Ken Follett.

Madame Figaro.– What was the starting point? Weapons of Light ?
Ken Follett.– There are no novels without conflicts, and personally, I like conflicts to be written into the story. Weapons of Light refers to the Industrial Revolution, which changed the lives of workers in the 19th century, as well as the Great European War, which lasted twenty-three years. There we have two main sources of conflict. as soon as I learned about it, I was able to write the novel with the idea that if machines, replacing men, made some unemployed, this age also created opportunities for some workers who, taking advantage of their opportunity, left the countryside for the city and changed their lives. earning more money and improving their situation. Even if it meant taking more risks…

You said that this novel is about freedom of speech. In what?
At the time, the English upper middle class and aristocracy thought they were living their worst nightmare when the American Revolution and the American Revolution began. They were absolutely terrified. Then extremely repressive laws were passed: it was forbidden to form unions, it was forbidden to discuss the reforms of the parliament, it was forbidden to meet… The British population fought hard so that these laws would not be imposed on them. And after many adventures, they saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Their rights have been restored. The struggle for democracy, freedom of speech and an independent justice system was won not without difficulty.

I don’t feel like I’m talking about myself through my characters, but there are some that I prefer.

Ken Follett

The novel has six main characters. Was there one you particularly identified with?
I don’t feel like I’m talking about myself through my characters, but there are some that I prefer. I like Amos, who is an ambitious and hardworking young man, and who slowly, step by step, reaches his goal and succeeds. Now that I’m old, I admit to a certain soft spot for Spade’s character as well, as he exudes wisdom…

Is this the final volume in the Kingsbridge saga? If so, why stop there?
You have to imagine that since The pillars of the earth, I dedicated eight novels to this case, if we count the cases that take place in the 20th century. It’s a thousand year old civilization set in a novel… I think we need to know how to say stop. For an artist, whatever the field, it is never good to plow the same furrow over and over again. Better move on.

I like the idea that by immersing yourself in a historical novel, you can imagine yourself living in those times and wonder how you would have reacted to this or that event.

Ken Follett

What draws you to historical fiction as well as writing spy thrillers?
In other centuries, people were not so different from today: they took care of love, family, and work just like us. Violence and power relations… And yet their existence had nothing to do with ours. I like the idea that by immersing yourself in a historical novel, you can imagine yourself living in those times and wonder how you would have reacted to this or that event. Would we quit or fight at Waterloo? Books have a fascinating power to take you into the minds and hearts of others, dramatically heightening your empathy and broadening your perspective.

How did you become a writer?
I loved reading fairy tales from a young age of four. After university, I worked as a journalist, but you wouldn’t say that I loved newspapers as much as I loved novels. I worked on manuscripts, which I sent one after another, and after nine failures I managed to publish the tenth. And “The rest is history” (“You know the rest”editor’s note) as we Anglo-Saxons say.

Do you still like it?
I am always happy when I write. This is what interests me most in existence. It’s not easy, it takes a lot of work, a good dose of perfectionism, but I’m completely and utterly committed to it. Happy people are people who work. Rich people go on cruises on yachts, fly to the other side of the world, dine in fancy restaurants, but they are not happy. Working makes me happy. Writing is both a craft and an art. First of all, it is a work of imagination, which is very natural for me: since childhood, I have always told myself stories, I have always imagined myself as a cowboy, a pirate, a spaceship commander… That’s when. It’s a matter of finding the most accessible words to turn what’s in my head into a novel. Even when I’m dealing with complex, even terrifying things, such as the workings of a machine during the Industrial Revolution, it must seem obvious, vivid, and interesting to the reader.

Weapons of Light By Ken Follett, translated from English by Odile Demangy, Valentin Les, Christelle Gaillard-Paris, Renaud Morin, ed. Robert Laffont, 792 pages, €25.90.