Were you a good wrestler? I was pretty good but pretty good isnt good enough. I did compete as a wrestler for 20 years and I coached younger wrestlers until I was 47. Wrestling was an active daily part of my life from the age of 14. Did you have a stage name Invincible Irving, Irving The Terrible? No, no, this was real wrestling, not the staged stuff. This was like boxing; what wed class as a sport. It wasnt choreographed. Is there a link between wrestling and writing? I learned at a very young age you had to be disciplined and that part of the process of becoming good at anything is repetition. You had to be willing to drill and train and pay attention to the tiniest detail over and over again. To be a writer you have to have patience and stamina, and you cant be an athlete of any quality and take short cuts or not give something your complete concentration. haunted by the mentality where the only solution is to get a bigger gun. Does the Great American Writer tag put pressure on you? It doesnt, because Ive never been much attracted to American culture. The American writers whove had the greatest influence on me are Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne, but I was more strongly attracted to the novels of the English 19th century, notably Dickens and Hardy. If my earliest reading had been modern literature, I dont know if Id have wanted to become a writer. You had cameos in the films of The World According To Garp and The Cider House Rules. Are you a frustrated screen star? No. I grew up backstage in a small town theatre. My mother was a prompter in a local amateur dramatic society and I loved the theatre before I was old or sophisticated enough to read novels. I never cared for movies very much but I did imagine as a child that You always know the last line of a book before you start writing. What effect does that have? I know the fates of all my characters before I begin writing the story, which gives my novels a predetermined or fatalistic atmosphere. But I dont walk around in real life believing in such things as fate or predetermination. Its simply a way of telling a story. Whats the last line of your new novel? He felt that the great adventure of his life was just beginning as his father must have felt, in the throes and dire circumstances of his last night in Twisted River. The novel covers 50 years in America. How would you characterise the last 50 years? It is one of those stories that because it begins violently it will lead to another violent thing. Theres that sense of America as still being acting would be great fun. Theres a chart online that studies the recurring themes in your books: New England, bears, deadly accidents... This is one of the reasons I dont go online. One of the recurring subjects is children who, like you, grew up without knowing their father. What effect did that have on you? Its simplistic to say that anyones imagination comes from a single event. But part of Last Night In Twisted River is me making the case for the character of Danny that the events in his life and what was kept hidden from his childhood, as my father was, has contributed to his imagination and his imagination has contributed to his becoming a writer. Theres no one thing that happens to Danny that makes him become a writer theres a host of things, as I suspect there was in my case. But not knowing my father was a factor. Wrestling and writing are similar. To be a writer you have to be disciplined, and you cant be an athlete and take short cuts Television What To Watch TX Body No Indent. TX Body No Indent. TX Body No Indent. RT1 RT2 TV3 9.45 MasterChef 10.20 The Doctors 11.10 Dr Phil 12.00 Shortland Street (T) 12.30 Doctors (T) 1.00 News And Weather 1.25 Home And Away (T) 1.55 Super Garden (R) Amateur garden designers showcase their talent. 2.25 The Restaurant (R) A celebrity becomes a chef for the night. 3.00 Showhouse (R) Interior design challenge. 3.30 Fair City (R,T) 4.00 The Afternoon Show. (T) 5.45 Nuacht RT 6.00 The Angelus 6.01 News And Weather (T) 7.00 Ear To The Ground Report on the future of Irish pork. 7.30 EastEnders (T) Aunt Sal causes trouble at the Mitchells Christmas lunch. 8.00 Fair City (T) Colm tries to apologise to Keith for his actions. 8.30 Rachel Allen: Home Cooking Highlights from the cookery show. Last in the series. 9.00 News And Weather (T) 9.35 Prime Time (T) Current affairs review, plus reports on breaking news stories at home and abroad. 10.15 The Panel David McWilliams presents a humorous overview of the past week. Last in the series. 11.10 Val Falvey TD (R) The politician finds himself in trouble with the gay community. 11.40 Brothers & Sisters Kitty is offered a principals job. 12.35 RT News 9.05 Den Tots 3.00 The Den: Dennis And Gnasher 3.15 Kazoo 3.30 Tracey McBean 3.45 The Sleepover. The adventures of five pre-teen girls. 4.15 The Suite Life Of Zack & Cody. Comedy about twins who live in a Boston hotel. 4.40 Ice. Music, entertainment news and game charts. 5.00 News 5.10 Sabrina The Teenage Witch. Supernatural comedy. 5.35 The Simpsons. Cartoon capers with the unmistakable family. 6.00 The Simpsons (T) Cartoon capers. 6.30 Home And Away (R,T) Nicole offers Liam a place to stay. 7.00 Mystery Of The Moose Following two young moose families as they negotiate the perils of the Alaskan bush and suburbs. 8.00 Behind Enemy Lines (R) How the end of World War II marked the beginning of the Cold War as the Iron Curtain became impenetrable. 9.00 FILM: One Hour Photo (2002) A photo technician becomes obsessed with an apparently perfect family whose pictures he develops. Thriller, starring Robin Williams. 10.40 Podge & Rodges Christmas Craic (R) An extended seasonal episode, featuring Twink and three special guests. 11.25 RT News On Two And World Forecast (T) 11.55 Hotel Babylon Emilys father tries to force Sam into selling Babylon. 12.55 The Big Bang Theory (R,T) 7.00 Ireland AM 10.00 The Jeremy Kyle Show 11.00 The Morning Show With Sybil And Martin 11.50 Midday 12.50 Xpos (R) 1.20 The Oprah Winfrey Show (R) 2.10 The Ellen DeGeneres Show. 3.05 Emmerdale (R,T) Carl discovers that Chas knew about Cains money. 3.35 The Biggest Loser: Australia (R) 4.05 How Clean Is Your House? Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie visit untidy homes. 4.30 Judge Judy. 5.30 News@5.30 6.00 Xpos Daily entertainment news, with Karen Koster. 6.30 Friends (R) Ross discovers Rachels worst fear. 7.00 Emmerdale (T) Chas gives Carl an ultimatum. 7.30 Modern Family Guest starring Edward Norton and Elizabeth Banks. 8.00 Emmerdale (T) Carl forces Debbie to open the safe. 8.30 Coronation Street Michelle forces Carla to confess. 9.00 FILM: The Family Stone (2005) A New York career woman struggles to make the right impression on her bohemian future in- laws when they meet her during Christmas. Comedy drama, with Sarah Jessica Parker, Dermot Mulroney, Diane Keaton, Craig T Nelson and Claire Danes. 11.00 Nightly News 11.05 Tonight With Vincent Browne The journalist presents a panel discussion on a variety of subjects. 12.00 to 3.00 Play TV Tiara tantrums: The ladies of the London Season, C4 Todays highlights Pick Of The Day Teens And Tiaras Channel 4, 9pm One of the last bastions of Britains elite society is the London Season, which provides a marriage market, networking opportunity and chance to meet the Queen for the young debutantes that it harbours. This film joins two of its organisers, Jennie and Patricia, for six months, watching them teach posh girls the art of letter- writing, curtseying and how to greet a princess, and looks at how times have changed since the Seasons heyday (fewer grouse-shooting earls, etc). Forscal: Global Sushi TG4, 10.45pm Its rich in Omega Three and suitable for low-fat diets. Which is why so many people are indulging in the Japanese dish: a miraculous food that is both healthy and delicious. TG4 takes an up-close look at sushi. It may be a dish thats small in size but its having a big effect on world food production and the natural environment. So sadly, we also see the detrimental effect this new fashionable fast food is having on fish stocks and fishing communities. The Culture Show BBC2, 11.20pm Tonights show features an extended interview with Wicklow freeman Daniel Day-Lewis about his new film, Nine a musical inspired by a work by Italian filmmaker Fellini, also starring Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz and Sophia Loren. Highlights of the years programmes are also up for review, and of Irish interest will be an interview with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart about Becketts Waiting For Godot. 6pm 7pm 8pm 9pm 10pm 11pm :60second interview Interview by Graeme Green 16 metrolife Thursday, December 17, 2009 John Irving John Irving, 67, is an American author whose novels include A Prayer For Owen Meany and The World According To Garp. The ex-wrestler won an Oscar for the screenplay of his book The Cider House Rules. His 12th novel, Last Night In Twisted River, is out now index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html