In praise of civilisation

Sun, books, roses and swallows. This almost seems normal to us Catalans, we’re so used to it. Sant Jordi [1] is one of those days that brings an explosion of emotions. Joy, nostalgia, disappointment, love. We need to, from time to time, look at ourselves through foreign eyes to evaluate the marvellous collective madness that is Sant Jordi. To notice the extraordinary in the ordinary. To notice how extraordinary it is to see thousands of people showing their love, buying books and queueing up to meet their favourite author, hoping to exchange a few words of mutual thanks, of mutual recognition.

What do Xavier Bosch and Carles Capdevila have in common? They’re two men talking about universal feelings which connect with the hearts of readers. They also both write for ARA; I’d like to think that this isn’t by coincidence. This newspaper tries to explain the world without losing sight of life. Without getting caught up in the observation of power, nor forgetting the greatness of everyday life. They’re two of the many writers who fill these pages with ideas: their success gratifies us. Now the books need to leave the shelves and we need to read them, we need to slow down, to learn to ration our time with mobiles, tablets, those short and apparently necessary hits. We need to recover or gain some of the ability to concentrate, some time without tweets, without noise. We need to protect our quality time.

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Translator’s notes:

[1] Among the many patronages of Saint George (Sant Jordi in Catalan), along with that of England, is that of Catalonia. His feast day, 23 April, is a major regional festival. The traditional gifts are roses for women (mothers, girlfriends, wives, daughters, etc.) and books for men; every town fills with dozens of stands run by charities, schools and businesses where these can be bought.