Vikram Seth talks inspiration, music and writing at LLF

A first person narrator comes with a lot of baggage. You are an intrinsically unreliable narrator: Vikram Seth

LAHORE: On Saturday, Vikram Seth spoke with Asim Fareed at the Lahore Literature Festival in a session titled An Equal Music: A Writer and his Other Arts.

The session primarily featured his book, An Equal Music. Seth said he got the idea for the book when he was walking in Hyde Park with a friend and saw a tall European man looking into the lake. He decided then that his book would be about this man and his life.

He said his friend had convinced him to make the man a violinist rather than a cellist, his initial choice, as it would be hard for him to lug his cello around.

Seth said his characters shared characteristics with family, friends, historical figures and some are purely from within his mind.

He found writing the protagonist for An Equal Music difficult as he had decided to write in first person. The choice was made so that the character’s obsession with music could be written about without it sounding like technical programme notes or a dissertation. “

A first person narrator comes with a lot of baggage. You are an intrinsically unreliable narrator. However, you are obliged to your obsessive nature,” said the author.

Nonetheless, Seth said being in his character’s skin was not easy as he was “self centred and difficult”.

He said he had developed a love for western music while writing A Suitable Boy. Seth said he would attempt riyaz while writing the novel and would get dragged back to writing. “I could not live without music and was saved by a friend who asked me to play some Schubert with him.”

Fareed, who Seth had earlier charmingly described as part couturier, part valet, spoke with Seth about A Rivered Earth – a collection of four libretti written by Seth. “Between large books, I am prey to commission. Alec Roth set some poems of mine to music and he asked me to work on this project which grew into a four year project.” Seth wrote one libretti every year.

The author and his interviewer entered into a spirited discussion about Seth’s love and practice of Chinese calligraphy.

He agreed that there was more pressure when he worked on a project that would be consumed by the public but firmly pointed out that he set such pressure aside and that there was no point in doing things where the response is “it is good considering you are a writer.”