The Conclave - Characters

Revelations is offering a unique opportunity for open discussion between Clive and his fans. Here is your space - a place to discuss topics relating to Clive's works where your thoughts will be posted ahead of our next interview with Clive. Having seen the entries posted here, we'll be encouraging Clive to join the discussion, respond to your observations and and to add his own thoughts..! We hope to foster intelligent and informed debate, so 'play nicely', send us your thoughts by e-mail (with 'The Conclave' in the header) and we'll put your unedited words in front of Clive... Which are your favourite of Clive's characters? How and why do they work for you..? "'Men make these distinctions, Jude: it's their territorial instincts misplaced. They divide existence as they do land. Life here, death there, and a border between. They guard it with the Church, with science... only poets defy the divide, and even they can be sentimental about it. It's taken us four hundred years to realise that if the Golden World is to be won, and kept, it must be won with ambiguities. There is no certain thing on earth worth knowing. Now, men are not subtle enough to grasp this simple idea. They have a fear of ambiguity. They think it's weakness, they think it's senility, a sign of death. They box it up and bury it; they tell us we should be certain or be slaves.' Paradise Street Revelations: "In Clive's work, it often seems that the girls get all the best rôles. His heroines are smart, tenacious and, more often than not, rather unconventional characters for whom you cannot help but have a curious admiration as they welcome whatever transformation Clive has in store for them. Forming a steady thread through his work, from the plays (Gloriana's strident feminism in Paradise Street) through the early published works (Julia in The Hellbound Heart) to the later novels (Tammy in Coldheart Canyon) and on to his most complex heroine, Candy Quackenbush, female characters display few of the emotional or inconstant traits which can speak of weakness. Perhaps our favourite heroines can be found in The Art trilogy - Maeve O'Connell has all the Northern grittiness of a woman who will let nothing stand in her way, whilst the forthright Tesla is just a fabulous embodiment of energy, bravery and wit. Her strength of mind and artless beauty make her enormously attractive as a character who grows and transforms through the two published volumes. Surely volume three will be Tesla's..? "The list is endless, a procession of queens and goddesses reaching into Clive's artistic as well as written work - we could go on and on..!" 8 July 2006 "I love writing about female characters. I have very powerful female characters occurring in every book. They’re not only images of power, they’re also images of wisdom. They act quite independently of the guys. "One of the fascinating things about Imajica was to write about a character, Judith, who seems to be completely playing the female role; that is, she is willed into passivity. But half-way through the book we realise that she’s not even herself, that she’s the echo of some other thing. And then to watch her escape the gravitational pull of the planet she has been assigned to satellite. And then to realsise that not only can she get away from that gravitational pull but that she can become very powerful in her own right. She becomes the new Madonna..." An Interview With Clive Barker by Robert Errera, Hecate's Cauldron, Vol 1 Issue 3, 1991 Camden Natysin: "I think one of the most interesting characters created by Clive was the "angel" Uriel. Although I suppose it was best we didn't find out about him, I really wanted to know exactly what it was he was guarding, and how he was involved with the Seerkind. Of course, some of the things he says lend me to believe that that Uriel business wasn't so far off. For instance, what he said about humans being created separate from the Garden, and his exact memories of the Seerkind leaving him alone in "Eden" to explore the earth. I suppose Clive wanted us to consider this. "I found Cal to be the most engaging character in Weaveworld. Despite the fact that he was he last powerful of all the characters, he still got involved with many major happenings in the book, and many times he "saved the day", so to speak, or at least assisted in ventures of that sort. I was glad when he had his own big moment at the end, as he was, in my opinion, the best character, a man who forces himself up to the level of more powerful beings by the will of his desire and love for the Fugue, and who manages to make a difference despite his powerlessness. His great power doesn't involve anything mystical like the menstruum or the raptures of the Seerkind. It's simply emotional power that drives him on and on, which makes sure he's powerful enough to help. He's desperately in love, and that's why he's able to make a different, and I really like that. I think he's one of Clive Barker's best creations." 21 July 2006 Emily Fogel: "I have been a fan of the books of Abarat since I was in the eighth grade and have read and listened to the books countless times. I am now in my Freshman year of college, and I have received an assignment to write about a social outsider in literature. Of course, my mind immediately turned to Christopher Carrion. My particular research question is: how does Carrion's status as an outsider make him a sympathetic villain? I am concentrating on the death of Carrion's family, his less than loving relationship with Mater Motley, his position of being outside any law, and his constant rejection by Candy/Boa. I guess my question to Clive would be how does he, as an author, build this incredible sympathy/empathy for a character despite the fact that we as the readers see that same character doing despicable things at almost every turn? Also, how does this sympathy for Carrion get tied in with his position as an outsider? "On a less research oriented note, I would just like to tell Clive that I love all of his work. The Thief of Always, Coldheart Canyon, and all of the short stories I have read by him have just been incredible. Also, I would like to express my appreciation for Mister B. Gone; I thought it was just fantastic. Finally, I would like to thank him from the bottom of my heart for actually replying to my fan mail a few years back. The letter and signed picture have since been framed and put over my desk at home. They remain a constant source of inspiration to me as an aspiring author. Thank you, Clive, really for everything." 23 March 2008 Your thoughts here... mail us here...please!" The Conclave | The World According To... Index | Home page This page has been created for information and entertainment purposes only. All quotes remain the copyright of the original owners.