The other week i was asked to take part in the blog tour for Peter Stephan Jungk new book in english the inheritance ,I ask to ask Peter some questions here are his answer my review will follow next week .1. Why did you choose to set inheritance in south America ,had you visited the places mention in the book ?
yes, i know the places described in the novel rather well: caracas and panama. they are very different from one another, surprisingly different, considering how close they are geographically. venezuela seems terribly harsh and unwelcoming, panama quite the opposite.
2. the themes in the book seem tireless greed and deceit ,was this intend ,as the book could have been set at any point in the last 500 years ?
i’m afraid greed and deceit will remain themes humanity will live with for as long as humanity exists. the intention was of course to show how ruthless one becomes when money is involved, even when family ties or close friendships are involved. money and greed can kill family bonds and friendships.
3 .Your father was a famous writer how has this effected or influenced your own writing ?
he had no influence on my writing whatsoever, but don’t forget robert jungk was purely a non-fiction writer. his influence on me was tremendous as a personality, his values, his way of seeing the world. but not re. literature or writing.
4. I know your a fan of the writer Franz Werfel and wrote his biography is he a big influence and can you tell us briefly about him as he is not so well known in U.K ?
werfel interested me in the first place for his biography, his life torn by history, growing up in prague, living in vienna, france, fleeing to america. his marriage to alma mahler, his conflict with judaism. not so much his writing. although i find two novels quite amazing: “the 40 days of musa dagh” about the armenian massacre in 1915/16 and his strange science fiction novel, completed a few days before he died: ” star of the unborn”…
5 .the character of Konrad Krishman seemed to have another story to tell about his escape from Germany may you return to him at some point ?
no, i never ever even want to even think of this wretched character again, ever!
6. How closely did you work with Michael Hofmann on the translation ?
michael is a dear friend and i trust him completely. as soon as i read his translation, i felt that very, very little needed to be done.
7 Is there Plans for any more of your wonderful books to be translated ?
thank you for your compliment! 4 of my other books are translated into english so far:
– shabbat – a rite of passage in jerusalem, times books, new york, 1983
– franz werfel, a life torn by history, weidenfeld & nicolson, 1991
– the snowflake constant, faber and faber, 2002
– the perfect american, other press, 2004, will be adapted as an opera by philip glass in 2013
the rest of blog tour dates
The Truth About Lies http://jim-murdoch.blogspot.com/ 14th June
Wormauld: a Life in Books and Music http://wormauld-alifeinbooksandmusic.blogspot.com/16th June
Winstonsdads Blog http://winstonsdad.blog/ 17th June
A Common Reader http://www.acommonreader.org 18th June
