Latest news with #AnthonyHorowitz
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Horrible Histories creator Terry Deary: ‘What's the use of universities?'
One day, it dawned on Terry Deary that his favourite crime novels are overrun with characters who have heaps of money, or a degree, or both. ' Agatha Christie, Lord Peter Wimsey, the golden age of crime writing – it's pure Establishment,' he says. The same holds true for his contemporary standbys, Anthony Horowitz ('That man is a genius') and Simon Brett. By contrast, says Deary – who is better known as the brains behind the Horrible Histories series for children – in Actually, I'm a Murderer, his first adult crime novel, 'only about two out of 20 characters went to university'. This will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Horrible Histories. Those books, 70-odd titles that have together sold some 30 million copies, have enlivened great tracts of the past for generations of children by relaying with irresistible delight the viscera of history and the experience of the common man. In them, monarchs and world leaders are usually depicted as monsters or figures of fun: the Romans are 'evil'; the Tudors, tyrants. Deary reserves a particular loathing for Elizabeth I, and he is not at all a fan of the British Empire. 'I get a lot of abuse for it,' he tells me; he's even been accused of 'poisoning the minds of children. But I can't believe anyone would possibly justify the British Empire.' Thirty-two years after the publication of the first Horrible Histories book, Deary says he's done with writing children's books. 'I've written hundreds of them. There's another mountain to climb now.' Actually, I'm a Murderer is the first instalment in what he hopes will develop into a long-running series (he's already written book two) featuring John Brown, an assassin-for-hire in 1970s Sunderland, where Deary grew up. The premise inverts the classic crime thriller setup: we know whodunnit from the beginning; the fun lies in the protracted game of cat and mouse between Brown and the police who, in the first book at least, Deary paints as incompetent, sexist and bigoted. 'Only the men,' he corrects me – the hero of the novel, Aline, is a policewoman fighting her repulsive, handsy colleague for promotion. 'Female police are underrated. When I published a murder mystery for young adults 20 years ago, the editor made me tone down the incompetence of the book's bent policeman,' he adds. 'I had to make the police look better and focus on solving the mystery. I don't think you would get that today.' In fact, Deary is quite a fan of the police, despite having been 'beaten blue' by them when he was a 'naughty nipper'; his dad ran a butcher's shop and Deary says his impoverished childhood 'in a postwar slum' taught him 'how real people lived'. I ask him what he thinks of the Metropolitan Police today, hit by a string of appalling scandals. 'Police are human beings. No one can live up to the expectations that are placed on the police.' Deary, who lives in County Durham with his wife, Jenny, with whom he has one grown-up daughter, was already a successful children's author when he was commissioned to do a history joke book in the early 1990s. He had begun writing in 1976 while working as a drama teacher in Suffolk. He maintains he didn't know much history at the time, although he studied it at A-Level. But then, his intention was never to educate. 'I didn't set out to enlighten their little minds or even get them to read,' he says. 'That just happened.' His main influence was his previous career as an actor: he had spent a few years in the early 1970s with Theatr Powys, in Wales. 'The aim of drama is to answer one question only – why do people behave the way they do? I applied that to my books. Look how they behaved in the past and learn from that.' Today, Horrible Histories is part of the cultural landscape – widely read in schools and embraced by the middle classes. 'Isn't that sickening?' says Deary. 'It's like Mick Jagger. He presents himself as anti-Establishment and then he accepts a knighthood. I hope I never sell out like that.' Fair enough, but the brand is already enormously lucrative – there are theatre, film and television adaptations, and even a Horrible Histories interactive cruise along the Thames, for which Deary writes the voiceover. Is he worried that the brand's original rebel spirit is becoming diluted? 'Horrible Histories is not my brand. I just write the books,' he says. 'And I take no credit for the spin-offs.' He rejects, too, the suggestion that Horrible Histories inculcate an inherently flippant attitude towards the past. 'You forget how boring history books for children were before I came along. Endless parents tell me their child never read a book until they picked up Horrible Histories. Although when people tell me that thanks to my books they studied history at university, I say 'Don't blame me, mate', because what use are universities?' Deary can come across as a bit of a throwback 1980s anarchist. He's famously against the education system, partly because he was caned repeatedly at his primary school. 'I'm against schooling. Not against education,' he clarifies. 'But you need to get rid of the muppets in Whitehall who write the curriculum which applies to every child in this country, when they wouldn't know a child from Newcastle or Sunderland if it thumped them on the kneecap.' He spits at whatever Labour might be planning to address this: it launched a review of the school curriculum at the end of last year. 'It's just tokenism, sorry. You need to get rid of it.' I assume, then, that he is not too concerned by the drop in students reading history at university? He himself never got the chance to go: his teachers suggested when he was 18 that he 'get a job down the pits'; instead, he worked at the electricity board. 'People don't have to waste taxpayers' money spending four years going to this place called university and not working when they can read my books [instead],' he says. I think he means it. 'But it's not my problem. I'm a book writer.' But surely, I suggest, the facts and intellectual rigour taught at university are important tools both for understanding the counter-imperialist view of history he favours and also for combating the growing threat of AI-generated misinformation? In lieu of an answer, Deary tells me how when people hear about a mother who lost her children in a bombing raid during the Second World War, they assume it took place in London or Coventry. 'But it took place in Dresden, too. Everyone comes up with a British-educated answer. But it happened to them as well as us.' I try again. What does Deary think about the ways in which we are rethinking our imperial past – the growing acknowledgment of the extent to which modern Britain was built on profits from the slave trade; the Rhodes Must Fall movement, which argues for the removal of the statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College, Oxford? That, he says, is 'actually quite a good idea. Although they should be arguing to take all the statues down, including Lord bloody Nelson in Trafalgar Square. But it's a minority view. Imperialists are taking over the country.' Including, perhaps, in Sunderland – Deary left the city in the early 1970s, but maintains close links – where Reform won 27 per cent of the vote in the last election. Why does he think that happened? 'Because Farage is a big personality,' he says. 'People aren't voting for his policies, but for the man. So don't ask me to condemn my Sunderland friends.' Quite the opposite, I say. Isn't it only because such voters feel let down by the Establishment that they find themselves drawn to Reform in the first place? 'That, I admit, does sway people,' Deary says. 'They think the Conservatives have had their chance but they mucked it up, so we'll try Labour. Oh, they aren't doing so well, so we'll try a third option.' Deary is a tremendous force in publishing – and proud of it: he points out that the paperback edition of his recent nonfiction book A History of Britain in Ten Enemies topped the bestseller charts. 'Not bad for a lad from Sunderland, eh?' He has no plans to stop, nor any intention of toning things down. 'I'm an entertainer, not an academic. And if I don't entertain people, they won't engage.' Actually, I'm a Murderer by Terry Deary (Constable, £18.99) is out on June 12
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Historian and presenter David Olusoga says racist or offensive language should not be removed from classic books or TV shows - and young people should instead 'toughen up'
Historian David Olusoga has said racist or offensive language should not be removed from classic books or TV shows and that young people should just 'toughen up'. The presenter acknowledged he's from an older generation than the one used to trigger warnings. He also said he understands that it can be helpful to know ahead of time if a book has certain stories or words that might be upsetting. However, the British-Nigerian writer said he thought it was more useful to confront the language of the past than to censor it. Olusoga recently took part in a documentary about the BBC 's Black and White Minstrel Show, a program that aired until the late 1970s and featured white performers in blackface. Last year, novelist Anthony Horowitz said he wouldn't accept being told what to do following the rewritting of following the rewriting of Roald Dahl 's books to remove 'offensive' language. Olusoga explained to grasp how that entertainment spread racism and stereotypes, he believes it's necessary to confront the offensive language directly as he believes it's the only way to truly understand its harmful impact. He told the Hay Festival: 'I think we need to be tougher. Our ancestors had those words shouted at them; we just have to read them in a book. He added that he is tolerant of people who prefer removing words instead of providing warnings, the Telegraph reports. Some novels, like the James Bond series, have been edited to remove racist references. Ian Fleming's books were reissued in 2023 with certain language changed following a review by sensitivity readers. Similar edits have also been made to some Agatha Christie mysteries. The 69-year-old bestselling British author, who was commissioned by the Ian Fleming estate to write three James Bond continuation novels—With a Mind to Kill, Trigger Mortis, and Forever and a Day—dismissed the idea of modernising the content. When asked how he adapted the stories for today's readers, he firmly replied: 'The first thing I did not do was update it for a modern audience.' He continued: 'I set it in the 1950s as I believe Bond only exists in his world. I did not give in to anything. He is still a womaniser, a smoker, and a killer. 'There was nothing to change, not even the language, he used the word 'bottom' a lot, so I made sure I used it in every book. Olusoga told the Hay Festival: 'I think we need to be tougher. Our ancestors had those words shouted at them; we just have to read them in a book' 'I did not change him to match people's sensibilities.' In 2023, Roald Dahl's classic children's books were revised by sensitivity experts to remove language deemed offensive, such as references to characters being 'fat' and the use of gendered terms for the Oompa Loompas. Publisher Puffin hired sensitivity readers to review and change parts of Dahl's original text, aiming to ensure the stories could continue to be enjoyed by today's readers. As a result, substantial changes were made across his works. According to The Telegraph, many of the edits focused on descriptions of characters' appearances, with the word 'fat' completely removed from every book. Augustus Gloop in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory can now only be described as 'enormous'. Hundreds of changes were made to the original text, extinguishing Dahl's colourful and memorable descriptions, some over fifty years old, to make his characters less grotesque. Mrs Twit's 'fearful ugliness' has been chopped to 'ugliness', and Mrs Hoppy in Esio Trot is not an 'attractive middle-aged lady' but a 'kind middle-aged lady'. Gender is also eliminated with books no longer referring to 'female' characters. Miss Trunchbull in Matilda, once a 'most formidable female', is now a 'most formidable woman', while her 'great horsey face' is now called 'her face'. Oompa-Loompas who were once 'small men' are now 'small people' and Fantastic Mr Fox's three sons have become daughters. Passages not written by the late author, who died in 1990, have also been added by the publisher to complete their new editions. In The Witches, a paragraph describing them as bald under their wigs is followed shortly by a new line: 'There are plenty of other reasons why women might wear wigs and there is certainly nothing wrong with that.'
Wall Street Journal
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
Mysteries: ‘Marble Hall Murders' by Anthony Horowitz
Fans of the inventive English author Anthony Horowitz have reason to celebrate the arrival of 'Marble Hall Murders,' the third entry in a terrific series started in 2016. This book, like the earlier two, is partly narrated by Susan Ryeland, a London editor who had coaxed the crime writer Alan Conway—a bitter, malicious man who was eventually murdered—through a popular series of detective novels set in the 1950s. After adventures in marriage and hotelkeeping on the Greek island of Crete, Susan is back in London, solo, working for another publishing house and helping a young writer named Eliot Crace continue the series Alan started. Alan based his characters on real-life people in ways meant to expose their most shameful secrets. This led to his death and, for Susan, near-fatal injuries. Eliot is the grandson of Miriam Crace, a phenomenally successful children's author whose books are available in 47 languages, 'including Latin and Welsh.' Contrary to her public image, Miriam, who recently died of an apparent heart attack, was a despicable matriarch who ruled her extended family with an iron claw. Susan detects that Eliot, in his work-in-progress, is mimicking Alan's method of depicting real crimes and scandals. The editor foresees big trouble for Eliot and herself: 'When was I ever going to learn?' she wonders. Few other writers combine suspense and satire as smoothly as Mr. Horowitz, a writer who specializes in clever literary devices. As with its predecessors, 'Marble Hall Murders' is told half in Susan's first-person voice and half in the third-person voice of the manuscript under her purview. Thus we get two separate mysteries, twice the surprise—and double the payoff.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
William Watson: Chatbots are changing everything and nothing
The novelist Anthony Horowitz has the 'diary' page in this week's Spectator magazine. The format is amusing occurrences and casual musings as the writer wends his way through his week. Halfway down the column, Horowitz recalls how as a teenager he used to 'slip into' the Old Vic theatre to see plays, experience 'something close to magic' and be left 'breathless.' But then the next entry abruptly announces: 'The last paragraph was written by ChatGPT.' Horowitz had asked it to write 100 words on theatre tickets in the style of Anthony Horowitz. He then analyzes where it did and didn't succeed. 'If I became breathless in a theatre, I'd expect St. John's Ambulance to remove me quickly,' and so on. But you could have fooled me! In fact, it did fool me, and it fooled most readers, I'd guess, which was Horowitz's point. We're well beyond the stage where AI produces oohs and aahs just for putting a noun and verb in each sentence and making sure they agree in number. It's now operating at a high level of fluency (though I should add that no bots were abused in the writing of this column.) It's impossible to imagine where something so powerful will take the world — though I expect Evan Solomon, our new minister of artificial intelligence, will spend lots of money trying. An under-wagered possibility is that after being turned upside down, the world will end up looking more or less the same. This would be consistent with Solow's Paradox, economics Nobelist Robert Solow's famous 1987 observation that: 'You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics.' In a new study of AI adoption in Denmark, Anders Humlum of the University of Chicago and Emilie Vestergaard of the University of Copenhagen quote that line from Solow. And they come to a similar conclusion, as indicated by their study's title, 'Large Language Models, Small Labour Market Effects.' (Would a bot have got to such a taut summary of the message? I think not.) Not every occupation lends itself to using ChatGPT or similar chatbots. So the researchers look at only 11 where it's likely to be most handy, including: IT, HR and legal professionals, accountants, teachers, journalists and five others. It turns out Denmark is a very digitized place. Every Dane has 'a digital mailbox that Statistics Denmark can use to distribute survey invitations.' Moreover, Danes seem to check their digital mailboxes. The researchers sent out 115,000 survey invitations and got 25,000 completed responses covering 7,000 workplaces — a big sample and good response rate for this sort of thing. (Completed surveys were entered in a draw for a tax-free cash prize though we're not told how much.) Beyond its paradoxical bottom line, the paper's other (to my mind) surprising finding was just how much chatbots are already being used. Almost two-thirds of workers have used one 'at least a few times' and almost 20 per cent use them daily. Firms 'are now heavily invested,' with 43 per cent of workers 'explicitly encouraged to use them' and only six per cent not allowed to. Firms also do training: 30 per cent of employees have had some. When firms are involved, take-up is higher and there's less of a gender gap. When firms are neutral there's more take-up from men. (One Norwegian study of students found a gender gap largely reflected 'male students continuing to use the tools even when explicitly banned.') Firm-wide investments are 'particularly widespread in journalism and marketing and more limited in teaching.' Journalists (or their bots!) told the researchers they use AI to brainstorm 'story ideas, angles or interview questions,' to draft content, to fact-check and edit, to summarize 'research materials or interview transcripts' and, surprisingly, to ensure 'AI-generated content abides by journalistic ethics and standards.' They use a bot to decide whether their bot has been ethical? What's been the effect of using the new technology? Average reported time saving is 2.8 per cent, which seems low, given how powerful the bots are. What do people do with the time they save? Mainly other tasks. Also somewhat more of the same task. And more or longer breaks or leisure time. It seems no one answered 'mindless screen-scrolling' during the freed-up time, though we all know what a problem that now is. New technology allowing workers to turn to different tasks is a common effect and helps explain why automation typically doesn't displace labour wholesale: firms find new things for their workers to do. Which helps explain the labour market effects, which are: pretty much nothing. The researchers asked people directly whether 'they perceive AI chatbots to have affected their earnings.' No, said 99.6 per cent of respondents. William Watson: Get the Ozempic! Cabinet has grown by almost two-thirds in two months William Watson: Free trade is being replaced by crony trade What people perceive isn't always true, of course. But in this case Denmark's digital connectedness allowed the researchers to check on hours, earnings, total wages, total employment and so on in the firms where bots are used most. And nothing budged. It's early days yet but the papers' last line and the study's bottom line is that 'two years after the fastest technology adoption ever, labour market outcomes — whether at the individual or firm level — remain untouched.'
Telegraph
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Anthony Horowitz: Children can't read long books any more
Children may no longer have the attention span to read novels more than 300 pages long, according to Anthony Horowitz. The 70-year-old author said he believed modern society was rewiring children's minds, and popular books were now 'very short' and had big type and lots of pictures. He added that his bestselling Alex Rider series of children's books may not have been as successful if they were released now. Speaking to the Headliners podcast, Mr Horowitz said: 'The world of children's books at the moment doesn't look to me to be in a very good state. 'I wonder if there is still a large audience for Alex Rider novels, which are long-ish, 300-plus pages and quite complicated. They are proper novels. 'I'm not saying they're great literature, but I am saying that they are, you know, proper novels. I worry that the audience is not there for them any more. 'Actually, if I was writing the Alex Rider books today, if I started with Stormbreaker this afternoon, I worry [if] it would find an audience because this is to do with attention spans, to do with social media, to do with smartphones, to do with the way that children's minds are being rewired almost by modern society.' Mr Horowitz added that he was 'happy' his adult books now occupied most of his time, confirming that he currently had no plans 'to do any more Alex Riders'. He continued: 'I have misgivings about the world of children's books. You know if you look in a bookshop, the books that seem to be popular – and I'm not decrying them for a minute because they are giving children pleasure – tend to have very bright colours on the cover and [a] sort of slightly cartoonish look. 'They're very short, they're big type, they're lots of pictures... that seems to be now what is more popular and it's not what I write.' He added that the challenge may be to write books 'designed specifically for an audience that doesn't particularly want to read'. 'I have been thinking to myself for some time that everybody's saying that children don't want to read any more, that it's getting more and more difficult,' the author said. 'So why isn't a writer doing something about it to actually address the point, to produce a book that children will read? 'And does that mean that the book will have to be in some way really different to how books used to be and what they looked like? I'm beginning to think along those lines a little bit.' 'Pandering down to children' Last year, Mr Horowitz claimed children's literature was ' going downhill ' because publishers were flooding the market with silly books rather than proper stories. Speaking at the Hay Festival, he said: ' JK Rowling somehow managed to create a 600-page book with some quite demanding ideas in it and then the later Harry Potters, which are quite dark and certainly long, and they were this phenomenal international hit. 'Do you believe that any book published now, which had 150,000 words in it and aimed at a market of eight to 15-year-olds, would have any chance?' He added: 'It worries me that the world of children's books has changed. 'It is beginning, I worry, to go downhill in the sense of lowering expectations – so many books, which are just funny, silly, bad jokes, and the actual idea of the literate children's book, the well-written, real story, is less popular now. 'It seems to me that if there's a trend in modern children's books, if you just walk into a bookshop and look at the covers around you, you now see the same imagery, the same gaudy colours, the same pandering down to children rather than raising their expectations.'
