A small disclaimer: I know everybody hates my Book Notes series because I only read Spanish books with no English translations these days. But I’m going on vacation next week and I promise I’ll read a bunch of books in English. I have a great lineup of books that you’ll like hearing about. In the meanwhile, it’s not such a horrible thing if you get a glimpse of what’s happening in the Spanish literature, right?

Author: Soledad Puértolas
Title: El fin
Language: Spanish
Year: 2015
My rating: 8 out of 10

Puértolas is another writer from Spain whose work I follow. This year she published a collection of short stories titled The End. These are stories where nothing whatsoever happens, and a careful reader will notice that the writer is doing it very consciously and even makes it clear that this is what she’s doing in the very first story.

As a result, the first few stories are really puzzling. You read them and think, “OK, nothing happens here. What’s the point of all this?” As you keep reading, though, it becomes clear that when taken all together, these short stories have an absolutely devastating impact. They can’t be read separately because they only work as a whole even though they don’t share characters, plot elements, narrative voice, setting, or anything else. It takes an incredible artistic talent to combine – in a very deliberate way  – a bunch of meaningless pieces and make them deliver such a massive punch in conjunction.

I’d gladly give the collection 10 out of 10 but there are 3 stories about dogs in it. And I hate dogs. Not even my great admiration for Puértolas’s enormous talent makes me get over my annoyance with the subject of dogs.

This is great literature, though. God, I love Spanish literature.

There’s something very ill about many people.

The source is here.

I’m finding it extremely cute how people find “blood coming out of her wherever” oh so offensive but don’t see anything at all problematic with “no abortion rights even if it causes a woman’s death.”

Fucking hypocrites.

And even if “her wherever” is in reference to a vagina and menstrual blood, I’m not sure what’s so horrifying about that. It’s only disturbing if you think there’s anything wrong with menstrual blood and it shouldn’t be mentioned in polite company. Yes, it’s an idiotic remark of an aging hysteric but in terms of actual damage done to actual women, there wasn’t any candidate on that stage who had anything to teach Trump.

Also, before anybody accuses me of hating Megyn Kelly, I believe she is a sensationally beautiful and an extraordinarily successful woman. I disagree with her on everything but I admire her great achievement.

People are asking if Putin has been defeated by the Iran deal. Of course, the deal will deliver yet another blow to Russia’s economy, but here’s the problem: Putin has never cared about this kind of thing.

In reality, the deal is a big win for him.

First of all, he achieved his greatest motivational dream that inspires everything he does: Americans asked for his permission to do the deal. Kerry lowered himself to traveling to Sochi and asking like a supplicant. This is what Putin lives for. What does he care about the economic well-being of Russians when he can finally get his heart’s greatest desire?

Also, Putin is very favorably inclined towards the Irani leadership. He likes Iran’s history of defying the US and winning. He shares Iran’s authoritarianism, likes the usefulness of religious fundamentalism, admires the subjection of women and gays, and enjoys the anti-Israel rhetoric. Any win for a regime of such a great affinity to Putin’s is pleasing to Russia’s leader.

This is a good moment for Putin right now. He has demonstrated to the world that he can do anything he wants, bomb, annex, invade, excoriate the US, and Americans will still come hat in hand, humbly begging for his support. He always articulated very clearly that this was his only goal.

None of this means that the Iran deal is a bad idea. But we need to understand what is actually happening if we are to have any impact on the world.

P.S. I don’t know if I need to mention this, but I don’t come up with these posts on my own. I read a lot of articles by political analysts who specialize in Russia before I reach any conclusion. I hate simplistic, knee-jerk responses to any complex phenomenon.

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said he is confident he would “get along very well with Vladimir Putin,” despite the contentious relationship the Russian president has had with the United States in recent years.

“I think I would get along very well with Vladimir Putin. I just think so. People say, ‘What do you mean?’ I think I would get along well with him,” Trump told reporters in Glasgow, Scotland.

And then people ask me why I think Putin wants a Republican to be the President of the US. George W. Bush adored him, looked deep into his eyes and treated him like the most important person on the planet. Trump is making overtures already. What’s not to like? 

A horrible suspicion just visited me. Aside from the choice of vocabulary, does everybody actually agree with Trump? Does the message of “let’s keep immigrants out” resonate on some level with everybody? And I don’t really care about the immaterial distinction of wanting to keep out white-collar immigrants as opposed to Trump’s desire to keep out blue-collar immigrants. 

Is Trump doing so great because he says what everybody is thinking? Is there anybody who disagrees and happens not to be an immigrant?

This is both sad and scary.

A fiercely Republican commentator believes that both Bush and Walker took a major drubbing in the debate yesterday.

I said a year ago that Republicans have no candidate. I’m still right today. It’s the 2012 election all over again. A bland, boring, uncharismatic fellow who says one ill-advised thing after another and whom nobody really cares about is the only serious candidate. And that’s very bad for the entire political field.

I keep decorating my car:

Of course, I don’t think there’s any likelihood that Bernie will directly support Ukraine. The farther you go to the Left and to the Right of the political spectrum,  the more Putin lovers you find.

The far far right wingers think he’s manly. Honestly, there’s not enough alcohol in the world for me to see manliness in Putin but hey, we are all entitled to our erotic fantasies. 

The far far left wingers don’t explain their love for Putin. They just get sulky and glum when one asks them to explain. So I’m sure Bernie has a tender spot for Putin.

However, in larger terms, Bernie does support Ukraine without even realizing it. A prosperous, successful, authoritative, happy United States is an anathema to Putin and a great support to Ukraine. Putin wants to see Americans poor, struggling, miserable, and despised by everybody in the world. The better we do, the more we make Putin suffer.

So hey, let’s all pledge to have a really fantastic time this weekend to spite Putin. Remember, it’s for a good cause!

People ask me what an American presidential candidate needs to say about Ukraine for me to approve.

Minimally, I’d like to hear something like, “We support Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity and welcome Ukrainians among civilized, democratic countries.” This would show a specific, non-vague knowledge of what is taking place in Ukraine and what Ukrainians are trying to achieve. And it’s not like it’s such a hard thing to squeeze out, is it?

Of course, there’s a way to make the statement even better by adding something like, “Ukrainians have demonstrated that they cherish and promote the most important, beautiful values of our Western Civilization. Ukraine is Europe. Ukraine is the West.” Whatever you might think about it, it matters to Ukrainians to hear this.

And in an ideal world which doesn’t exist, the candidate would say, “We know that we have let Ukrainians down and did not fulfill our obligations under the Budapest agreement. But we want you to know: we will never recognize the Crimea or the Donbass as part of any country but Ukraine.”

Again, I don’t hope for the ideal scenario, I’m just fantasizing. But how hard is it to recognize the Revolution of Dignity and the values it defended?

When I was a kid I always hated all children characters in all cartoons and children movies I ever watched. I also detested all other kids I ever saw anywhere.

The reason was that I always felt that I was about to be told how much better all of these kids – whether fictional or real – were than me. Every kid in existence was a reproach to me because I could never be as good as them.

I still feel a searing hatred whenever N mentions any child character from a popular movie or cartoon from our childhood.