Juan Gómez-Jurado on his Antonia Scott thrillers: ‘There are ideas within ideas’
Antonia Scott, Spanish journalist and author Juan Gómez-Jurado’s hero red queen Thriller series, has a fascination with rare words in different languages. In the second book of the series, black wolfPublished by Pan Macmillan in April, Antonia finds the Tamil word, eruparrkkiratu — roughly translated as rare or impossible, like pigs can fly.
“When I wrote red queenFinding special words in other languages that will serve the plot, Juan said in a video call from Madrid. “When red queen Published, my readers are sending me word; One reader even adheres to a small book of special words! I got the Tamil word from a translator friend in Mumbai. He sent me a few words. i chose eruparrkkiratu Because it felt special and connected to the story.”
Triangle of intent
Hovic Keukerian as John Gutierrez and Vicky Luengo as Antonia Scott in a still red queen
| Photo credit: Special Arrangements
Fascinated by the number of languages in the Indian subcontinent, Juan says there is a connection between the material world, language and spirit. “Somewhere in the center of the triangle are practices specific to that culture. It fascinates Antonia that there are eight billion ways to approach the world. He is on an impossible quest to understand himself by understanding how others feel.”
red queenReleased in Spanish in 2018 and in English in 2023, John Gutierrez, a disgraced policeman from Bilbao, drags Antonia from his Madrid attic flat to track down a serial killer. D red queen The title contains a reference to the Red Queen Project, which gathers brilliant minds from around the world to solve crimes that have baffled law enforcement agencies worldwide. The red queen is also obvious Alice in Wonderland link
“My books have a lot of connections,” says the 46-year-old author. “There are ideas within ideas. I don’t want to give spoilers for the third installment red queen series, white king (To be released in March 2025). Let’s say there is a strong connection between them Alice in Wonderland and the works of Arthur Conan Doyle red queen. In Through the looking glassThe Red Queen runs to stay in the same place.”
Hovic Keukerian as John Gutierrez and Vicky Luengo as Antonia Scott in a still red queen
| Photo credit: Special Arrangements
Juan says this ties the title to the theory of evolution, where species must constantly evolve to maintain their place. “Similarly, an investigator has to evolve to keep up with criminals. A red-white chess set plays an important role in the book and is another connection between red queen And Alice.”
too similar
Although Antonia has been compared to Lisbeth Salander, Stieg Larsson’s bisexual, tattooed hero Millennium series, Juan says the similarities are superficial. “When you have a strong female character leading a thriller, Lisbeth definitely comes to mind. Lisbeth is a wonderful character and I love her. The characters are different, however. Lisbeth is a hacker, political and mostly works alone. For Antonia, her intelligence is a Burden and Curse.”
If one needs to find similarities, Juan says, Antonia has more in common with Don Quixote. “Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who incidentally is based on Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, is also the inspiration for Antonia and John Gutierrez. Just as you need Watson to understand Holmes, you need Gutierrez to understand Antonia.”
Antonia, says Juan, is a prototype. “He’s like every fictional detective we’ve read in the last century and a half, from Edgar Allan Poe to Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, who perfected the formula for this particular kind of character, the seeker of truth.”
Change in speed
black wolf The ticking marks the change in speed from the clock red queen. “When you read red queenYou’d think it was a search for a serial killer. black wolf Changes what you thought while reading red queen;And white king Again things around will change. It’s like tropes you think you understand and then discover you don’t.”
Antonia’s main job, Juan says, is not to find a murderer or save someone in danger, but to understand what story she’s in. Genre It’s not exactly a thriller, a detective story or a serial-killer story.”
Character study
black wolf There are three strong female characters, Antonia, Lola and the assassin known as Black Wolf. Writing these letters was easy, says Juan. “There are four million women on this planet and many strong women. I know many of them and it was easy for me to create strong women. No one has ever asked me how I managed to write such a complicated serial killer!”
With a horse meeting a sticky end, the animals in the books don’t look too good red queen And Cote, the Caucasian shepherd, dodges a bullet and walks in black wolf. “I love animals. But I notice, in fiction, different things create different emotions. I was watching John Wick In the theater and when the dog was shot, there was a collective gasp, while many people shot in the cinema had no reaction!
All you need is love
The trilogy can be seen as a love story, says Juan. “The most important thing for me is the love and the original ending of the story. We can do many things, build bridges, write poems and go to space, but the only thing that makes a differenceWe are animals at our mercy.”
The love of Antonia’s life, her husband, who is in a coma, and John, who is gay, do not have much success. “Love is intangible. I feel love for my wife and children and I feel love for my father. It’s important to be able to feel love and that’s what Antonia and John feel for each other. A key part of their journey is to be mature enough to show each other. , no matter how wrong they are, they deserve love. For them, romantic love is a possibility but not important.”
on the screen
A seven-episode series — which shares its monkier with the book series, red queenIt’s adapted from Vicky Luengo as Antonia and Hovic Keuchkerian as John — streaming on Amazon Prime Video. “I like it very much. Being the executive producer helps. I was involved in the casting and close to the director, Koldo Serra. The series feels like an extension of my books. Antonia and John are not just on my brain, they are a part of me, like family and I have to take care of them and make sure their screen avatars are the best versions of themselves.”
The show has been renewed for a second season. “We are writing the script now. will be based on black wolf And will be near the book. The first season was a fairly faithful adaptation red queen And readers appreciate it.”
How closely an adaptation follows the source material depends on what one plans to do and one’s approach, Juan says. “The characters in it red queen Especially if you don’t follow the original, it can be risky because nuances can be lost.”
black wolf Available at bookstores and online for ₹750.
has been published – Sep 06, 2024 05:26 pm IST
