When General Charles de Gaulle was once asked what had been the greatest influence on his career as a statesman, his answer was revealing. “Don’t ask a lion how many lambs it has eaten,” he said. “I’ve been reading books my whole life.” The reading habits of politicians nourish the brain and are reflected in many ways in the performance of their public responsibilities. But what happens when their busy schedules and an electoral machine in a permanent state of vigil barely leave time to read more than the reports of advisors or the tweets of adversaries?
“In those leadership talks that former presidents give to young politicians, there is one question that never fails: ‘What do you recommend, president?’ And my answer is always the same: ‘Read everything you can’. Although it is true that your time and your capacity are greatly reduced when you are in full responsibility,” reflects José Luis Zapatero, who in his capacity as former president says that he now enjoys free time. At the Alma hotel, the quiet man walks with Màrius Carol, another voracious reader, with whom he has just published the conversation book Crónica de la España with which he dialogues. He has been reading The Silence of War by Antonio Monegal on the plane, and he also has diverse Spain on his hands. The essay is part of the politician’s bookish diet, but it is literature that ends up shaping it. “And in my case, Jorge Luis Borges. I am almost monogamous in literature, because since I discovered it I have had an affair of absolute loyalty. Ultimately, literature after Borges is summarized in those who imitate Borges, although they do not confess it, and those who do not imitate him, who for me are much less interesting.
What should a ruler read to understand the world? “The easy thing would be to say a lot of essays, but fiction is a great help when it comes to understanding what happens and also allows you to sublimate moments and experiences,” says Jaume Collboni, who debuts his first Sant Jordi with a baton in the mayor’s office. . The book he always turns to, Art of Good Living, by Schopenhauer. Natàlia Garriga, for her part, admits that since she is Minister of Culture she has less time than she would like, but she is convinced that literature also has political utility. “You need books that give you inner peace, that make the noise around you disappear, that take you out of your daily life and take you to a place where you can spend a good time with yourself, because that helps you later make better decisions,” he considers.
For Jordi Martí, Secretary of State for Culture, there are two types of literature: “The one that accompanies you, accommodates you, takes care of you, caresses you a little, makes you enjoy… And another that demands a little more from you, that It makes you think, it shakes you, it allows you to access points of view about reality. Different from what everyday life offers you. The ruler would have to tend towards the latter. That and a little bit of poetry, little, but it helps to break the daily patterns that accompany us.”
