BEST AUTHOR BEST : ROBERT HARRIS [1]

His 2016 Vatican-set thriller '' Conclave '' spawned a movie that's been nominated for a raft of Oscars. Why has it largely dodged controversy? '' The story is sympathetic to religious faith,'' he says.

.-  Why do you suppose that the Vatican hasn't been hostile to '' Conclave, '' the book or movie?

Fundamentally, I think the story is sympathetic to religious faith, and to Catholicism in particular. Its'  written from the perspective of an insider rather than an outsider, of a man struggling to do the right thing.

As one of the cardinals says, '' We serve an ideal; we cannot always be ideal.''

.-  What books are on your night stand?

A biography of Henry V by Dan Jones, and the life of Caesar Augustus by Adrian Goldsworthy.

.-  What's your favorite book no one else has heard of?

'' Journey to the Abyss : The Diaries of Count Harry Kessler 1880 - 1918, edited by Laird M. Easton.  An amazing first hand account of some of the leading cultural and political figures of the turn of the century.

.-  Do you think any canonical books are widely misunderstood?

The Gospels. I reread them when I started work on '' Conclave. '' Their message is much more revolutionary than anything in Marx and Lenin.

.-  Do you distinguish between '' commercial '' and '' literary fiction? '' Where's that line for you?

I don't think there is a line. Look at the great novelists of the 19th century. They turned out a book or two a year, often in serial form, aimed at a larger readership. If you'd asked Dickens or Trollope or Thackeray to distinguish between ''commercial '' and ''literary'' fiction, they'd have given you a blank look.

.-  Eight of your novels have been adapted for the screen. What still surprises you about the process?

How seldom the original vision is preserved, how many egos - often with the best of intentions -conspire to distort it. But very occasionally, when the process works - as it has with '' Conclave '' - you end up with something wonderful, both recognizably the book and much more.

.-  Is there one adaptation on which you wish you had more say?

'' Fatherland . '' It was my first novel, and I was very inexperienced. Mike Nichols bought it, to make a feature film. But it dwindled into a TV movie, and everything about it sets my teeth on edge, especially the ending.

The World Students Society thanks The New York Times.