Fernando Lillo. Interview with the author of A day in Pompeii

Fernando Lillo placeholder image he is a teacher of classical languages and writer of historical genre titles such as Teucro, the archer of Troy o The riders of the seaHis latest novel is A day in Pompeii. I share your admiration for the Greco-Latin world, on my humble scale of also classical training that included Latin and Greek. Y I thank you a lot of time spent for this interview.

INTERVIEW WITH FERNANDO LILLO

  • ACTUALIDAD LITERATURA: Do you remember the first book you read? And the first story you wrote?

FERNANDO LILLO: I don't remember the first book exactly. I passed from the extraordinary collection of comics Literary jewels de Heath to adaptations of Castilian classics in the collection New wineskins de Castalia (Count Lucanor, Spanish Legends...).

I do remember instead my first big story56 pages that I typed with great effort when I was 14 years old. It was titled The elixir of the Yashib and recounted the adventures of some imaginary tiny beings who lived inside a child and had to save him from the curse of the evil magicians Yashib. All my childhood readings were there.

  • AL: What was the first book that struck you and why?

FL: After enjoying with The Neverending Story by Michael Ende, I was really shocked The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco that I read with 15 or 16 years. I still see myself lying on the bed in my room as a teenager after a hard day at high school, savoring the pleasure of discovering how Guillermo and Adso entered the labyrinth of the monastery library, a sensation that I have not felt since the film or the television series. Besides everything that latin, then still unknown to me, I remember the superb and terrifying description on the front of the monastery church with so many echoes of the Revelation.

  • AL: A favorite writer? And being a teacher of Latin and Greek, what classical writer has been able to influence you as an author?

FL: My favorites have always been Greco-Latin and Spanish classics. As a writer my status as Latin and Greek teacher It has greatly influenced the choice of subjects for my novels. Homer with the Iliad and Odisea and Virgil with his immortal Aenida, as well as the Greek tragedians, like Sophocles, were the inspiration for my first novel, Teucro, the archer of Troy (Toxosoutos, 2004), and they were also in the background in my last work of fiction, The riders of the sea. The secret of Carthage (Evohe, 2018).

The knowledge of the Cordovan philosopher Seneca and his writings encouraged me to write his fictionalized biography entitled Seneca, the way of the wise (Dialogue, 2006).

  • AL: What are you telling us in A day in Pompeii?

FL: A day in Pompeii is a fictionalized story that, based on the lives of several real characters who lived in the city, recreates the everyday life of any day in the spring of the year Vesuvius eruption, 79 d. C.. The reader will be immersed in the lively streets, bustling forum, establishments of hostelry, hot springs or the privacy of housing among many other aspects.

My goal was that you could live Pompeii as told by its own inhabitants, always with a rigorous use of the historical sources background.

  • AL: What character would you have liked to meet and create?

FL: Without a doubt, Ulises, but not only the one that emerges in the Odyssey, but also that of the Iliad and that of the entire Western tradition that has been reshaping its figure and turning it into an imperishable myth.

The mixture of wish to go home (nostalgia is pain for the return) with the attraction for the adventure and discovery I think it is a wonderful synthesis of the human being. And by his side, of course, the faithful Penelope, that awaits him through thick and thin, almost defenseless, but firm.

  • AL: Any mania when it comes to writing or reading?

FL: I have no special hobbies about it.

  • AL: And your preferred place and time to do it?

FL: To write I just need a place in silence and a wide table where you can deploy the reference books and documentation.

To read any site It seems appropriate to me, since if the reading is good it isolates me from the outside world. Of course I prefer a quiet place and even outdoors if the weather is good.

  • AL: Other genres that you like?

FL: I like the poetry and historical court essay, especially those that combine erudition with a prose that is pleasant to read. The , I prefer to see it represented and if it's classic, nothing like the setting of a Greek theater (Epidaurus) or Roman (Mérida).

  • AL: What are you reading now? And writing?

FL: Right now I'm reading Voices of long echoes, de Carlos Garcia Gual (Ariel), an invitation to read the classics. After A day in Pompeii I am giving myself a short break from writing I take the opportunity to document myself about future projects on the Greco-Roman world.

  • AL: How do you think the publishing scene is for as many authors as there are or want to publish?

FL: The sign of our times is the speed. The tables of new arrivals they change almost constantly and as the offer of published books is so expands many works quality can go unnoticed for the general public. Sometimes they bet on the momentary success of titles that will soon be forgotten. However, I trust that worthwhile works will endure in time, although they take time to be recognized.

  • AL: Is the moment of crisis that we are experiencing being difficult for you or will you be able to stay with something positive?

FL: The moments of crisis in which we put our mettle to the test are always opportunities for personal and collective maturation. We were too used to believing that science and technology could dominate our lives. We are receiving a humility cure. It is also an opportunity to open up to God and transcendence and value the really important things.


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