Interview with Michael O'Brien about his new novel

Hell on Earth and the Hope of Heaven | An Interview with Michael D. O'Brien on his new novel Island of the World

This interview was originally published on December 26, 2007, by LifeSite News (www.lifesitenews.com), Combermere, Ontario. It appears here with the gracious permission of LifeSite News and Michael O'Brien.

Question:  Tell us about your new novel, The Island of the World, to give readers a sense of it.

O'Brien: The Island of the World is the story of a child born in 1933 into the turbulent world of the Balkans and tracing his life into the third millennium.   The central character is Josip Lasta, the son of an impoverished school teacher in a remote village high in the mountains of the Bosnian interior. As the novel begins, World War II is underway and the entire region of Yugoslavia is torn by conflicting factions: German and Italian occupying armies, and the rebel forces that resist them—the fascist Ustashe, Serb nationalist Chetniks, and Communist Partisans. As events gather momentum, hell breaks loose, and the young and the innocent are caught in the path of great evils. Their only remaining strength is their religious faith and their families.

Q: Is this primarily a historical novel, or perhaps a political one?

O'Brien: No, it is neither, though of course history and politics play important roles in the story.

Read the entire interview...

Comments

[Brian Schuettler]

Thanks for posting this, Carl. I am sitting here next to Island of the World which I purchased for my wife for Christmas. We are both big fans of Michael's and read aloud to each other.