READING GROUP NOTES · READING GROUP NOTES not forget whale B RGNs.indd 371 21/07/2015 10:32

READING GROUP NOTES

not forget whale B RGNs.indd 371 21/07/2015 10:32


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A Conversation with John Ironmonger

• Not Forgetting the Whale seems to be a uniquely optimistic apocalyptic novel. What inspired you to write such a novel? Are you an optimist?

Every time I read an apocalyptic novel or watch

an apocalyptic film I find myself saying, ‘people

just wouldn’t behave like that!’ We’re expected to

believe that, at the first sign of trouble, we’ll all

be shooting each other. But think about Britain

in the Blitz. Think about countries where food is

scarce. People don’t tear each other apart. We pull

together in times of crisis. That’s what I believe.

I’m not sure if this is optimism or realism. But I

have thought for a long time that it would make

a better story than the over-worn survivalist plot-

lines that we are all used to.

• There are strong religious undertones in the story. What does the book say about faith and God?

I’m not sure that it is the job of a novelist to strike

up a position on the nature (or the existence)

of God, and I try not to stray into that kind of


374

territory. But I grew up in a very God-fearing

family, and I do see religious echoes in many of

the things I write about. Certainly the end of the

world would be a very ‘biblical’ kind of event. So I

think it was reasonable to populate the novel with

religious and non-religious characters to see how

each of them would respond to the crisis.

• You begin your novel with an epigraph tak-en from Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan. Is Not Forgetting the Whale your response to his claim that man is by nature selfish?

Yes. I rather think it is. Rousseau criticised

Hobbes for his bleak take on human nature, argu-

ing, instead, that our natural state is one where we

all work together for the common good. I think

modern literature (and films especially) tend to

take a Hobbesian perspective of humanity. So, in

a very small way, this is my attempt to introduce

some balance.

• The subject of supply chains and our over- reliance on them is discussed in depth in the novel. What led you to investigate this domino effect? Has rapid globalisation been a blessing as well as a curse?

I suppose I have become fascinated by the systems

we rely upon these days, for farming and distribut-

ing food. The whole process, from the farm gate to


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the kitchen table, has become labyrinthine in its

complexity, involving high-tech farm machinery,

refrigerated warehouses, networks of specialist dis-

tributors and complicated packaging. The fact that

it all works amazingly well means we don’t tend

to think about it as a risky process. Yet there is a

view that these systems are becoming increasingly

fragile; so much so, that any significant disruption

to the process (like a pandemic, or a sudden short-

age of fuel) could trigger a catastrophic collapse. It

strikes me as odd that developed countries pay so

much attention to defence (for example) and so

little attention to food security. So, yes, I do rather

fear that globalisation might bring along with it

the seeds of its own destruction. Does that make

it a curse? I don’t know. I like being able to buy

avocados and tuna and Australian wines. But I am

nervous about our ability to feed our cities once

the networks start to fail.

• You have Cornish heritage and spent a few years of your childhood in Mevagissey. What does it mean for you to share this part of your identity in the novel?

I was seventeen when my parents retired to

Mevagissey. My mother had grown up in the

village, and she longed to go back. They bought a

general store, in the square by the harbour, and I

worked for my father during school and university


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holidays, stacking shelves, slicing bacon and de-

livering groceries to houses on the cliffs. I thought

at first that I would hate it. My friends were a long

way away, and this little town (especially in winter)

was quiet and so remote. But, like Joe, I discovered

the most extraordinary community. Within weeks

I had learned the names and faces of dozens of vil-

lagers, I had made new friends and I had started to

understand the support network that every villager

seemed to be part of. I have wanted to write about

this for a long time. It feels like a privilege to be

able to share this.

• Can you tell us where the seas take Aminata and Joe? Do they have a future together?

Ahh – well even if I knew I wouldn’t tell you. One

of the enduring strengths of any novel is the way

it sets the characters and our imaginations free.

I know that if I ever sat down to write a sequel


377

(which I have no plans to do) the characters would

surprise me with their determination to do things

and say things that I had never planned. So please

feel free to imagine whatever future you wish for

Aminata and Joe. That will be the future they

have. That’s the unique power of fiction.

• Who are your favourite writers? Which of them has influenced your writing?

I am a fairly eclectic reader and I read novels from

a wide range of genres and traditions. I like mod-

ern American authors such as Jonathan Franzen,

Donna Tartt and Garrison Keillor, and I love the

non-fiction writing style of Bill Bryson. I’m also a

huge fan of Damon Runyon’s short stories. But I

knew I wanted to be a writer when I first read John

Irving’s The World According to Garp, and I’ve been

a committed Irving fan ever since.

• What are you working on at the moment?

I’m putting the finishing touches to a novel

(working title: To Cast Away Stones) about a Super

Recogniser – someone who never forgets a face.

And I’m part of the way into writing a fifth novel

about four unlikely characters who find themselves

cast away together on a raft. I’m not altogether

sure if it will work but I’m enjoying the writing,

and that always helps.



379

For Discussion

• ‘Memory is all we have, fragile though this may

be.’ How significant is the placement of this line

in the opening paragraph? How greatly are Joe’s

actions influenced by his memories?

• The novel draws from the Biblical story of

Jonah and the Whale. How many other Biblical

and mythological references in the text can you

find? Why are they noteworthy?

• What does the novel say about individual

self-interest and, more generally, human nature?

• Joe flees a high-flying, well-paid job in the City

to settle in a rural Cornish village. Do you think

the story favours the simplicity of country-living

over city life?

• How realistic does Cassie’s forecast of a rapid

social collapse in the novel seem to you?

• ‘Flu exists so it must be part of God’s purpose

. . . We live in the best of all possible worlds.’

Discuss.


380

• How essential is the motif of the whale to the

plot? Why is it symbolic?

• ‘And the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish,

and short.’ (Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan.) How

successfully does the heart-warming narrative

confront this bleak vision?

• What did you think about the ending of the

novel? Would you have liked to know more about

Joe’s future?


381

If you enjoyed Not Forgetting the Whale, you might like these books . . .

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

by Marina Lewycka

The Humans by Matt Haig

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

by Mark Haddon

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Capital by John Lanchester

The Coincidence Authority by John Ironmonger

Collapse by Jared Diamond

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin



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READING GROUP NOTES · READING GROUP NOTES not forget whale B RGNs.indd 371 21/07/2015 10:32