DOCUMENTARY maker Karim Misks first novel touches on the roots between Judaism and Islam, revolving around a man who likes to lose himself by devouring the whole world in a single, uninterrupted story written by others.
In Arab Jazz, crime fiction fan Ahmed Taroudant lives in a multi-cultural melting pot in the 19th arrondisssement of Paris, yet he finds himself in the midst of a very real detective story after the murder of his upstairs neighbour Laura Vignole.
Detectives Rachel Kupferstein and Jean Hamelot soon make it clear that Ahmed is a suspect. The thriller, which moves from the streets of Paris to the synagogues of New York, has been translated into six languages.
Was the title Arab Jazz a nod to James Ellroys 1992 novel White Jazz?
I have to admit that White Jazz was a book that left an impression on me, but when you write you dont think too much and go, 'Im going to pay tribute to James Ellroy, so I think the title was beyond my control because it was part of the story.
Are you a fan of jazz?
I wouldnt say Im a jazz fan. I listen to jazz sometimes and my sister is a jazz pianist, so I have some connection to it. The playlist I include at the end of Arab Jazz is more my kind of music: trip-hop, electro, rap, rock and African music. The playlist is on Spotify and one reader also made a great one on YouTube.
The book takes us to Brooklyn and to the Watchtower, global headquarters of the Jehovahs Witnesses. Were you keen to feature New York in the book?
Strangely, New York has always inspired me even though I dont have any real memories of it. I was there when I was a kid but left when I was three. Its part of my personal story, so maybe I just had to go back. I spent a few days there on two occasions. I was crossing the Brooklyn Bridge and saw the Watchtower and it was like a lightning strike and that made it into my book. Both Brooklyn, with its Hasidic Jews, and the 19th arrondissement in Paris are both heavily religious but also have mixed populations.
Was it a shock to hear about the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris in January?
It was a real shock. I only live one kilometre away from Charlie Hebdo, so I knew exactly when it was happening. The whole story was a shock to everybody. The part of the 19th arrondissement I write about is exactly where the Kouachi brothers [who killed 12 people in the attacks] grew up. And the guy in Arab Jazz who is the head of the small praying room is inspired by the guy who recruited one of the Kouachi brothers to send to Iraq. My fiction was inspired by parts of reality and this was one part of it, so it was like reality was escaping from the book.
Do you find people that people try to compare you and the character Ahmed?
Of course. You always put some part of you in the main character of a book, but hes not me. I dont live on state subsidies and I dont have four layers of books in my apartment. But he cant define himself as an Arab or a Muslim; he doesnt really care. Its part of his history and its not him and I can definitely relate to that.
What are you working on at the moment?
My new book was just published in France a month ago its more of an autobiographical essay but Ive started the next one, which will be a sequel to Arab Jazz. I want to do a trilogy.
Was it always your plan to write a trilogy?
No. When Arab Jazz was published, I just thought that I had to keep writing because the story wasnt finished. There was a lot that I was not able to explain in the book, especially about Rachel. I dont want to write 10 books [in the series], but I think I can finish the whole story in two more books.
:: Karim Misk comes to the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast at 8.30pm on Tuesday, as part of the Belfast Book Festival (belfastbookfestival.com). Arab Jazz is out now, published by MacLehose Press/Quercus.
