In this edition of Te mohio ki a koe; Getting to Know You, we get to know Alan Goodwin. Judge at Manukau and renowned author who talks about Greene Lyon.
Abandoned to the care of his grandmother in a bleak rural village in Lincolnshire, temperamental and difficult yet brilliant, Isaac Newton was born into an age that unleashed a political and intellectual revolution. An age where science and philosophy were empowered to challenge church theocrasy. The teenaged Newton filled his notebooks with questions, magic and experiments he would continue to pursue after his studies at Trinity College Cambridge.
Much of his scientific work was not discovered or recognised until his death in 1727, aged 84. Never married, perhaps ‘closeted’, depressed at times to the point of self-harm, Newton was not the first of the age of reason, but he was the last of the magical scientists to look out on the visible and intellectual world with the same eyes of the Babylonians and Sumerians who first built our intellectual inheritance around their own magical discoveries.
JANZ: Welcome then, Alan Goodwin, my brother, from Manukau. Who knew there lived among us such a famous author? Your first novel Gravity’s Chain published in 2010 is now followed by the just-released Greene Lyon, a reimagining of Isaac Newton’s formative years.
Alan Goodwin: Thanks, Gerardo. The novel tells the ‘true’ story of Isaac Newton and the falling apple, one of the great historical myths. The book combines real aspects of Newton’s life with entirely fictionalised parts and explores the murky divisions between magic beliefs and early scientific discovery.
The story centres around Newton’s obsessions and secretive nature. He wants to understand the universe, which he believes is the manifestation of God’s power, but is haunted by darker impulses and a passion for Alice Cutler, a girl from his youth, who bears the mark of a witch. When Alice’s life is threatened by a witchfinder, Isaac’s life unravels, driving him to scientific creation and a choice to banish Alice with fatal consequences.
Tell us about the family.
I live in Ellerslie, Auckland and am married to Peta. We have two adult children — our daughter Carys, who lives in London and our son Toby, who lives in Wellington. They have always been the bedrock.
How did you come to write about England’s most famous scientist?
I am entirely non-scientific and studied no science subject beyond elementary level, but scientists and how they formulate their theories have always fascinated me, more for the creative aspect than the actual science. And they don’t come any bigger than Isaac Newton, one of the most influential people in history. The genesis of the book (wanting to write about the discovery and its links with alchemy) took on a life of its own after that, but ended where I always wanted it to end – the apple orchard.
How do you find the energy and time to research and write original stuff after a hard day’s work reading and writing for your day job, Judge? What was your routine or process when writing this book?
The book took 10 years to write, so there were several changes in routine over the years as my work demands changed. However, in essence, I’ve always had four core rules:
A weekly page count — that varies according to what I have on in the week.
An hour of writing in an evening I’m at home during the week and completing the page count at the weekend.
Always end a session on what I call the ‘downslope’. In other words, a place that is easy to pick up from the next day, even if it means cutting writing time short.
Never get hung up on “what I’m writing must be right” – it can always be corrected or improved in the next draft. Because I write in short bursts, I try not to get bogged down. The first drafts are very much thrown down to see what sticks.
OK, now the shameless self-promotion stuff, my brother, to keep your publisher happy (kidding!).
The book can be purchased online here. You can read the NZ Herald review here. Read on and answer a question to win an autographed copy!
Now, e hoa ma, let’s get to know more about you.
The upcoming event I’m most looking forward to:
In November, Toby and I are off to Madison Square Garden to see David Gilmour in concert. It’s quite the trip and we land four days after the US elections. I hope America is still there!!
Best novel I’ve recently read, and the best work of nonfiction:
My pick for the best book of 2024 would have to be Question 7 by Richard Flannigan. As well as being one of the best current writers, his playing with form defies categorisation and he has produced something unique. For non-fiction, The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes. If anyone is ever in doubt about history repeating itself, and the dangers of where we are — this book will dispel it at once.
Authors I will read anything by:
One of the writers I have most enjoyed over the last 15 years is Hilary Mantel and the Wolf Hall trilogy, the books are some of the finest historical fictions I’ve read, and a source of inspiration through the writing of my book, especially the creation of such a rounded character as her Thomas Cromwell. Other writers who I always come back to are Martin Amis, Margaret Attwood, Norman Mailer, Ernest Hemingway, and Pat Barker.
My favourite blockbuster and favourite art movie:
Not sure if either of my picks count as either, but here goes. I still remember Alien, 1979, in a Cambridge (UK) cinema. It might not be the best film ever made, but I can recall the experience as if it was yesterday, that’s what I call making an impression. I’m not sure what makes an “art film”, but I’ll go for The Assassination of Jessie James by the Coward Robert Ford. The opening three minutes is the best narration I have ever seen in a movie.
An actor I would watch in anything:
Old school – Sidney Poitier, the coolest of the cool. New school, Claire Danes, from Romeo and Juliet to Homeland, she is always outstanding.
A quiet song that I love, and a loud song that I love:
Silver Spring by Fleetwood Mac for the quiet song, and watch the live version from 1997, the looks between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham are priceless. For loud, Nina Cried Power by Hozier with Mavis Staples, who can still belt out a song at 80.
A musical artist who means a lot to me:
I am an unreformed dinosaur when it comes to music, sitting on the progressive rock end. I first heard Genesis in 1978 and they have been a constant ever since.
Something I recently revisited:
The Singing Detective. Its storytelling is wonderful, especially the way a past life informs the future and the characters weave in and out of the story.
The last entertainment thing that made me cry:
I recently re-watched Melvin Bragg’s interview with Dennis Potter, filmed just months before Potter died. It is one of the most moving and brave pieces of television I’ve seen.
An online creator that I’m a fan of:
David Runciman, Past Present Future podcast. He has a brain the size of a house and makes the incredibly difficult and arcane sound simple.
A good recommendation I recently received:
Tears of Rangi: Experiments Across Worlds by Anne Salmond.
The last thing that made me snort with laughter:
Fisk, a genuinely funny Aussie comedy series. Kitty Flanagan’s brown suit makes me smile just thinking about it.
A poem, or line of poetry, that I return to:
I have cheated here, chosen two, and one is from TV, not a poem.
From TV. Mad Men, The Carousel Pitch, “Nostalgia, delicate but potent…a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone…a place we ache to go to again…to a place we know we were loved.”
And poetry:
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.
William Shakespeare
From The Tempest, Act 4 Scene 1
Best quote?
“You start off with the impossible and that is the blank sheet on which the possible may be written.” Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers.
What’s your secret to a work/life balance in this judging job?
Outside work, once the writing is done and music listened to there is my ongoing love of football, there since childhood and still going strong – and still mainly without trophies as I continue to support the mighty Spurs. There is always the hope of a new season, it’s much like spring – looking forward to that rich, hot summer.
JANZ Competition
For a signed copy of the book, the question is: “Which British Prime Minister grew up where Isaac Newton went to school?
Get in to win by emailing Lara at admin@janz.nz with your answer! We’ll announce the winner in September’s newsletter.