‘I WANTED THAT PHYSICAL, VISCERAL, INTENSE FEELING
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Scaling he heights
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Having made his name with medical dramas, Jed Mercurio tells Mark Edmundson that he is twinning his obsessions in pursuit of the space race.
s someone who knows all about living up to a
legacy. Fl racing driver Damon Hill once said:
‘Winning is everything. The only ones who remember you when you come second are your wife and your dog.‘ It‘s a sentiment that sits well with the protagonist of Jed Mercurio‘s latest novel. where a life is lived in pursuit of being up there with Ivan the Terrible and Yuri Gagarin. Mercurio made his literary name with Bodies. a dark and cynical peek under the skin of hospital care. which he later adapted for the
small screen. ln the pipeline is a retelling of
Frankenstein for lTV. bringing the nuts and bolts monster into line with the genetics debate.
In Aseenr. the one-time doctor sheds a little light and imagination on two relatively uncharted historical phenomena. trading the oppressiveness of a junior hospital doctor‘s brutal introduction to the NHS for the exploits of a fabulous Soviet fighter pilot and
pioneering cosmonaut. Though perhaps the stuff of
boys adventure books. Mercurio brings his eye for unflinching detail to the subject matter. furthering his sparse. direct prose. and again drawing on his own life.
‘I try and relate my writing to something I know about. and I had a primary experience of being in a competitive. military environment and being part of a squadron.‘ claims Mercurio. who has coupled a childhood interest in the space programme with his RAF jet flight training. ‘ln terms of the physical and psychological experiences of the protagonist. those
were all based on my own personal recollections of
learning to fly. ljust transplanted them to Korea in the early Sils.‘
28 THE LIST 15 Fob—l Mar 2007
The novel follows a fictional pilot through his encounters with the real events and characters of the covert Soviet involvement in the Korean War and then the subsequent space race with the US. In addressing the lost age of lighter pilot heroes and their eclipsing by the astronaut and cosmonaut. Mercurio also harks back to nostalgic tales of airborne derring-do and intrepid exploration. all in his own sharp and often unsentimental style. ‘I do like books to be quite an intense experience. and that’s the kind of novel I respond to as a reader.‘ he explains. ‘So with Aseent. one of the things I wanted to do was not make it too remote from the reader. for it to be engaged with the
human side and not just to be about the cold metal of
planes and spacecraft. I wanted that very physical. visceral. intense feeling to be very strongly present.‘
Despite the high adventure. Mercurio maintains this unflinching veracity and leads the reader to consider the altogether more terrestrial desire for pre-eminence and its subsequent potential for tragedy. ‘The pursuit of glory. the idea of leaving some kind of mark. of standing out and being the best of the best: all of these are things that have been written about a little bit before in terms of aviation. I just wanted to take things further and have a character who was incredibly single— minded and self-sacrificing. so that it would be a more universal story. one that is symbolic of anybody who wants to achieve something extraordinary.‘
Jed Mercurio appears at Aye Writel, Sun 25 Feb; www.ayewrite.com; Ascent is published by Jonathan Cape on Thu 8 Mar.
>l< Aye Write! A host of big names come to Glasgow for this festival which is now a crucial date in the literary diary. The likes of Howard Marks (pictured), Simon Armitage, Michael Buerk, Sue Cook, David Blunkett and Steve Bell all feature. Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Fri 76—Sun 25 Feb. =i< A Celebration of Edwin Morgan The way Ron Butlin is going, he’ll be getting one of these tributes to him sometime in the future. For now, he helps pay tribute to the beloved Glasgow Laureate. North Edinburgh Arts Centre, Edinburgh, Wed 28 Feb.
>l< One Book - One Edinburgh The campaign to get RLS’ Kidnapped firmly in the nation’s psyche just keeps on rolling. Various venues, Edinburgh, until Thu 1 Mar.
* Lynne Truss The writer who famously got her pants in a furore over bad punctuation presents her stunning monologues which were previously aired on Radio 4. See review. page 29. Profile Books; Mitchell Library, Fri 23 Feb.
=i< Toni Davidson The silence is broken by the Ayr-born writer whose Scar Culture caused a stir in 1999. His short story collection, The Gradual Gathering of Lust is a fitting follow-up. See feature, page 18. Canongate.
>l< Harvey Pekar A Gogol- esque tale of horrible truths. Ego and Hubris features an anti-hero who is very difficult to love. See review. page 30. Ballantine Books.
>i< Brian Azzarello 8: Eduardo Risso The tenth volume of 100 Bullets appears with more sharp dialogue and characters as the Trust and its former warlord go head to head. See review. page 30. Vertigo/Titan.