African storyteller

wordsmith

In a chat with S Nanda Kumar,  celebrated African writer Wilbur Smith reveals that his love for writing came from a childhood filled with stories.

For many of us growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, Wilbur Smith was a name that conjured up magical images of Africa — the vast rolling veldts, and gripping tales of adventure set amidst gold and diamond mines, with vivid descriptions of the wildlife that the continent is famous for.

Beginning with When the Lion Feeds in 1964, Smith has gone on to write 33 novels till date, the latest being Those in Peril, a story based on ruthless Somali pirates. He was in India recently to promote this book.

During his visit, the author revealed that his love for writing came from a childhood filled with stories. “As a child, I loved stories. My mother read me bedtime stories every evening, and both my grandfather and my father were great raconteurs. I was delighted by the yarns they spun for me. As I grew older I decided to emulate them.”

The success of When the Lion Feeds went on to establish him as a worldwide best-selling author, with a large following in many countries, including India. Asked if he ever thought that the success of his first novel would spawn 33 books across decades, Smith had a very pragmatic reply. “One book at a time has always been my style.”

Many of his books were turned into Hollywood movies. Those films had some leading actors of the time, such as Roger Moore, Lee Marvin, Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux and Susannah York in movies like Shout at the Devil, The Mercenaries (from the book The Dark of the Sun) and Gold (based on the book Gold Mine), to name just a few. But Smith dismisses these films in a few sentences. “My books are my own. Movies adapted from them are merely pale imitations and have nothing to do with me. I have never been enamoured with any of them.” Smith says signing contracts on films based on his books was a path that he did not wish to travel down. He wanted to write a book that would keep filmmakers away, and wrote a book that he thought would be very difficult to re-create on screen. Out of this was born another bestseller, The Sunbird. He chuckled as he related that the movie rights of even that book were bought, although the film is yet to be made. “I got my money and my book!”

Technological trap

Today, in the world of the Internet and gadgets, many feel that the reading habits of the public are changing. Smith, however, sees technology as a continuing link. “There is a child in all of us that simply loves a good story — whether by word of mouth or written on papyrus or paper, in books or on Kindle. The more this changes, the more it stays the same.” On how technology poses a challenge to writers these days — for instance, mobile phones ensure that no fictional character can get lost easily these days — Smith says, “If you are writing a novel set in early Victorian times, there is more to plotting it than simply avoiding the mention of cell phones or the internal combustion engine. You have to transfer yourself from now into the time and space of your characters.” Staying on the subject of the ‘always on’ gadget-crazy generation, Smith sums it up neatly — “It’s the times we live in. Love it or hate it, you cannot change it. Some are (losing touch with reality), but I think the majority of us are able to use the new technology without being overwhelmed by it.” 

Many aspiring writers want to get hold of a bestselling author’s magic formula for success. Smith showed that age had not dimmed his sharp wit or understated humour, when he gave his piece of advice for storytellers, “Once again, it’s a simple matter like climbing Mount Everest. Talent, guts and perseverance are of great help. Think of a theme, then in your mind, shape it into a plot line. Dream up the characters and hand your plot over to them and let them take it from there. Follow them closely and record their actions. It will take you eight months to a year, if you are lucky.” Many of Wilbur Smith’s books have dramatic passages on hunting elephants and other wildlife, depicting a period in Africa’s history where such thoughtless practices were common. Smith himself was an avid hunter, and has a prized collection of firearms.

In his biography, he speaks nostalgically of his childhood years spent in killing animals and birds on his father’s ranch in Africa. His father presented him with a .22 Remington rifle when he turned eight years of age. It had belonged to his grandfather, and had 122 notches on the butt, and Smith says in his biography — “Soon, there was no more space on the butt for my own notches...” — perhaps the only dismaying thing about this master writer for wildlife enthusiasts who are also his avid readers.

Today, the African scenario is different, with stringent conservation systems in place. But it is still a losing battle in Africa for wildlife conservationists, with dictators, corrupt governments and poverty often posing huge challenges. Smith, who loves Africa deeply, sounds a little sad when he says, “As long as the rural Africans living close to wild animals view them as a dangerous nuisance in competition with them for scarce resources such as land and water, then the animals are doomed. The trick is to convince the rural people that animals are valuable assets and that a share belongs to them.”

Smith minces no words when asked for his opinion on Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe, accused of several human rights violations. “Judging by his behaviour, I think he is probably insane, in the same way that Muammar Gadaffi and Idi Amin were insane.” He has, surprisingly, never met Nelson Mandela. “I have never met Madiba. I would not want to do so. In my mind, he is a saint. It would break my heart to find that he is a mere mortal.”

For Smith, the beautiful sight of the Table Mountain as he looks out of his home in Cape Town symbolises Africa. On his long innings of 48 years in writing, he says very unassumingly, “I am a writer and I have a lust to write. It’s as simple as that.” On what his next book was about, he says, “Sorry, I never speak of the books I am going to write. Until they are written down, words are just smoke blowing in the wind...” One hopes he gets to the half-century mark with more bestsellers, words snared down from the African breeze and put down in print.