Men and Monsters
Characters in Carol Birch’s Jamrach’s Menagerie and Albert Sánchez Piñol’s Cold Skin travel deep into the heart of darkness and come face to face with human nature’s most wicked parts. In Jamrach’s Menagerie, a sea voyage gone awry forces sailors to decide just what they will sacrifice in order to survive. Sánchez Piñol’s unsettling Cold Skin pits a lonely weather observer on a remote and deserted island against his deepest fears and darkest demons. What happens to humans when we are pushed beyond our breaking point? At the edge of the world with civilization far behind, are we able to remain men or do we become monsters? Birch and Sánchez Piñol discuss with Jenny Niven, Associate Director of the Wheeler Centre.
Albert Sánchez Piñol is brought to you by the Cervantes Institute of Beijing, the Embassy of Spain and the Institut Ramon Llull.
This event was part of The Bookworm International Literary Festival 2012 in Beijing.
Introduction music: Song Etrange (奇怪) written by Zhang Si’an (Djang San, Jean-Sébastien Héry). Extract from the album One Man Live Orchestra Vol 1.
