Juan Gómez-Jurado publishes ‘Everything Dies’ and, to the regret of many, closes with it the ‘Red Queen’ universe that he opened with ‘The Patient’. A universe to which he has dedicated more than ten years of his life and which has led him to sell millions of books in dozens of languages. Today, we talk with him about sins, his own and those of others.—I forgive him one sin.—Let’s talk about the seven. But, if one must be forgiven, let it be gluttony. I would remove it from the list. It shouldn’t be a sin. —And who is the one who cannot forgive? —The one that hurts me the most, in myself and in others, is anger. As you get older, you realize that wisdom consists in getting angry as little as possible, because you understand more about others and the possible mistakes they may make. When anger is rationalized, it becomes the first of sins and, perhaps, the worst: pride. A person who reacts badly to something does so from anger, but a person who plans the response does so from another place. Anger, like surprise, is an emotion that lasts very little, something explosive. But arrogance is more serious.—And is it difficult to keep it at bay having so much success?—No, because humility is not in not being able to realize the things one does well, but in the absence of arrogance, in Don’t believe that the universe or others owe you something. Humility, understood as Christian humility, is an oxymoron: for it to exist it is necessary not to see it. The moment you have the intelligence to do it and you realize that you are humble, you stop being humble. —Having sold millions of books, then, does not make him arrogant. But continuing to do so… won’t that be greed? —No, because when you are something you cannot not be it. If I were forced to have an honest job, instead of inventing comics, because I couldn’t make a living, I would still be a writer. The only thing is that it would be a much slower one. Because I would work in an advertising company or in a newsroom and, instead of devoting the whole day to writing, I would dedicate an hour to it. My immense luck is that the public allows me to do this, to be who I am: a poodle with a hat who really likes to dance. And since they applaud me and give me pieces of chicken, this poodle can continue dancing instead of being forced to take off his tutu and put on a suit to work as an accountant. Related News standard Yes The ‘Red Queen’ universe expands and reaches sound fiction Bruno Pardo The prequel to the novel by Juan Gómez-Jurado will arrive on Audible this Monday—There is no reason, then, to be envious.—I’m not nothing envious. I tend to celebrate the lives and successes of others, and I also do so with my own.—We have let go of lust.—Lust is not a sin. Following. —And laziness?—When I was a child, my mother always told me that I was very lazy, and she died convinced of it. I’ve been thinking all my life that I’m lazy. That’s why when someone asks me why I work so hard I always answer because I’m lazy. I recognize in myself the inability to enjoy on many occasions. —I have come out as a bit of a sinner.—The last one I have confessed, although it is not on the list, is the worst of all: that of not being able to enjoy life. —Why do you think it’s the worst?—Because it has to do with freedom. Normally, people think that freedom has to do with being able to do what you want, but in reality freedom is being able to do what you must.
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