Emmanuel Carrère: “The war in Ukraine will end badly, we will not return to the previous borders”

A wide-ranging discussion on various themes, not only literary but also linked to the future of international crises such as the conflict that is bloodying Ukraine. “What I fear – said the writer – is that it will end badly because the war started badly. I have gone to Ukraine very often since the beginning of the war. The last time I was there I shot a documentary on trains. We interviewed the people who used them to go from Kiev to the front. I was struck by the heroism of these people on the one hand and, on the other, by the extreme tiredness. An almost schizophrenic feeling of tiredness” underlines Carrère which however – he explained – does not prejudge the will to continue fighting so as not to make the sacrifice of “the many soldiers already dead” in vain. In Russia – Carrère then added jokingly – “we no longer talk about ‘War and Peace’ but about a special operation for peace. We are certain, however, that we will not return to the borders that existed before the war”, warns Carrère who also has his sayto the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “I have done two reports on Emmanuel Macron published in the Guardian since the beginning of his mandate – he said – and perhaps I will do a third because he is an interesting character. For the second, a year ago, we were at the G7 in Canada. Your Meloni was also there. A nice trait of his character, of his character, is that he supports Ukraine. This is a criterion by which I judge politicians. Having said this, however, I don’t think I know enough about Italian political life to be able to do a report on her”, said Carrère in response to a question on the matter. “There are – he explained, also speaking about his work – two types of journalists: opinion makers and analysts, and then those who report in the field. I belong to the second category, I go and see trying not to have any prejudices”, said Carrere who added: “In February I was in the West Bank to do a reportage but I haven’t written it yet. Our children will judge us for inaction on Gaza.”

Looking at the future of humanity, however, are you optimistic or pessimistic? “I’m sure I’m terribly pessimistic. However, a few days ago I read an interview with the English writer Ian McEwan: he states that we have a duty to be optimistic. It’s not a choice, it’s really a duty. I find it hard to submit to this imposition, but I think he’s right”, replies Carrère who relies “on the principle of being pessimistic in reflection and optimistic in action”. An attitude therefore devoted to optimism to which the author of ‘Kolchoz’ also appeals for a topic which, in fact, affects him closely: the crisis of readers which affects our country in a particular way. “This is a theme – he observes – on which I return to appeal to McEwan’s optimism. I have two sons in their forties to whom I have managed to pass on a taste for reading. My daughter, who is twenty, is very intelligent, very informed, but the vectors with which she engages with the world are not in books and literature. This throws me into a state of desolation. But I think that the phenomenon is unfortunately irreversible”, he concludes. (by Carlo Roma)