A friend told me: The truth is that you and those who, like you, are interested in getting books published are whistling in the wind. No one reads books anymore. The few who still buy them do so because they want to use them as furniture to fill shelves. People only read what they find on the internet, on their mobile phones or on their laptop screens. Instead of reading novels, peoples have become used to follow the endless TV series that we formerly used to call telenovelas.
It is rather difficult to argue that my friend has got it wrong, certainly for Malta. Yet, one finds that leading newspapers like the New York Times and Le Monde, still dedicate many pages to the discussion and presentation of new books of all kinds. If they continue to do this, they must have readers who are interested in knowing what books to read have come on the market.
How long do you think this will last? my friend queried, with his usual scepticism. As these last two years, I’ve been working on a project to publish a very long novel, I preferred not to keep the argument going and continue on my way.
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THE GERMAN ECONOMY
Recent years haven’t been good years for the German economy: it faced stagnant markets for its outputs. Till not so long ago, it was a dynamic engine powering exports and growth. Today, there exists a general recognition that it needs a recharge, with reforms that stimulate more innovation and forward movement. The current chancellor Merz had set this year as the time for a root-and-branch review during which to wipe out stagnation and enable the German industrial engine to restart in a big way.
As of now, success in this has been minimal. The confusion sowed by President Trump in global trade, with the new tariffs he imposed, upended scenarios. Now, the Iran war has injected new uncertainties in the situation, not least by way of inflation, which directly undermines efforts to improve the competitivity of German enterprises. Meanwhile, the steps being taken by the EU to introduce and implement improvements in running its economic policies are not reflecting at all the urgency which the German government would like to see.
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WAR STORIES
Something does get glossed over in the war stories we listen to all the time… as is to be expected. Electronic drones, missiles, subsonic aircraft, radar fog, bombs that get dropped indiscriminately, not always with precision, blasted bunkers… The last two years and more, especially the last three weeks, have been crammed with stories about how these tools of war have been effective or not so much.
What we do lack is reliable information about the stories reaching us – about whether and how they are clear and correct? whether stories are being censored? or are the facts they bring us being altered according to the requirements of one side or another? Probably, these facts are being so manipulated that “from the outside”, on their basis, it is difficult to reach a proper assessment regarding what is really happening.