Reading makes curriculum
After a longer march than expected, not without difficulties and unpleasant surprises, Hillary Clinton was awarded the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States. In January 2017, a woman could succeed the first African American president to lead the most important country in the world. A both not easily imaginable and which, without a doubt, will be a denial for the brilliant young Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari who in his Sapiens, a Brief History of Humankind had written of the impossibility of something similar in the times of our life.
Sapiens is one of the books that Hillary has read or tried to read, because the candidate is such a strong reader that she is able to carve out quite a lot of time to sit, concentrate and immerse herself in the pages of a novel or an essay. That's not a trivial thing these days! Fleur Pellerin, after candidly declaring that she hadn't read a book for two years, she had to leave her post as French culture minister. France cannot forgive certain outings due to the cultural exception of the country beyond the Alps. Indeed, reading is something that defines the specificity of being human.
In America they are more relaxed, but even there reading is a sign of intelligence and sensitivity and even a person who pays little attention to customs like Donald Trump likes to inform the 10 million people who follow him on Twitter about his readings. The blond Republican candidate told the "Hollywood Reporter" that one of his favorite readings, after The Bible and his The Art of Deal is "All Quiet on the Western Front", the autobiographical novel by Erich Maria Remarque written in 1929. A novel which is the manifesto of pacifism and a book burned by the Third Reich. For someone like Trump who would like to send airborne troops to take down ISIS it's a bit of, shall we say?, risque reading. But it is known that Trump loves to amaze with the total unpredictability of his actions. Unpredictability is hardly a feature of Hillary Clinton's personality and leadership.
A nightstand with a nice stack of books
In an interview with the "New York Times" and recently in a long conversation with Rebecca Traister in the "New York" magazine, Hillary Clinton described herself as a reader, testifying to her great love for reading and dwelling on her literary tastes. Clinton proves to be a great lover of reading as an activity in itself. She is capable of reading even three or four books at the same time and it is difficult to find her unprepared for the latest releases on the publishing market. Reading is her passion, something she devotes herself completely to in every free moment. She declares that the books she is reading are well stacked on her bedside table, or that she keeps close to her in any case to start reading them as soon as possible.
Clinton reads, all right, and this makes us very happy, but what does she read? In the "New York Times" interview, there are the fateful questions dear to every reader: the book you're reading, your favorite book, the book that made you who you are, the book you would recommend... And here it is, just when we go into detail about the reading choices of the democratic candidate for president, it is precisely there that we have confirmation of the qualities of a person prepared and accustomed to excelling in studies and in the profession. It is the portrait of a model reader, with the right and correct tastes, without nasty surprises, without "skeletons in the library", perfectly aligned with the trends of the literary mainstream.
An omnivorous reader
Obviously, among the titles and authors mentioned, there is a lot (indeed, a lot) of North American literature, with many texts that have not even reached the European market. Among the books translated into Italian are the now ubiquitous The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, The Heart of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (most famous for the previous Eat, Pray, Love), The Right Boy by Vikram Seth, star of Indian literature.
These titles are reported as Clinton's last readings, readings worthy of particular mention, which however are accompanied by many other names of more or less famous authors also in Europe: Maya Angelou for her life dedicated to the story of the racial question in the USA ( The Song of Silence), Harlan Coben for mastery of crime fiction (Tell no one), Laura Hillenbrand for non-fiction (Seabiscuit), Walter Isaacson for the biographical genre (Steve Jobs), John Grisham who can't be un quoted by a lawyer.
And then many other names, considered as authors of which Clinton reads everything that is published, and an expression of the most widespread Anglo-Saxon publishing: Barbara Kingsolver, Hilary Mantel, Toni Morrison, Anna Quindlen, and then a long series of names that are considered worthy of attention for all new releases (Alex Berenson, Linda Fairstein, Sue Grafton, Donna Leon, Katherine Hall Page, Louise Penny, Daniel Silva, Alexander McCall Smith, Charles Todd and Jacqueline Winspear).
There are many female writers, clearly overabundance of writers, proving Clinton's all-female taste, which certainly makes no secret of her predilection for female issues and female characters. This is a constant throughout her political and professional career which is also reflected in her reading choices.
…with a passion for feminine detective stories and Venetian settings
In the conversation with Traister, he confessed his passion, bordering on addiction, for female mystery novels, above all for the Maisie Dobbs series, the psychologist and private investigator in London in the first twenty years of the XNUMXth century, written by Jacqueline Winspear.
Equally exciting for Hillary is Donna Leon's mystery series, all set in Venice, in which the protagonist is Commissioner Brunetti in a constant fight against the corruption and bureaucracy of the lagoon city. Unfortunately, the fortune in Italy of 74-year-old Donna Leon, who has lived in Venice for over 35 years, is non-existent: her novels are not even made available to the Italian reader by the will of the author herself. It is said that he loves peace and does not want to be bothered when he walks around Venice. His descriptions of Venice are superb, but the human and institutional environment does not measure up to the beauty of the city. His books have been translated into 23 languages and German TV has shot a television series starring Commissioner Brunetti played by Uwe Kockisch. Perhaps it is precisely the detailed descriptions of Venice, which Leon knows better than a gondolier, that intrigues Clinton? Could it be instead the Italian vices, so indecorously described by Leon, that arouse Hillary's curiosity? The latter option would make Clinton ungrateful to the Italians having already received the endorsement of Matteo Renzi and of Silvio Berlusconi himself, the Italian Trump.
Favorite reading (Karamazov) and regret (La Recherche)
Beyond the great variety of genres and narrative styles that characterize the "Clintian authors", a common trait seems evident that can act as a guide to certain reading choices. In fact, almost all of the titles and authors mentioned are winners of important literary prizes (Nobel, Pulitzer, Booker, Edgars, etc.), or even more as a long-time visitor of the famous "New York Times Best Seller list", or even works from which Hollywood production films were made.
Therefore, to characterize Clinton's literary tastes there does not seem to be so much a favorite genre, a particular setting, a theme to be explored, but rather reading what is read by everyone, with a marked preference for female writers. Generally it is about what public opinion recognizes as worthy of attention and recognition, what the cultural industry circuit classifies as appropriate.
When asked about her favorite novel, Clinton enthusiastically quotes Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, identifying it as a reading she did at a young age and which had marked her for a long time, so much so that she was interested in reading it again.
When asked which novel she has never read but would like to read, Clinton draws the Recherche by Marcel Proust card from the deck, declaring, candidly, that unfortunately she never had the time to devote herself to it. She is certainly in good and nourished company.
They are two very robust readings: the Karamazovs require 37 hours and six minutes and the six volumes of the Recherche could require seven and a half days of reading. Considering the average price of Hillary's speeches, one of the leitmotifs of Bernie Sanders' campaign in the Democratic primary, reading these two milestones of human civilization could be worth more than about 15 million dollars for Clinton. A really nice investment of her time.
Finally, when asked the tricky question of which book made her who she is, Clinton seems to share the same preference as Donald Trump for The Bible… But Moses and the Prophets seem to have really narrowly won over John Grisham.
Even in the readings, therefore, Clinton proves to be a person of strong preparation, great reliability, predictability and balance. These are undoubtedly the qualities that are required of a President. But doesn't today's world need a little more? Of a Borges, for example.
