As one of Spain's greatest living
writers, Antonio Muñoz
Molina is someone always worth reading and this
short piece of his in the English language version of El Pais
is no exception.
He expresses some opinions about Spain
that I have long thought true about my country of birth, Australia.
Muñoz
Molina lives part of the time in New York and has that
particular kind of clear sight about Spain that only living away
from your native land can bring.
I'm not sure I fully agree with him
about all that he says though. Compared to somewhere like Australia I
think there is a richness of culture that is acknowledged by
many locals and to say you are a writer or journalist provokes
more interest from the average person here than in Australia, at
least in my experience.
But then again, MM should know. I
suspect that his opinions are largely based on contact with business
people and middle-level public officials, who (all across this
planet) generally put making money ahead of anything else as piddly
as the creative “industries.”
Somebody who has never written a book
or put-together a well-researched article would probably have no
idea what it takes to do so, just as I have no clue (or real
interest) in deal-making and political schmoozing.
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