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| Previous First Looks Joshilyn Jackson |
Kevin Guilfoile: Thanks so much for inviting me. Rochelle Krich: Can you tell our readers something about your new book, Cast of Shadows? Kevin Guilfoile: Cast of Shadows is a thriller in which a fertility specialist clones his daughter's unknown assailant in the hopes of finding clues to the killer's identity. It has a little bit of the modern medical thriller and a little bit of Frankenstein as well. Rochelle Krich: That leads me to one of my questions. You preface Cast of Shadows with a quote from Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus: "The opinions which naturally spring from the character and the situation of the hero are by no means to be conceived as existing always in my own conviction; not is any inference justly to be drawn from the following pages as prejudicing any philosophical doctrine of whatever kind." Are you using Mary Shelley's quote to suggest your own ambivalence on the subject of cloning? Kevin Guilfoile: I suppose that's true to an extent. Certainly one of the things that drew me to write about the subject was my ambivalence toward it. But I also wanted to make it clear that the book is not a political statement. That at its heart is a thriller, hopefully a page-turner and I didn't want anyone to expect to get a lecture. There is plenty in there to think about, I hope, but I never wanted it to come across as preaching. Rochelle Krich: It's definitely a page turner, with twist after twist. And it doesn't come across as preachy. What made you decide to write a novel about human cloning? Were you influenced by Orwell, Huxley? Ira Levin? Kevin Guilfoile: All of them, especially Levin (whom I discovered more recently). He had such an amazing style, very matter-of-fact and non-judgmental. The reader brought his own horror to the story. It's a shame no one probably reads him much anymore because all of his books have been made into such popular movies (Boys From Brazil, Stepford Wives, Rosemary's Baby, Sliver). But the real genesis of this book was Christopher Darden, one of the OJ Simpson prosecutors. I saw him on TV a few years ago, and I thought to myself wouldn't it be darkly funny it Darden had been able to clone Nicole's killer from the crime scene evidence and now he could hold a press conference where he would bring out this 12 year old boy and say, "Does this look like anybody to you? I mean, I wasn't crazy, right." Initially I probably thought it was a humor premise but it evolved quickly into this novel. Rochelle Krich: "If you can't convict, you can always clone it." Kevin Guilfoile: Ha! If not guilty your prone, just check out the clone!" Rochelle Krich: When Levin wrote Boys from Brazil, the idea of cloning seemed far fetched. Now, of course, it doesn't. Cast of Shadows is a thriller with elements of science fiction, since it takes place in the indeterminate but not far off future. But aside from the legalization of human cloning and the interactive sophistication of the fictional game, Shadow World, the characters could very well be living today. Can you comment on that choice? Kevin Guilfoile: Well in my mind it took place more in an alternate present than in the future (although the reader is free to think it's the future if it's easier for her to get her head around that). What I didn't want it to be was a "futurist" novel. I didn't want the story to get bogged down with these predictions of what the future would be like. Even if you believe it starts in the present or near future, the end of the book is twenty years on but I wanted the characters to feel very much in the present. I wanted the reader to relate to them as if they were living now. People who live in the future, for instance, will have different fears and concerns and inspirations and influences. I didn't want to try to anticipate those things and in doing so alienate someone who is reading it today. So I avoided specific references to political figures and world affairs and, with the exception of Shadow World, technology. Rochelle Krich: You definitely created characters that readers can identify with. I like the concept of "an alternate present." It's more frightening than a fictional future. It also fits well with the game you created, Shadow World, which is another "alternate present." How did you create that game? Was it part of your original concept for the novel? Kevin Guilfoile: Part of the problem with my "alternate present" of the novel was, as I mentioned, that the book takes place over twenty years. So there was this structural problem. I originally conceived of Shadow World as a device where the reader could feel time was passing - the game is introduced, more and more people begin playing it, SW becomes more sophisticated and more volatile etc., but I quickly saw what a perfect metaphor it was for the story. People in the story are actually cloning themselves in the game. It was one of those serendipitous things. Rochelle Krich: What I particularly liked about Shadow World was the similarity to the real world. Some characters chose to be themselves. Others tried to lead very different lives. The title of your novel suggests that the characters live either shadowy, or possibly double lives. Without giving away too much of the plot and its twists, can you discuss that? Kevin Guilfoile: The title comes from a passage in which Dr. Moore explains to his wife why he never considered cloning their dead daughter. He tells her that to people who knew the original a clone doesn't seem real. To people who knew the originals, he says, clones are like "actors on film" or "a cast of shadows." Later, the cloned child, Justin, is discussing Plato with another character (this scene actually happens in a dream, I believe) and he talks about the idea that what we perceive are representations of reality. Not the real thing. As far as how that relates to the themes of the story, for me the book is primarily about how we all act on imperfect information. That we never know the whole truth but we must make decisions as if we do. These decisions frequently have bad consequences because we are simply wrong about the way things are. The "cast of shadows" relates to the difference between reality and our perception of it. Rochelle Krich: I recall that passage, but it seems to me that all the characters, in a sense, are shadowlike in that they have dual personalities. Moore's wife, Micky the Gerund, Moore himself, Coyne. Sally. Kevin Guilfoile: Yeah, or you could also say that most of these characters has a shadow or a doppelganger in the book. Moore's wife Jackie and Moore's colleague Joan. Mickey the Gerund and the elusive fugitive Byron Bonavita. Sally has two different careers as well as a life in Shadow World. I could go on but I don't want to give too much away. Rochelle Krich: And we wouldn't want you to. None of the characters in Cast of Shadows are without flaws, and the protagonist, Davis Moore, has many flaws. As a doctor, as a husband, as a man, as a scientist. And what begins as an act motivated by a father's grief turns into something more selfish. How did he evolve? Kevin Guilfoile: From the beginning I didn't want a protagonist that is so good that the reader never feels that he's threatened or compromised. I also wanted a protagonist who sets these horrible events in motion through an overt act. I didn't want a hero who starts as a victim and must save himself. Most of these characters think they want to do good but are prevented from doing so because of anger or fear or because they simply don't have all the facts. Rochelle Krich: Including Mickey the Gerund? He's a terrorist who has claimed numerous lives. Does he have any redeeming qualities? Kevin Guilfoile: Well I don't know about redeeming, per se, but he is able to make an eloquent defense of his actions. I wouldn't expect anyone to find him convincing but just as I wanted a protagonist with flaws, I wanted an antagonist who you could understand, even if you don't sympathize with him. Mickey is a very bad person, even he recognizes that, but he believes that he must be that way. Justin makes a parallel argument at one point in the book, as well. Rochelle Krich: You give him a long, impassioned speech towards the end that sounded uncomfortably convincing. Did you worry about the impact of Mickey on readers who might be opposed to scientific research? Kevin Guilfoile: No. I can't imagine anyone reading this book and finding Mickey heroic in any way. I wanted the book to be agnostic on the subject of cloning but I think the position of the book on the subject of Mickey is pretty clear. Anyone who feels otherwise is reading their own feelings into the text, feelings that were there long before they picked up Cast of Shadows. Rochelle Krich: I'd have to agree. One of the themes in the novel explores nature versus nurture. Can you share your own views with our readers? Kevin Guilfoile: Again, I'm drawn to subjects about which I'm searching for answers rather than ones about which I think I have something wise to say. I'm sure the answer is we are influenced by both, and maybe different people are influenced by one or the other to different degrees. The people in this story, however, are influenced more by what they believe will influence them. Justin comes to believe his life is predestined, and that influences the way he acts more than his genes do. Davis is free to choose but for most of the book he chooses to let others choose his destiny for him. Rochelle Krich: To me, Justin is the greatest victim, much like Frankenstein's monster. Did you conceive of him as a sympathetic character? Was there the possibility that he would be truly evil? Kevin Guilfoile: Certainly. I think the end of the book (which I won't give away) only works if Justin is sympathetic. I think the reader has to decide for himself what sort of person Justin would have become had the events of the novel not intervened, or had he not discovered what he did about his won provenance. I specifically had Frankenstein in mind of course. I loved the way, Shelley's book, the created was able to face his creator. And how eloquent the monster was. Justin is far more eloquent than most kids his age, just as Shelley's monster is more eloquent than most reanimated corpses. Rochelle Krich: In a sense, Justin reminds me of Oedipus, too. If Oedipus hadn't run away from home to evade his destiny... For me, one of the sad ironies in the novel is that, in terms of morality and the actions of some characters, there is little separating the good guys from the bad guys. And the end, which we won't give away... Did you plan to end the novel on a note of moral ambiguity? Or did the ending evolve along with the characters? Kevin Guilfoile: There's certainly that element of tragedy. There are multiple points in the book where, if this character had only looked deeper in that drawer, or is this character had only done A instead of B, things would have turned out very differently. When the reader reached the final page I wanted him to have decisions to make. That is, I didn't want the book to tell him how to feel. A character does something on the last page of the book and the reader has to decide for himself whether or not it was the right thing. It's interesting but talking to people on my tour and, especially in the handful of book clubs with which I met, people have very differing opinions about that and I find that very gratifying. In order to create that atmosphere, however, there had to be a few storylines that ended on an unresolved note. Just as the characters have to make decisions without all the facts, so does the reader. Rochelle Krich: You've anticipated my next question. You certainly had me thinking...pondering. What kinds of questions are people asking? Are they focused on the ethical questions raised in the novel-about human cloning, in particular? Kevin Guilfoile: Some are. Some disagree about who the protagonist of the book is. Some disagree about who the antagonist really is. I have my own feelings about that but I don't think my feelings are any more valid than the reader's. The facts that are left out of the book are true unknowns, as far as I'm concerned, not secrets that I'm keeping. Every discussion certainly touches on cloning and stem cell research and I'm happy that the book provokes that discussion, even if, as I've said, the book isn't trying to convince you to think one way or the other. Rochelle Krich: What's next for Kevin Guilfoile? Kevin Guilfoile: I'm working on my next book, also for Knopf. It is another thriller, with philosophical and scientific aspects to it. Not a sequel in any way, which would be difficult. Rochelle Krich: Where can our readers reach you and learn about your appearances and future books? Kevin Guilfoile: I have a web site, www.castofshadows.net . I can also be reached at kevin@guilfoile.net. Rochelle Krich: Kevin, I loved the book. All of us at ReadersRoom wish you great luck with Cast of Shadows and your future works. Thanks for talking with us. Kevin Guilfoile: You're very welcome, Rochelle. Thank you for having me and thanks for such an intelligent and enjoyable discussion. It was great fun. Rochelle Krich: For me, too. |