Imagination is the instrument of compassion

The World Trade Center collapses on September 11, 2001 (© Wikimedia)

New York author Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” is part of a wave of what has been dubbed “post-9/11 fiction”. But some critics say not enough time has passed to write a great book relating to the event. How much time must pass before such a catastrophe can be transformed into a work of art? An interview with the author is mixed with short excerpts from the book against a backdrop of John Adams’ “On the Transmigration of Souls”, composed to mark the first anniversary of 9/11 and winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Producer: David Swatling

Interviewer Marijke van der Meer

Broadcast: September 11, 2005