London - Acclaimed author Anthony Horowitz believes parts of the internet are “foul, disgusting and cruel” and that “evil is getting the upper hand”.
In a powerful speech on Sunday, the best-selling children’s adventure writer said the web “unlocked something quite dark in humanity”.
He said: “There is so much in the internet that is foul and disgusting and cruel. It’s an interesting mix.”
Speaking at the Oxford Literary Festival, the Foyle’s War and Midsomer Murders author conceded that the internet was the greatest invention of his lifetime but said it was also frightening.
The 57-year-old creator of the Alex Rider and The Power of Five series said there is a “constant struggle within people themselves and society for good and evil” and that the internet is part of this.
He said his passionate feelings on the subject arose in part from vicious online comments he received after a recent television appearance.
Using the examples of church sex scandals, politicians’ expenses and phone-hacking, he added: “In the last few years every single pillar of society has collapsed one after the other.
“I can’t remember as a boy growing up that so many pillars were found to be so rotten.
“It does bother me that evil is getting the upper hand.”
But he said that when writing his children’s novels, his belief in the inherent goodness of young people prevailed, and he made sure his characters saved the day.
When asked about writing “evil” characters, Horowitz said he tried not to make them too “other-worldly”, but based them on real-life drug dealers, businessmen or politicians.
The married father-of-two does not believe that young readers should be “patronised”. He said: “I have very strong opinions about violence in books. There isn’t enough of it.”
And he joked about his “violent rows” with publishers about some of the scenes in his novels.
He also spoke of the need to encourage more children to read for pleasure.
One way of achieving that, he said, would be for pupils to have one hour of reading for pleasure a week, with a full-time state-funded librarian in every school.
He added: “It’s worrying that a great many children leave school without reading a book cover to cover.
“In some schools, you read a chapter or page and just try to find out what the author was thinking about. You lose the pleasure of reading for absorption.”
Last week Horowitz said the current series of the detective drama Foyle’s War will probably be his last.
The ITV drama – now set in the Cold War – returned to television this month after a long absence. But he told the Radio Times in an interview: “Nothing is ever certain – and Foyle’s War can always return without me – but I think this series will be my last.
“I’ve written 22 episodes. That’s an awful lot of crimes, clues, bodies, suspects, mysteries and chases,” he said of the drama, which was first shown in 2002.
“Although I’ve had great support from the Imperial War Museum, I’ve still read four or five books for every episode and frankly there’s no more room on my shelves.”
Horowitz said he thought the current eighth series was his “best work” but he added: “It might be best to quit while we’re ahead. We’ll see.” - Daily Mail