The Los Angeles Times posted an interview with Veronica Roth today.
Want to know her thoughts on feminism, perfectionism, and romance?
That’s all in there and more.
Here’s what they had to say:
In Veronica Roth’s bestseller “Divergent,” a young woman chooses to leave her family and align herself with a group that seems better suited to her true identity. “Insurgent,” out Tuesday, sees Tris coming to a better understanding of what that decision really means in a book that is every bit as action-packed and questioning as the series kickoff. We caught up with the 23-year-old Chicago-based author to talk about her highly anticipated second book in the “Divergent” trilogy and strong female characters in dystopian young-adult fiction.
Jacket Copy: “The Hunger Games,” “Divergent” and dozens of other titles in this burgeoning dystopian genre showcase strong female protagonists. Do you see a new shape of feminism emerging here?
Veronica Roth: That’s a complicated question. What’s interesting about these characters is that a lot of their strength is expressed in a physical way. Tris is physically weak but she learns how to be skilled in a physical way. Katniss isn’t super buff, but she knows how to defend herself. I think that’s something that needs to be explored more. Characters like Tris and Katniss, their worth and strength is not limited to their physical abilities. They’re very much in control of their own destinies. In “Insurgent,” Tris says, “Where I go, I go because I choose to.” That element of “I can do it. I can control my life,” that everything that happens, good or bad, happens because of the choice of the main character, that’s sort of a new thing.
Jacket Copy: How would you describe your personal adolescent experience, and how did it inform “Divergent”?
Veronica Roth: As a teenager, I put a lot of pressure on myself, and a lot of that, for me, was about finding a moral high ground. As I’ve grown up, I’ve decided to abandon that because it made me judgmental and also stressed me out. There’s really no way to be perfect. Perfectionism is a silly trait to have, so in a lot of ways that inspired the world of “Divergent,” in which everyone is striving toward that ideal and falling short of it. Tris is a character who experiences that stress about, “Am I doing the right thing? I always have to do the right thing. If I don’t, what am I worth?”
To read the rest, click here.