girlfriends and other women have real names ...
- Your heroes, and not only in "Solitude ...", often communicate not directly, but through letters. In your opinion, if they had not met on the Internet (where you can think over every word before sending a message), would their relationship be different?
- I wrote this book at the very beginning of the Internet era. I was the first author who showed that on the Internet people are not only looking for information - feelings can arise there. Of course, it is difficult to say how the relations of the heroes would have developed otherwise. Internet relations are taking place at a different level. Words play a big role, not appearance or something else.
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- © Ruslan Krivobok
- Of course, you know about the existence of Tinder and other applications for “quick” dating. In your opinion, what determines their popularity? Is it really easier for people to get acquainted, communicate online? Or conditional Tinder - a pill from global loneliness, difficulties with building communication in the real world?
“People now have no time.” They live very fast. And they noticed that love can also be found on the Internet. But I don’t believe in relationships that exist only on the Internet. Real, serious relationships on the Internet have their own dynamics. In the beginning is the word. Then someone wants to hear the voice of another person. Then - look at him or her, sends the first photo. And in the end everyone wants to touch each other. And so the real relationship begins.
The heroes of my new book also talked on the Internet, but very little. The younger generation knows that real relationships are more important than virtual ones.
- The original “Loneliness on the Net” is a book of sadness. You wrote it, in particular, to survive the longing. And what emotions were decisive for you when you worked on the sequel?
- I wrote a sequel to a very happy moment in my life. But this is also a sad book. The main characters love each other, are happy, but there are a lot of sad love stories in it that do not concern the main characters.
- How long did you write the sequel?
- Almost two years. The culmination of work on the book came at a time when I decided to seriously change my life - after 30 years in Germany, return to Poland. It was necessary to finish all the projects.
At the same time, a man very close to me died - my ex-wife. I was very worried about her death. At this moment of absolute tragedy, I did not want to write a book, so I did it for a very long time.
The translation was ready, I think, in eight months. I like him, and I'm waiting for a reaction to the novel from my readers from Russia.
At the Baltic House Theater in St. Petersburg, there is the play "Loneliness on the Net", it has been shown since 2009. I have already been asked for a manuscript of the second part to begin work on a new production. I look forward to their ideas with great impatience.
- The creators of the play contacted you, did you control the process of transferring the novel to the stage?
- No. They contacted the Polish director Henrik Baranovsky, my friend. He was invited to Petersburg, and he lived in the theater for a month (there is an apartment in the Baltic House), worked to deliver a book. Then a second, Russian director began to work on the play, but this is the same production.
I asked the director of the theater: “Why have you been playing this play for so long?” And he said to me: “People just come.” And this is the most pleasant thing for the author.
- Do you like this performance?
- Yes. Of course, I was invited to the premiere. I remember it was February 20, 2009. No one knew that I was in the theater. I sat like a regular spectator in 13th place in the fifth row. I remember my tears when I watched the play. It is good that the theater was dark and no one saw this. The Baltic House is just great, they made an incredible sight.
In Poland, a film was made based on a book. I really do not like him ... Therefore, I did not believe that a performance could be staged. But they (Baltic House. - RT ) did everything perfectly. I think, and the second part, “Loneliness in the network. Return to the beginning ”, they will also put well. I'm waiting for it.
- © Theater-festival "Baltic House"
- Can your fans hope for the third part - another book in the series?
“I know that you should never say never.” Theoretically, there is such an opportunity, because the protagonist of the first part in the second book is present very little. His life, about which I know a lot, is not shown: I decided that it does not matter at the moment.
- You speak Polish, English, German and Russian; your books are known in many countries of the world. Have you read your novels in other languages? Do you always like the translation?
- Fortunately, it so happened that I speak English and German, lived for many years in Germany and the USA. In the United States, I wrote two Ph.D.
Now I miss Russia because I don’t have the opportunity to speak Russian. I read Russian books, listen to Russian-language radio, so as not to lose contact with the language, not to forget it.
In English and German, I wrote scientific books on chemistry and computer science. But I can write about feelings only in the language that I learned at home, from mom and dad. The translation I received from Yuri Chaynikov, in my opinion, is very good. This does not mean that it is perfect: it is not for me to judge this, because for me Russian is a foreign language.
My books have been translated into Vietnamese, Chinese, and Albanian - I cannot appreciate such translations. I can’t even pronounce the name of my book in Vietnamese! I believe that publishers work with good translators.
- Do your daughters read your books?
- It was difficult for them, they did not go to the Polish school. But now the youngest reads almost all of my books.
Loneliness on the Net is a very personal work. And I didn’t want them to read this book when one was 14 years old and the other was 18.
It's unbelievable that dad thinks not only about algorithms in chemistry, but also about feelings and writes about these feelings. There is a bit of eroticism in books, because love is associated with it. It was difficult for daughters to understand this. But now they are adults and relate to this in a different way. And reading Polish is simply uncomfortable for them, although they understand the language, they speak it perfectly. In German, my books are not.
- But there are unofficial translations into German?
- There are unofficial translations made by a wonderful translator, a German who learned Polish. I am working to ensure that my novel “Bikini” is officially published. He is very German. This is a love story during the Second World War. It begins with the bombing of Dresden, and ends on the Bikini Atoll, where the Americans conducted nuclear weapons tests.
- You are not against publishing your other books in German?
- Yes. I think the Bikini will be published. If this book is popular, people will start asking about others.
I am glad that my novels are printed in Russia because you are a reading country. I know what statistics in Germany and Poland, we read a little ... Residents of East Slavic countries read a lot, and it's great. Great success for the author is to publish his book in Russia.
- Previously, you considered "Bikini" as your most successful novel. Your opinion has not changed?
- Absolutely not changed. I gave this novel two years of my life, worked in the archives, used a lot of information. It can be said that this is an almost historical book. This is the most important book for me.
- You have published books co-written many times. Working with anyone requires compromises ... Are they easy for you?
- Yes it's true. You need to think twice when you want to write a book in collaboration. The most difficult was the work on the book “Love and Other Dissonances” with Irada Vovnenko from Petersburg. I came up with some stories, got her answers - and they changed the plot. These were two points of view on one problem.
I am happy that this book is. In Russia, it was published earlier than in Poland. This is a love story between a Pole and a woman from Moscow who lives in an unhappy marriage. They meet by chance, and a very emotional relationship begins between them. I really love this book.
- You actively keep in touch with your readers. Are you interested in their understanding of your works?
“At first, I did not.” After the success of Loneliness in the Network, I began to receive letters - 18 thousand in three years. I did not answer them.
The first social network where I started communicating with my readers, you won’t believe, was VKontakte. My publishing house advised me to create a profile on VKontakte so that people would find out information about new books, meetings, trips around Russia. My page is still there ...
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- © Ilya Pitalev
- You wrote that you thought it necessary to add a post-epilogue to “Solitude on the Web” when you learned how readers perceive the novel.
- The publishing house thought it would be better if I finish the book so that readers will not know what happened to the main character. This was my debut, and I agreed. And then, when I was asked to publish and comment on the letters, I said that now it's time to write the real end of this book. They agreed, and so appeared “Loneliness in the network. Triptych".
- Is the reaction of the readers mostly predictable or do you find out a lot of unexpected things each time?
- At first everything was unexpected. I was an unknown chemist, computer scientist from Frankfurt, wrote scientific books that are read by 50 people in the world, because only they understand them. And I published a book about love that so many people have read. I simply did not believe, sometimes I thought that this was the story of some other writer. They began to invite me to book exhibitions, a completely different life began.
Scientists work in silence. Some may become famous if they receive the Nobel Prize, but in normal life they don’t need to move in the media, give interviews, meet people. Now I already know that this is part of the writing life. But I still don't feel like a writer. I call myself the author of books.
“Of course, we would like to know how a pandemic affected your life.” Are you in isolation all this time?
- The whole period of self-isolation, I am in a small house in a village near Gdansk. The insulation is not as rigid as it was at first. But you can’t travel yet.
I would like to go to Berlin, where my youngest daughter lives, or to Mainz to my eldest, but now this is impossible. I would like to fly to Russia and meet with readers, take part in a book exhibition in Moscow, which was scheduled for early September.
But honestly, this self-isolation is not so terrible for me. Over the past 30 years, I walked 60 meters every morning, because my apartment is 60 meters from the institute, I worked alone, I spoke only with a computer. Then he returned home, and there, too, alone, he worked on books.
- What do you do now when you have to spend time at home?
- Right before the pandemic, my companion and I traveled for two weeks in New Zealand and Australia. We managed to return before the border was closed and now we are writing a book together about these countries. This is interesting because it shows male and female views on the same things. We have already signed an agreement with the publishing house, the book should be ready before the end of the year. I would like it to be published in your country.
- Let's hope. What advice would you give to people who are psychologically or emotionally difficult to endure this pandemic situation?
- I wrote about loneliness, it appears in many of my works: in storybooks, short stories, novels. Now is a very difficult time for single people. They were like that before, but they could go out, communicate with others.
My advice is to believe that after this, people will re-value personal relationships. And those who are alone now will know what it means to be alone in principle. After the pandemic there will be fewer single people.