'Compliments are a dangerous thing in literature'

Compliments are usually seen as a good thing, but journalist-cum-novelist Manu Joseph thinks otherwise.

"The most dangerous thing in the literary world is compliments. If you don't have a perception of what you are, you will be lost," said Joseph Thursday while speaking at the Writers Etc, a literary platform, at the Alliance Française here.

A journalist by profession, Joseph came out with his first novel "Serious Man" in 2010 and it was short-listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize and won The Hindu Literary Prize.

Joseph says penning a novel is different from the journalistic style of news-writing.

"A journalist, while writing, can't be the character of his write-up, he can't identify with the character. Whereas, while writing a novel there is a freedom to bring out the characters the way you desire," said the author, whose second novel is titled "The Illicit Happiness of Other People".

Joseph has a way with words and his ability to inject dark humour in his novels is considered to be his forte. His writings have often showed humour in extremely serious situations.

He said: "To me, humour is nothing but a form of accuracy otherwise it is clownish. Raw seriousness is an accomplishment and even a dead-pan description can define seriousness."