What book is in your hands?
no one is going to laughof Juan Soto Ivars. ordinary vicesof Judith Shklar.
What makes you give up reading a book?
Another book. The comma between subject and predicate.
With which cultural figure would you like to have a coffee?
With Christopher Hitchens (maybe it wasn’t coffee). And with Diderot. The two were great conversationalists who cultivated friendship.
Do you remember the first book you read?
Children’s books on history and animals. Another of the first was The Wilderness Book. My mother had read it to me and my sister before.
How do you like to read, what are your reading habits?
I like it better on paper but I read the press and work things on digital. I read more books and magazines at night; in the morning, newspapers.
Has Spanish politics become a fake news gigantic and inscrutable?
Rather a kind of self-referential trompe l’oeil, a distraction that entertains fewer and fewer people.
The Gascón law, which states in Fake News, points out: “All satire is prophecy.” Could you give us an example of current policy to prove this?
I wrote some time ago: “It is not enough to grant forgiveness for past crimes. A truly courageous and ambitious policy would grant a pardon for future events.” Sedition reform is that.
That law, of a single article, incorporates a note: “All parody is euphemism.” A new illustrative example, please.
The jury of an award praises that a work “emphasizes inequalities and at the same time offers a hopeful look: the capacity for resilience and emancipation of the human being, highlighting the importance of sisterhood and commitment to others.” Parodists should report for intrusion.
And since we are with the aphorisms: what do you think of that of Marx according to which history repeats itself twice, first as tragedy and second as farce?
It’s better that way, although sometimes it happens the other way around. But, as a friend says, vulgar Marxism explains 90% of reality.
Has the excess of opinion made us, unsuspecting citizens, incurable relativists?
Almost all opinion is aligned with the positions of the parties and relativism ends when what is at stake are our interests.
What type of music do you usually listen to and on what medium?
Big Italians for cooking, soul for sports, drugged cowboys for a living, depressive jazz after dinner.
What play has recently left you riveted to your seat?
Of a loneliness very similar to happinesswith Patricia Jacas.
What movie have you seen more times?
The driver of La General, dismounting harry.
Do you understand, are you moved by, contemporary art?
There are works that I like. But it’s often one of those cases where parody is an understatement. The worst thing about conceptual art is the poverty of its concepts.
What was the last exhibition you visited?
the one of Amalia AviaI loved it.
What artist would you like to have a work at home?
Manny Farber Y Pepe Cerda.
Do you like Spain? Give us your reasons
Yes. I feel lucky to live in a European liberal democracy, there are many things about its culture that I love and it is the country where I have the most friends.
What urgent measure would you take to improve the cultural situation of the country?
More funds for libraries, more cycles of invitation to read in institutes and schools.
Follow the topics that interest you
Daniel Gascón: “Spanish politics is a self-referential trompe l’oeil”