Arnon

What motivates you to overcome the desire of revenge?

Oscar W

The realization that certain people don’t deserve to be taken seriously; the desire to eat my dinner in peace; the longing for a stroll in the Swiss mountains and in general reading the late Tolstoy.
But often I lose this battle.

Arnon

I agree, silence is worth a battle.
But keep in mind that in revenge and in love, woman is more barbarous than man.

Oscar W

Are you sure? Should I be afraid of Laura?

Silence

Silence will only give you peace when your state of mind matches silence.
But I think it's not so black and white.

Arnon

So far, Laura has been remarkably unrevengeful.

Oscar W

Laura doesn’t mind you advertising her on this site?
Or her revenge has yet to come?

Arnon

Perhaps Laura's revenge is my advertising her on this site.

@Arnon
What does your desire of revenge means to you? Does it mean to become famous and valuable? Then you have already succeeded, I would say.
Do you refer to the journalist peeking into your private life? Sometimes I ask myself, where does the interview originates from? I think it originates from the police inquiry or even the inquisition. – Is there a sociologist in the house? – I do not like interviews, but that is easy to say for a grey mouse.

Schone lakens

Arnon,
Kun je mij ook zegen bij wie en waar de uitgave Schone Lakens eventueel te bekomen is?

Arnon,
To dissapear in silence is a choice. Can you choose to do so?
Or what do you need to do so? (or do I misunderstand?)

Annemarie

Please contact Johannes @ johannes@arnongrunberg.com

Jan T

The interview is the extension of gossip with other means. And fame is as far as I’m concerned not related to any desire for revenge. What’s fame? Tom Cruise, that’s fame.
Or do you think power equals fame?

Oscar w

So Laura told you, I’m going to hook up with Mr. Grunberg and you are going to make it happen tomcat.
Or would you describe this way of thinking as a shortcut?
But then again, revenge more often than not is a shortcut.

Vera M

Sometimes you silence yourself; sometimes you are silenced by others. Many writers have been silenced by the state.
There is a huge difference there I would say.

Or do you think power equals fame?

Isn't it so that fame is - mostly - based on lies and that power is also based on lies - or promises? .. it makes me think of a song I once heard, it wasn't that good but still: when Tom Cruise cries/it's all lies.
I don't really like Tom Cruise.

Mendie

I’m not sure if I would call a bullet a lie.
Real power is when you don’t have to use it, said the CEO of a big company once. I believe it was Mr. Bronfman.
For the record, I’m not sure if it is worth striving for power, but when it comes to vengeance I would say that power is more interesting than fame.
Fame is forced upon you by other people – power is something you force upon other people. Of course fame can be a side effect of power.
By the way I believe that my second novel (Silent extras) is very much dealing with a certain hunger for fame and the side effects of this hunger.

@Arnon
So if your revenge is related to power, what kind of power are you looking for? Or is it more a question of recognition in excellence?
As a teenager I was fascinated by the power Adolf Hitler once acquired, so I contemplated a lot about power. But maybe my question is too personal for you answering here, I can understand that.

Power

@Arnon
By the way, my personal experiences with power went from being a minor student leader, running a decent office, being a part time six pence new age guru, a small affair with weapons, a local supplier of visionary substances for artists and managing a few brothels. Now I have withdrawn for quite a while from all those activities to lead a more simple life.

Jan Thys

I always found you interesting. I could read your comments in various ways. Now I REALY find you interesting. So many details. I know you are very modest but surly you’re going to enlightens with few details in regard to the mentioned above.

Jan T

Power has its attractive sides, but I’m mainly interested in the power of a novelist and I never said that the desire for revenge is the only reason why I keep working. I would even argue that it is hard to know what exactly is the motivation for your deeds.
Too much emphasis is put on the notion of revenge here.
From time to time it can be useful, but I’m not working on my new novel because I need to take revenge. Please. That kind of simplification should be left to lazy journalists.

Jan T

PS Managing a few brothels? I never knew you were a pimp. Or is managing a few brothels more something in the realm of the work of your average public servant.
It’s time you enlighten us about your past.

Arnon,
Yes, of course.
I thought that when you said 'The temptation to disappear remains high'
you were talking about yourself?
and euh...
Don't you feel as if you are playing simultaneous chess
sometimes, on your blog?

@Vera M

Simultaneous chess, that's what I'm thinking as well. Well said.

Ilanit

Could you please stop being a brownnoser? Your nose is so brown it’s disgusting.

Arnon

Still angry darling? I promised you I will never propose again, what else do you want?
I’m sorry we both asked Jan T the same question only I was first. You know that you and I are not that different, so stop resisting. I am a bit nicer, that’s all. Nothing to get hysterical about.

Arnon

I'll have a word with Laura.

Ilanit

That’s the problem. You were not asking Jan Thys a question; you were just being a brownnoser. When you opened the door naked for me and called yourself Lea in 92 or 91 you were being a brownnoser as well, that I had lovely curls, and that I had so many interesting things to tell and that I was so handsome when I took off my glasses and where did it all end? – At the ER because I was not able to pee anymore without the most horrific pains.
This is something Jan Thys does not deserve -- I have never met him but nevertheless -- he deserves better than the ER, he deserves to pee without horrific pains.
When you called yourself Lea you mumbled something about a husband and children, what happened with them?

Oscar W

I have been waiting a long time for this message.

Silence lost revenge wins again!

What on earth are you trying to gain by making all these details public? I don’t mind discussing the issue. I never did. But why do you insist on doing it in public?
If I didn’t know better I could assume you are jealous of the fact I start communicating with Jan T directly. So I guess this is the real issue. You still don’t believe me. If I told you once I Told you thousand times, it happened only once and yes it was incredibly stupid not to use a condom. But don’t blame it all on me. You always refused to go to Salsa lessons, knowing how important Salsa was for me in that period. And calling me a brownnoser for thinking you’re sexy? And please don’t try to invent creative and imaginative spicy details like husband and children. The whole story is pathetic without adding ridicules stories to it.

Arnon

Laura wants to know if you know what it feels like to be waiting for a love letter.

Oscar W

Please inform Laura that I do know what it is to be waiting for a love letter.
In the early nineties I was very much in love with a waitress named Mariette at the Amsterdam restaurant Panini. I sent her more than hundred letters, many of them registered. She never even bothered to send me a postcard.
Laura at least knows that I’m working on a love letter.
How do you feel to be the messenger of this love letter?
I appreciate an honest answer.
You know the NY Times has this series Modern Love in Sunday’s style section. If we continue this tryst we might qualify to write a “Modern Love” – it would be truly experimental (within the limits of NY Times) if the three of us would write the piece together. But before this can happen, something must happen.
(If you don’t know Modern Love, check the Modern Love of September 23, written by the writer Jenifer Cacicio, unknown to me. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/fashion/23love.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)

Arnon

Laura says that if the love letter lives up to her expectations, she will definitely send you a postcard.

With regard to my role as messenger, I'm not sure what other role to assume.

What do you think must happen before the three of us together could write a contribution for "Modern Love"? I should mention that Laura has been written about in the NYT before.

Oscar

I have been written about in the NY Times as well. The more I know about Laura the more I think that we are made for each other. Even a wooden leg would not bother me anymore.
I think Modern Love requires more than something theoretic. A rendezvous with Laura’s grandmother would be the least, but a pregnancy, wanted or unwanted, would make us even more suitable for Modern Love.
What we are doing now is with all due respect Old-fashioned Love.

Oscar

Kind of difficult to comment on that right?
So what are you going to do?
Are you willing to share your girlfriend with your favourite writer for the sake of modern love?
It does seem less funny right? When the joke is on you.

Arnon

The fact that I haven't been written about in the NYT strengthens my belief that the right role for me to assume here is that of a messenger.

We are familiarizing one of Laura's grandmothers with your work, but patience is required here. In relation to this, it appears to me that a pregnancy would be an example of Hopelessly Old-fashioned Love.

Arnon

To paraphrase Milan Kundera, attaching love to pregnancy is one of the most bizarre ideas the creator ever had.

Ilanit

To the best of my knowledge, I have not stated that Mr Grunberg is my favorite writer.

Oscar W

I stand corrected regarding pregnancy. But if you read the article by Mrs. Cacicio, which I recommended to you, I must add that this thing called “suspending” is as bizarre as reproduction. We agree upon avoiding unwanted pregnancies and this human activity called “suspending”?
And yes, getting pregnant is old-fashioned. But for the sake of literature and our article in the NY Times I hope I’m not headed for a platonic relationship with Laura.
The least I expect is a stolen kiss and playing footsie under the dinner table at one of Laura’s grandmothers. Later we can give the old-fashioned activity of playing footsie a modern touch.
Are you willing to inform me how it comes that the NY Times wrote about Laura? Was Laura flattered?
Is Laura willing to accept love letters via e-mail? And is she open for the concept of Modern Love, which a respected family newspaper happens to promote every Sunday?
Please ask her if she is also willing to forgo this thing called “suspending” during our relationship. I can handle a lot, but this is beyond my limits.

Arnon

I was reading Mrs Cacicio's article as you wrote your last comment. We should consider this an innocent case of synchronicity.

Laura, you and I are aligned with respect to the thing called "suspending". Laura, I should add, is terrified of needles and injections. I myself prefer suspension to suspending under all circumstances.

Laura featured in the NYT as a kindergartner with a gerbil called Nibbles. The article was written by her mother. This was the only story about Laura in the NYT that also featured a gerbil. Laura was not particularly flattered by the article; she was oblivious and preliterate at the time.

oscar

I’m terrified of needles as well. One thing standing between me and a green card is the fact that US government wants a few drops of my blood.
Is Laura’s mother a journalist or a writer?
Do you think it’s a better career move to start an affair with a) Laura b) Laura’s grandmothers c) Laura’s mother d) all of the above.
I appreciate your honesty.
At this time more is at stake than just a romantic pastime.

Arnon

Laura's mother wrote several articles for the NYT in the late seventies and early eighties. One of these articles featured a story about Laura and a visiting gerbil.

In order to address your multiple-choice question, we would like to know if you can cope with the impact of a medium-sized handbag.

Oscar W

What happened with Laura’s mother after the early eighties? If Laura’s mother has passed away I apologize for my insensitivity.
As to the medium handbag: no problem.
Last night I had my fist dream about Laura. We were both riding on the F-train. She was seated next to me and while pressing her leg to mine, supposedly by accident, she started a conversation about a novelist I had never heard of. Then she said to me: “You know this might sound strange to you. But can I cook a meal for you? It’s because of a bet. I can explain later. But I bet with somebody, actually I bet with my boyfriend, that I would cook a meal for a stranger I met on the F-train. If you come with me you can help me win this bet. It’s really very important to me.”
There my dream ended.

Arnon

Are you sure that it was the F-train? Was the name of the novelist Jeff Krulik?

Arnon

Laura's mother is still very much alive. She works in the City. This summer, she spent a significant amount of time swinging a sledgehammer in her backyard.

Oscar W

Yes indeed, Laura was raving about a novel written by Mr. Krulik. She even claimed she was his muse. She used to show him her ankles every Tuesday afternoon.
I was surprised to hear that a serious novelist is into ankles.