The Spanish writer Miguel Ángel Hernández grew up in a small village in Murcia and always wanted to escape the provincial life. He felt cornered and constrained by the gossipy life of the village, where everything was everybody’s business, and where you couldn’t take a step without having to explain to neighbors where you were going and why.
Hernández left the village, established himself in a small city, and finally had everything to experience the freedom of anonymity. Strangely, he found that this freedom led him to document every step he takes on social media. The only thing that changed is that he is now narrating and explaining his life to strangers.
Clarissa's Blog 
he found that this freedom led him to document every step he takes on social media.
Is this a reference to his four volumes of Diario published so far?
He’s an academic so I am a bit put off. Also, it’s difficult to keep up with all your reading suggestions – I go with the Spanish-language ones only – although I will forever be grateful to you for making me discover the great Rafael Chirbes. His writing is a treasure and helped me during a serious personal crisis.
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Hah! I didn’t know he was publishing a diary. Hernández is not a scholarly interest for me. I only read him for fun. He has this quiet, unassuming style that I like. But he’s definitely no where close to Chirbes’ level of talent.
I remember back in college in 2000 or 2001 a professor told me “There’s this writer called Chirbes. Nobody knows him but he’s an absolute genius.” I immediately read his most recent novel which was La caída de Madrid ahd was hooked forever.
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The trick is to own your identity. Then you can never be canceled.
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-08-10-gayton-mckenzies-repeated-use-of-k-word-unlikely-to-damage-his-standing-within-pa/
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