On the occasion of World Book Day, the beloved writer talks about Athens, his new book and literature that remains a kind of resistance
Stefanos Nikolaidis
Today is Wednesday 23 April and they are World Book Day.
World Book Day is not just a celebration for the printed matterthe ink and paper· It is mainly a reminder of words to bridge seasons, people and feelings. On this occasion, our conversation with Giannis Xanthoulis gains a special charge. A writer whose books are not just readbut They are being carried within us.
A quiet magician of storytelling that can, with a single phrase, to wake up memories, to excite, to satirize and to illuminate the tragic with a disarming innocence. Born in a time of searches and reversals, he writes in a way that makes staff look collective and humor of the to slides on the dark as a ray of light.
A observer of Greece that was changing –with stubbornness, with pain, with irony. His writing brought him everything In her nostalgiabut When a passivity. Built worlds with wordsbut did not hide his tender criticism for a world that often did not fit the childhood and poetry he himself carried.
In a world that is changing rapidly, Xanthoulis so insists on talking about Greece of memory, neighborhood and of emotional education. On the occasion of the day the book celebrates, the popular writer speaks to skai.gr and shares with us thoughts about the past, the present and Lasting imprint of literature in our lives.
“The Fall of Athens from Gargara sisters”: a dramatically funny tale of salvation through imagination
Giannis Xanthoulis returns with new novel released Tomorrow Thursday April 24 by the Binoculars. “The Fall of Athens from the Gargara sisters»Plays in a fantastic city, the Rosemarywhich, as he says, ‘produces roses, but also nostalgia” He insists on creating small, almost autonomous worlds: “I don’t make big cities. I do the towns, to be in things. “
Mounted on the threshold of 50s and 60sthe book follows two girls living in a poor and somewhat surreal family – with father Herculeswrestler that He lifts … on his own Epitaph. Their dream? To arrive in Athens. “Athens is their salvation. As it once was for me. Athens adopted me and I adopted Athens. Therefore I declare incomplete Athens“
Inside the book they are inserted and his own drawings – as confessed, paints the time he writes. For him, imagination and creation is one. “The inspiration comes upside down. From an insignificant occasion. And beyond that … God puts his hand“
“I write as if I am sabotaging myself”
No recipes follow; nor does he plan the plot in advance. On the contrary, as he says, ‘I always start with the reflection of the serious. What is terrible, to me is funny. ” Is a saboteur of himself – And this is probably his great literary power.
Writing, identifying with their secondary characters. “There I am. They are things I had noticed in my life. My mom used to tell me, “You observe the nonsense” – but they are what defined me. “
“The Greek probably reads what’s going on”
The writer is not sure if The Greek reads – or if he reads what is being made to him. However, he observes with surprise that Young people are much more informed as much as we think, mainly because of the social media. ‘I have a 17 year old granddaughter in Norway, reading Hoover. I was saying to her, “What are you reading?” He didn’t answer me, but then I saw that there was a movie. “
He also remembers that he was once done ‘fashion» – When the ‘released’Dying liqueur»The 1987. The book was a huge success. “It looks like we scratched something. Some neurosis of the modern Greekwhere neither knows, nor is he looking for her. And always this is the secret of a best seller“
And even though a lot the snobbishthe gentleness – He says – have their own utility. ‘They are pushing for others In the bookstore. They may find something else, more meaningful. The point is to enter. “
The “left complex” of Greeks
Xanthoulis identifies a peculiar obsessed In Greek society – what it calls’left complex” ‘After the Transition, it was As if all the heroes had to have a walk from the Technical University” And though he does not feel he belongs to this category, he admits that everyone is more or less “using” this heroic narrative.
Literature, however, is not an ideology for him. Is an escape. “If your imagination can seduce each other, this is literature.”
The technology, image and survival of the fairy tale
Although he himself He still writes with a pencil – ‘I am probably in Pre-Gateberg era“, She says smiling – she does not deny her contribution technology. Has already recorded Audiobookswhile they urge him to try and podcast“Which look a little like the old good radio”.
Although he recognizes that we live in image eraholds a distance. “Technology promotes the picture. Iconoclasts. Perhaps to shrink the imagination – But maybe even to complete her” He does not declare an expert, he does not fascinate him. But insists on the need for fairy tales.
“I dedicate this book to those who still love fairy tales. Soon there may be no fairy tales. Maybe we could catch up. “
“I’m writing about me. If others follow, welcome »
For Giannis Xanthoulis, the writing are first of all personal affair. ‘I write first of all To like me. If those who follow, the better the better“
Speaks with love for the bookstores – Places that never stopped visiting. Admits that His technique has improved over the yearshowever Many of his older books he feels them relative with today’s. ‘I believe that We all write the same book. Simply We change the heroes. Unless you write cooking guide, “he concludes smiling cunningly.
Source :Skai
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