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| Mystifying control … Jim Crace. Photograph: Matt Writtle |
My hero:
Jim Crace
by Daniel Hahn
Jim Crace is a genius. I have read Harvest, which has just won the Impac prize, three times – and I still don’t know how he does it
Saturday 20 June 2015
I
’m currently on a translators’ residency, where one of our recurring dinnertime arguments is about whether genius exists, and if so, what it is. To some, it describes an ability, a gift, that is not merely above average but is somehow beyond comprehension; not just considerable skill, but inexplicable skill. If that definition holds, then Jim Crace, I think, is a genius. His 10th novel, Harvest – a small story about great change – has just won the 2015 Impac Dublin award; as one of the judges I’ve now read it three times, and I still don’t know how he does it. (Yes, I know “genius” sounds silly, but “magic” sounds even sillier.)
