I hate fantasy and romance: Ken Follett

His classic narrative skills  have made him one of the world’s best-loved novelists. His book The Pillars of the Earth (1989) that spoke about building a church  was an out-and-out gripping page-turner.

Ken started his career as a newspaper reporter. Hence, he explains, he learnt to write in the cacophony of the newsroom without being the least bit disconcerted. “Now I even write when at the airport or in the backseat of a car,” though he prefers his library over any other place. “The moment I open my laptop and start writing, I’ve drifted into the fancy imaginative world that I have woven and nothing can distract me at that moment,”
explains Ken.

“I want my writing to be as transparent as a window,” adds the author, who has a liking for many Indian authors,  Jhumpa Lahiri being one of his favourites. And thrillers are what he loves the most. “I read my first James Bond at the age of twelve,” which left him brimming with excitement. And like most kids,
Follett too munched on Enid Blyton, in his childhood.

Ken visited India for the first time as a tourist, few years back. “I remember I had read the abridged version of the Mahabharata as a preparation…without any critical opinions though,” he says.

Talking about his new book The Fall of Giants, the author explains, “I wanted to see history from an international perspective rather than a national one.” The book opens in 1911 and expands upon the First World War and its aftermath. He chose to divide it into a series of three. The  second book of the trilogy, Winter of the World, is expected to release in 2012, and the third in 2014. “Though I’m already a little behind the schedule,” smiles Ken.