One Out-Take From An Interview With Alexander McCall Smith

I interviewed Alexander McCall Smith for a newspaper and we had such a long and reflective conversation that there is enough material to go into both this blog and the article.

One thing that really struck me was when he said that he finds kindness very interesting as a subject of literary interest. And that forgiveness is another thing he is thinking a lot about as he writes the next Isabel Dalhousie novel while he’s here in Galle. He reflected that we live in very unforgiving times and that cultures of accountability can lead to the failure of forgiveness as we look for someone to blame. Concerns for public safety too can lead us to back ourselves into a corner and get stuck in a circle of alarm and restriction and recrimination. Mma Ramotswe on the other hand sometimes tells her wrong-doers that she’ll let them off as long as they don’t do it again. She is, in her own words, ‘a forgiving lady’.

I will send you a link to the full article when it’s published or, if it isn’t, publish it here.