Interview: Neil Gaiman (english)

BRIGITTE.de: Welcome to Germany! Is it nice to walk around here and not get recognized?

Neil Gaiman: It's odd. It's kind of nice, in some ways. Going to Germany is a little bit like going back in time, to a place where I was for the rest of the world, 15 years ago. But to be honest it's one of the things I'm so happy about with The Graveyard Book. The Germans seem to be finding it and liking it, and that makes me very happy. Until now, there's always been a huge German audience, but it's never been reflected in book-buying, mostly because the Germans buy my books in English. So that's one of the things that makes me very happy with The Graveyard Book book doing so well - it's actually people in Germany buying it in German.

BRIGITTE.de: Do you think it's possible that people prefer the English editions, because a lot of subtleties get lost in translation?

Neil Gaiman: I think that is probably a problem for any author that is trying to work the language very hard. The truth is you are always at the mercy of your translators, on the one hand. On the other hand you can be real grateful to your translators. Neverwhere won a huge literary award in France. And I'm very aware that Patric Michele, who translated it, is as much the winner of that award as I am. The countries where I went huge - Poland is a glorious example of a country where as soon as the books came out people loved them, and loved me and it became a wonderful thing. But I'm very aware that I got very lucky with my translators. It's...the eEnglish expression would be "swings and roundabouts". Yes, you lose things through some translators, but you gain things through others. And it always fascinates me how many authors gain in translation. For example, the French love Philip K. Dick. And Philip K. Dick was a great ideas person. But as a writer, just putting words together, he's very dull and kind of sloppy. Not always. But he tended towards the sloppy because his books were written very, very fast. His French translators have made Philip K. Dick look very good.

BRIGITTE.de: A few years ago the German publishers had issues with your children's book - the original covers were deemed too scary, etc. Has there been any trouble with the German edition of The Graveyard Book?

Neil Gaiman: It's not the case with The Graveyard Book. It's out there, and I think the German cover, which is the tin box, is my favorite of all The Graveyard Book covers. I think all books should come in bullet-proof tin boxes. It's such a great idea! But it's still true in some cases. The German edition of Coraline is still the only case in the world where they haven't published the Dave McKean illustrations, which were deemed to be too disturbing or scary for the German market.