Last Wednesday, Nobel Prize-winning writer Mario Vargas Llosa published his new book "Princeton University Conversations" (Conversaci n en Princeton), when asked about Catalonia's independence, Llosa replied, "Catalonia's independence is stupid, absurd and inappropriate."

As October this year On the same day, Catalonia's independence referendum was approaching. Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy publicly called on TV to cancel the referendum. Police cars were seen everywhere in Barcelona, ??and the political atmosphere was tense. When Llosa, who has lived in Barcelona for five years, talked about the Catalonia issue, he did not shy away from saying, "The referendum is like a heavy blow to the democratic system. Anarchist views are meaningless for national construction. On the contrary, it is weakening the European community. Nationalism is stupid, absurd and outdated."

Llosa lived in Barcelona for five years in the 1970s. There, he met Carmen, the publisher he later collaborated with Marquez, and he chatted with the writers of that era. He lived in Paris and then in London, but neither city gave him a great sense of belonging. When he moved to Barcelona in 1970, he was already a famous writer. He said, "Barcelona has given me an unprecedented feeling. When I lived in Paris and London, I felt a sense of isolation and alienation, but here are young people from all over the world who love literature. We gather here often and do everything. Talk. I have many Catalan friends, but they are not independent. Forty years ago we thought nationalism was old-fashioned and outdated, but unfortunately in Catalonia today, nationalism is like that. A disease is slowly growing in Catalonia," he said. "I hope the government can have enough ability to suppress these separatisms.

"Princeton University Conversations", published by Alfaguara, collects his experience in lecturing at Princeton University in the United States in 2015. The new book was completed together with Ruben Gallo, a professor and scholar at Princeton University. Reuben, chairman of the Department of Spanish Literature at Princeton University, coordinates the course. What’s interesting about this course is that Princeton University has Llosa’s personal archives dating back to the 1990s. The school requires students to visit the collection, take notes, and later share them in class. From this, students have an intuitive understanding of the writer's unfinished novels or a poem that took twelve years to write.

Llosa commented that this course was "extremely interesting". Because the course selected Llosa's five most political novels: "Long Talk in the Bar", "Maita", "Who Killed Palomino Morello", "Fish in the Water", and "Festival of the Ram" 》. Llosa believes that, except for Borges, he and other contemporary authors have grown up with the times. To this day, literature still has an important influence on society. Literary criticism of politics focuses on exploring the relationship between literature and politics. At the end of the course, a reporter who survived the terrorist attack on French Charlie Hebdo was invited to talk to Llosa and discuss literature and terrorism.