Pint of Purple: Paulina Drėgvaitė, Film Editor

What book are you reading at the moment?

I‘m one of those people who reads multiple books at the same time and gets lost in between them. At the moment, I‘m reading Susan Sontag‘s Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and its Metaphors, in which she talks about the mythology of illness, particularly TB and cancer. It’s a fascinating read, as is seeing her unpack these cultural constructs.

I‘m also reading China Miéville’s The City and the City. It‘s a detective novel unlike any detective novels I’ve read before, set somewhere in Eastern Europe – a mixture of Hungary and Romania, I’d say. It’s a brilliant book; absolutely transfixing.

Who is your favourite literary character?

That is a tough question. I adore all the characters in Max Frei’s Labyrinths of Echo series. Also, it is impossible not to love Woland from Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita. And, speaking of Woland: Behemoth, the massive mischievous cat from his entourage. Wish I had a cat like that.

What is the first book you remember reading?

I remember books being read to me… But the first book I read and really enjoyed – the book that made me fall in love with books, actually – was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. It showed that reading can be exciting…

What is your all-time favourite book?

Now that is an almost impossible question to answer. There are books I re-read every year like Isabel Allende’s House of the Spirits, Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind, Erich Maria Remarque’s The Arch of Triumph… But I wouldn‘t call them my all-time favourite books. Actually, I don‘t think I have an all-time favourite book; but a book that has greatly affected me recently – affected the way I write, talk and think – is Chris Kraus’s I Love Dick. It tackled my whole idea of what literature is and what it can do; and, actually, art as a whole.

If you wrote an autobiography, what would be the title?

‘Let’s talk about trees’. Because I like trees.

Kindle vs. book?

Book book book. Book.

How much is a pint of purple?

I haven’t visited the Copper Rooms in over a year now… £2? It was less in my days, but prices do keep rising.

Image Credits: Header (Flickr/Trey Ratcliff), Image 1 (randomhouse.com), Image 2 (goodreads.com).