If you could sum up The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart in three words, what would they be?
Funny Epic Tragedy
What did you like best about this story?
The characters managed to stay just this side of unbelievable. The Grossbarts, in particular, managed to somehow be ridiculous and yet cogent at times. Being an amateur medievalist myself, I always enjoy tales set in those times, but especially when the authors seem to capture the mind of the medieval, without apology.
The Brothers have a twisted but surprisingly consistent theological bent that really drives them and the story along. Bullington manages to make them seem sincere in their beliefs, at times even likable, so that you have to remind yourself (or Bullington does it for you) that they are terribly depraved.
In the longer parts of their travels, he uses clever techniques to give you a sense of the monotony and duration without making the story itself feel that way. He doesn't shy away from telling the tale in all its grotesquerie, and it adds a bit of realism to an otherwise fantastical story.
And to end with the beginning, the introduction in itself was quite amusing and does a fine job of getting you in the right frame of mind for the tale to come.
What does Christopher Lane bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
His highly imaginative voices really bring the characters to life; I doubt they'd be so memorable without his reading. Every so often I would wonder just how much of the reading was his interpretation and how much was actually in the text.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
The book that probably shouldn't be made into a film.