“The Hermit of Rachmandan and Other Stories” of the Municipality of Gold

Stefanos Nikolaidis

“Rachmandan hermit and other stories»Of the Iolkos Publications, a row of 10 Self -Setter Storiesis the maiden literary attempt with which the Municipality of Chrysos Recommended to the readership. The truth is that his text is reminiscent of a fairy tale, but at the same time invades the fields of horror literature, creating an experience that is at the same time fascinating and creepy.

From the artist who is frustrated by the inability of art to imitate life to the wanderer who meets the world’s greatest diamond but is lost in the precipice of hunger and abandonment, the author weaves stories that defy the expected linearity of the narrative.

Through the various appearances of angels and demons, the creator offers a mirror of life that reveals the fragile balance between good and evil, real and imaginary.

“When I delivered the final text to the publisher, it was like publishing a court order”

Although judicial to professionthe Municipality of Chrysos confesses that he likes to write from an early age, long before he dedicates his life to Themis.

“From elementary school I remember writing poems. These poems later, in adolescence, evolved. They became more revolutionary and at some point, around the age of 20, I slowly started writing on foot. And in the end it is this kind that pulled me more and even more pulled me out the kind of short story, “he says at the beginning of our discussion.

“The work once the author writes it, is an autonomous creature. He is alone, cuts the umbilical cord from the author. That’s why we say the wish “good -natured”, because it’s like a boat, it gets an autonomy. He leaves the writer, who no longer has any influence on him. It also looks like the court ruling I must tell you. It now belongs to society, as is the book. “

And explained:

“When it was time with the publishing house I had to deliver to them the completely definitive text so that it could be published, I felt at that time the same feeling when I published a court ruling that I know is the last time I edit it and that it would no longer belong to me. Whenever the work leaves the author’s hands, he acquires his own life and from there he becomes a readers’ estate. You can never know and predict everyone what thoughts will do on it. But the great satisfaction is to see that it stimulates the minds of readers and leads them to various thoughts that are not necessarily identified with them. “

‘Modern lifestyle does not favor literature’

As he then says the story It has some differences in how the reader reads it, but also how the author writes it.

“He must immediately arouse the interest of the reader, be very compact. There is no room for unnecessary elements. Therefore, by nature the short story must be very coherent as a plot. Because it has a smaller extent and is read faster, it must be able to convey to the reader a complete experience in a few pages, whatever it is, ”he emphasizes and adds:

“I would say that reading short stories may also fit the modern lifestyle, where we do not all have such plenty of time to read. That is why most people find it difficult to read in general. Now the modern man in the way he lives cannot focus his attention on something for more than a few seconds. So for literature the environment is not very fertile. They are not favorable conditions. “

At the same time, he does not fail to mention his favorite writers of modern literature, such as Edgar Alan Poe, Howard Phillips Lavkrafter, Guy de Mopassan.

“I was really very impressed by the short stories of Philip Dick, the huge science fiction writer, where I found out how much experience a short story can convey to you in a few pages when he has the strength of the ideas he conveyed to you. Because what matters is what the reader will read not to forget it when the book is closed. That is, for me, the definition of successful literary work is to bring it back to the thought of the reader when the reading is over and a few days have passed, if he is reclaimed, if he thinks about it, it means that it is a good book. This is my own measure to judge. “

“I want through my stories to ask questions, this is the value of literature”

As he reveals to us, there is one of the 10 autonomous stories of his book, with which he has completely identified. And this is none other than the “diamond”, an omnipotent object, but so very powerful that it does not do good to the one who has it.

“Maybe every reader in the diamond position can imagine something different. It may be, for example, the career that we are trying to achieve by taking a high position in the hierarchy in a field, which is ultimately something that exhausts us without offering what our personality ultimately needs. Or even acquiring a material object, such as buying a very large home. Sometimes people, for example, work too hard to get it, especially an expensive car, a big house, “he explains.

“We see that we are chasing things that are much greater than what we need. That is, I had read somewhere and I was struck by me that no matter how much money you have, in a bed you would sleep, a pair of shoes will put on, a plate of food will eat. Therefore, man does not need this giganticism, this greatness, this vanity. We do not have these needs, the huge ones, but are what we need.

“It is different to the reaction of each reader to the same book. Based on this I want to tell you this. Because many ask me how you feel about being exposed to literature, when you take out your souls, which you open a window to your soul, I usually reply that this is not the case at all. I am neither exposed, nor make my soul, nor anything. When the reader reads literature, he knows something about himself. So in essence reading literature you are driven to self -knowledge. “

“We move into a world that reproduces stereotypes. Yes, most people don’t think about themselves. I recently read an Oscar Wilde saying, who said that if you don’t think about yourself, then you don’t think at all. We have to question everything and think about ourselves. Literature helps, of course. “

In this respect, he stresses that:

“Literature should generally be exciting. That is, you do not read just to learn, to find the meaning of life. You read first of all about enjoyment and pleasure. Literature that does not offer reading enjoyment, is not good literature. We have to start with it. The reader who reads want to turn the page to see what happened below. If this is not the case, it will not achieve its goal. “

“In essence, I also explore the relationship of man to material wealth and against material goods, which symbolizes the supreme degree of the diamond itself. Greats of great wealth overwhelm man himself. I denounce the fury we have in quantity, in wealth and size, as opposed to what our soul really needs. These simple and essential that can fill a human being, “he concludes.

The book “The Hermit of Rachmandan and Other Stories” by the Municipality