LibraryGirl2008
asked
Alexandra Duncan:
I'm currently listening to Salvage on audiobook, and am amazed by the detail you've put into descriptions of India and Indian culture. How long did it take you to perform research for this book?
Alexandra Duncan
Hi Liz! What a great question.
When I do research for a book, I tend to do it concurrently with writing. So, over the two and a half-ish years I was writing SALVAGE, I was also reading and watching everything I could about India. It's long been a place that has fascinated and impressed me, because it has this fascinating blend of ancient culture and modern technological know-how. I didn't know much about India or Indian history until college, because we weren't taught much of anything about the world outside the U.S. in middle or high school. That's really a shame, because India has such a rich and dramatic history that is so interconnected to other parts of the world. Learning about it in college was like finding another room that had been in my house for my entire life without me ever knowing it was there.
This isn't a comprehensive list, but some of the things that most inspired me were the books BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS, by Katherine Boo, FIRST DARLING OF THE MORNING, by Thrity Umrigar, and MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN, by Salman Rushdie. I also read travel guides, encyclopedia entries, newspaper articles, and children's books, which are actually a really great starting place for research, because they can give you a general overview of a subject.
One of the things that was the most fun to research was Mumbai-specific slang. There are entire web sites dedicated to Mumbai slang and others dedicated to Hindi slang. I'm a huge linguistics nerd, so I spent hours poring over those.
I also watched a ton of movies, including SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (of course), director Mira Nair's excellent MONSOON WEDDING and THE NAMESAKE, Bollywood comedies like TEES MAAR KHAN, and the heartbreaking documentary BORN INTO BROTHELS.
The only thing I wish I could have done that I couldn't afford to do was to actually go to Mumbai, where a large portion of SALVAGE is set. I did my best to evoke what a future subcontinental mega-tropolis might look like, but I'm sure it would have come across as more authentic if I'd actually been there. I love to travel whenever I have the opportunity, so I still hope I can go some day!
When I do research for a book, I tend to do it concurrently with writing. So, over the two and a half-ish years I was writing SALVAGE, I was also reading and watching everything I could about India. It's long been a place that has fascinated and impressed me, because it has this fascinating blend of ancient culture and modern technological know-how. I didn't know much about India or Indian history until college, because we weren't taught much of anything about the world outside the U.S. in middle or high school. That's really a shame, because India has such a rich and dramatic history that is so interconnected to other parts of the world. Learning about it in college was like finding another room that had been in my house for my entire life without me ever knowing it was there.
This isn't a comprehensive list, but some of the things that most inspired me were the books BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS, by Katherine Boo, FIRST DARLING OF THE MORNING, by Thrity Umrigar, and MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN, by Salman Rushdie. I also read travel guides, encyclopedia entries, newspaper articles, and children's books, which are actually a really great starting place for research, because they can give you a general overview of a subject.
One of the things that was the most fun to research was Mumbai-specific slang. There are entire web sites dedicated to Mumbai slang and others dedicated to Hindi slang. I'm a huge linguistics nerd, so I spent hours poring over those.
I also watched a ton of movies, including SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (of course), director Mira Nair's excellent MONSOON WEDDING and THE NAMESAKE, Bollywood comedies like TEES MAAR KHAN, and the heartbreaking documentary BORN INTO BROTHELS.
The only thing I wish I could have done that I couldn't afford to do was to actually go to Mumbai, where a large portion of SALVAGE is set. I did my best to evoke what a future subcontinental mega-tropolis might look like, but I'm sure it would have come across as more authentic if I'd actually been there. I love to travel whenever I have the opportunity, so I still hope I can go some day!
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