Today we talk about Fog bound, a book by Anthony Caine published with our publishing house Europe Books.
Europe Books had the pleasure of interviewing the author Anthony Caine to get to know him better, the moment that led him to the writing of his book Fog bound, as well as how he chose the title of it.
Below you can find our interview. Take a seat and enjoy your reading!!!
- Is there a particular moment in your life that led you to the writing of your book? What was it?
Actually yes, there was. In July 2022, I received notice from Apple that to make new calls must download updated software to my iPhone. My phone was too old to accommodate the new software. I would have to buy a more modern mobile phone. Over the course of the previous three months, my bank had continuously been changing the steps that I must follow on line to access my accounts. It seemed that each month, I was forced to learn new digital procedures. Considering the bank accounts paid almost no interest, the bank’s demands served as a rather arrogant form of harassment. The notice from Apple, when coupled with my bank’s continuously changing digital demands, motivated me to write Fog Bound. Having just finished writing my anthology of stories entitled Dragonflies, I was feeling confident with my writing. I was prepared and ready to fight back.
- What would you like to hear from your readers?
Mostly, I would like to know if they enjoyed the story. Reading fiction should be, first and foremost, a pleasant, aesthetic experience. Although the book alludes to many of the challenges digital technologies impose on our sensibilities, I feel the story, in its own way, is uplifting. It inspires courage. I hope the book’s readers will feel similarly. Fog Bound draws on the writings of other authors: Jean Paul Satre, Charles Freeman, and others. The book is a provocation — to think seriously about how modern technology is touching our philosophical and religious traditions. How it is pulling us away from living in the moment as a direct physical participant. I would be very pleased if Fog Bound’s readers would respond to this by describing on the book’s web page some of their own impressions. It would confirm to me that the book’s core message has managed to be heard.
- Is there a book you are particularly attached to and that has taught you something?
Can’t say that there is one particular book. Rather, there are a number of them. I read a lot, usually two or three books at a time, in parallel. Over the last 30 years, mostly I have been reading non-fiction. Recent attachments have been to Jan Banville’s Time Pieces: A Dublin Memoir, Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life, Simon Winchester’s Land, and John Noble Wilford’s The Mapmakers. Now in later life, I find that the fiction and philosophy that I once read during my high school and college years have stayed with me, stabilizing my values, guiding me as life progressed. I was particularly influenced by Dostoevsky, Nietzsche, Kafka, Bourges, and the existentialists. After moving to Prague, I very much enjoyed reading Milan Kundera.
- How did you choose the title of your book?
This is interesting. Fog Bound consists of two distinct parts: The Cloud and Silver Linings. The Cloud emerged from my intolerance with the persistent, continuous interjection of new digital technology. After finishing The Cloud, I was left feeling unsatisfied. Like aloe applied to burned skin, Silver Linings responds, bringing recognition to the reality we face — the new technologies are here to stay. Still, though, as Vincent writes to his daughter, Aelia: “There may be no exit, but we are not powerless.” With the titles, The Cloud and Silver Linings already set, it took some time to find an appropriately strong title to serve as the bond between these two parts. After discarding a number of options, my brother, Frank, suggested Fog Bound. It was a brilliant suggestion, The word bound can be interpreted two ways. It refers to the state of being constrained. It also refers to the destination to where one is traveling.
- Are you working on a new writing project you can tell us about?
As a matter of principle, I prefer not to speak about my writings before they are finished, I am, though, working on a few ideas. A series of worthy characters have been assembled. Also, a set of thematic concepts that I would like my next novel to address. I have not yet found the appropriate plot — one strong yet fluid enough to support the characters and allow the concepts to be artfully communicated. Possibly more to the point, my writings until now are the product of deeply felt, existential, personal trials that I have found myself compelled to excrete … to overcome the internal suffering they brought me. Incapable of writing just to create another story or novel for publication, I am waiting for that next personal tribulation to arise, one strong enough to lubricate the promise of a new story.
Europe Books thanks the author Anthony Caine once again for taking the time and answering our questions. We are really pleased to have walked alongside him on the editorial path that led to the publication of his book Fog bound. We wish him the best of luck for his book and for his future works.
To you, my dear reader, may this book capture and intrigue to the point of looking forward to reading chapter after chapter. At the same time, it makes you reflect on today’s use of digital technologies and how these can be managed without forgetting that face-to-face contact is always the best form of interaction between human beings.
So, my dear reader, all I have to say is to enjoy your reading!
Your editor!