Pico Iyer

The Proust Questionnaire is believed to reveal an individual’s true nature. We have asked Incite authors 17 questions inspired by the questionnaire in an attempt to uncover who they are…

 
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Absorption. Whenever I’m lost in anything—a book, a conversation, a piece of music—and can’t even remember who I am, I know I must be in the right place, ecstatic. 

What does your ideal day look like?
More or less, the days I’ve crafted for myself in my home in rural Japan. I wake up, write, take long walks around the neighborhood, sit out on our tiny terrace in the sun, nibbling at sweet tangerines and reading long fiction, and then play furious games of ping-pong with the local grandmas (and sometimes their husbands) before spending the evening with my wife, after she’s back from work.

We have no car, no bicycle, no magazines or newspapers, no printer, no television I can understand and almost no Internet—only two small rooms in the whole place--and the day seems to last a thousand years.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Books.

What possession would you be heartbroken if you lost?
Self-possession.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
My over-ripe sense of duty.

What childhood fear has followed you into adulthood?
I’ve never been fond of crocodiles.

Do you take comfort in darkness or light?
I have such a love of light that I’ve worked really hard to try to look at the dark. I do believe that one can find light pretty much anywhere—especially in the dark—if one’s eyes are wide awake.

Do you remember your dreams?
I’ve recorded my dreams at times, as soon as I woke up (sometimes even before), but I found that doing so meant that I was too tired to record anything else the rest of the day. So now I let them just settle somewhere half-hidden beneath my other thoughts and color my writing invisibly.

How do you collect snippets of observations and ideas that come to you unexpectedly?
I have a wonderful piece of high-technology: a tiny notepad that fits in my pocket, and an aged Pilot black pen. Ever since I was eighteen or so, I’ve trained myself to scribble down every last thought or sentence that comes to me—because I know it will never come again.

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