Modesty – a cured disease. Sapkowski according to... Sapkowski
Table of Contents
I have no doubt that up to this point you have been thinking: 'Sapkowski is such a humble guy, he's very modest about his achievements!' (warning: sarcastic tone!). Oh yes, without a doubt, modesty (or rather lack thereof) – is a hallmark of AS, which makes all interviewers and listeners mull over about his attitude. What does Mr. Sapkowski himself have to say about that? The most blunt, even if humorous, are probably his words spoken during the Fantasy Days 2014, which I quoted at the very beginning. And what about his other comments?
Legends about me are total bullshit – from the very beginning to the very end. I know about that, because I invented and started a few of these rumors myself. The only exception are the legends about my erudition – these are merely a faint shadow of reality.
Interview with Angora, 2001
There are only two fantasy experts in Poland – the first one is Andrzej Miszkurka from the Mag publishing house, and I won't mention the other one due to my natural humility.
Interview with Polityka magazine, 2006
Those who aspire to international success will need two things: extraordinary talent and an excellent agent. Fortunately, I have both.
Lucca Comics and Games 2019
MEMORIES OF A WITNESS
In high school, about 14 years ago, I attended a meeting with Andrzej Sapkowski at the main square in Cracow. During the Q&A session, he replied to one of his readers in such a way:
"Mister, I can write a book about Francis of Assisi that will make you cry with tears, and I can write one in such a way that you may become an atheist".
Martin Strzyzewski
I'm well up on certain things – having an IQ of about 200, I'm obviously abreast in many subjects.
History and Fantasy, 2005
A bit more serious standpoint, for a change, on his own way of being, Sapkowski presented in History and Fantasy, on the very same page:
You like jokes about IQ? Like this one from a moment ago. So I'm thinking...
AS: I already know what you are thinking about. Contrary to your suspicions, I'm not a cocksure person. What annoys me is something else: it's the endless issue of role-play acted by writers, usually during interviews and meetings with authors, where they portray themselves as orphans who sit quietly and modestly, mingling something vaguely under their noses, stipulating every now and then that in their humble opinion... This is generally not a very interesting attitude. I don't like to mince, and I hate to exalt myself, because it's unnatural; but depicting yourself as a semi-intelligent in order to make a better impression certainly offends human intelligence even more.
And one more humble statement, which also concerns another interesting subject:
When I saw the movie for the first time, I wanted to leave the country and never return. But perhaps this is an opinion of an author who thinks that he has created a perfect universe, which can’t be matched in any adaptation.
Online chat during the promotion of the Spanish edition of The Last Wish, 2002
I will pause at this quote for a moment, because this is one of a few instances when Sapkowski expressed honest and direct, if terse, opinion about the film directed by Marek Brodzki. When asked about this adaptation, the writer often tends to evade an answer:
I assume that selling copyrights is a bit like a prenuptial marriage agreement. And marriage is a separate entity, so whatever happens in the marriage, remains a private affair – press, radio, TV or on-line fans have nothing to do with it. The contract obliges – also to behave with dignity.
Interview given to the'G Crew, 2002
...and if he doesn't evade the answer, he usually replies in a veiled way (though clear enough for the audience to understand the sense of the message and burst into laughter), and sometimes he even tries to justify the filmmakers. Even after a dozen of years:
Have you already forgiven the makers of the 2001 movie?
AS: Let's not exaggerate. And let's not compare that movie to The Lord of the Rings or The Game of Thrones. Different times, different deals, different budgets. And at the time, in the Polish backyard, the movie industry had recorded a lot of flops and pieces of trash rather than masterpieces – and The Witcher movie simply fit into these standards. In turn, when it comes to the art of adapting books, I personally have seen many films in my life which did a much worse job of that. Of course, I have also seen quite a few that did better. So what?
Interview at Warsaw Book Show, 2018
