There are books that, when you get them in your hands, seem to be written for you, a kind of literary epiphany in which you feel that you will find something really worthwhile if you stay in its pages. As if someone suddenly found those words that you could not find in any way to explain the feeling that you thought about for a long time, not knowing how to express it. Here’s what’s happening with Joy (Ciruela), Azahara Alonso’s first novel.

“Since when did my life become available only on vacation?” asks the narrator in the first sentence of the book. A question hinted at challenging all of us, who find it increasingly difficult to escape unscathed from this maelstrom of hyperproductivity we’ve been swimming in ever since we crossed the line called maturity.

Azahara Alonso (Oviedo, 1988) is a philosopher and poet, and before her debut in the narrative genre, the Asturian had already published a book of aphorisms (low pressure2016), and a collection of poems (create a topic, 2020). Using the subtlety and brevity of a person who owns the influence of poetic language, Alonso is able to express both complex and obvious reflections with the utmost naturalness.

Joy is a book of ideas, stories and thoughts about the use of time and written by the geographical location of a peculiar island in the north of Malta (Gozo) that works like an inspiring scenario that is as metaphorical as it is real.

In the spirit of a great essay, this novel is presented in the form of a fragmentary chronicle, told from a personal diary. “A story is a narrative thread in which various recurring themes appear, which can be summed up in a kind of politics of the time to talk about the division between work and leisure and what each of them means,” explains the author.

Alonso admits that his reception Joy it spawned “a kind of little brotherhood” among those who “suffered from the same evil, especially for generations” and how the book inspired that conversation. “Answer is accepted based on shared experience with this kind of ‘bad weather sickness’.”

The author admits how frustrating it is to realize that what seemed certain has ceased to work. “In addition to discomfort, this creates a lot of disorientation, because suddenly you have to not only ask yourself questions, which is quite difficult, but also look for answers in a hurry.” Alonso refers to the loss of identity that occurs when work and dedication become a burden that prevents us from enjoying life.

“Until the age of 30, the number of jobs we worked in far exceeded the number of jobs our parents had, not to mention our grandparents, who even had a profession.” Alonso advocates “keeping the vocation between the cotton wool” by sparing him a job that is ultimately repulsive, no matter how much we like it. “Sometimes I think it’s better to dedicate ourselves to a job that allows us to survive, that doesn’t define us, but that allows us to pay for things, live and have free time for what we really want.”

The writer denies the expression that was sold to us, which said that work on what you like and you will never work. “It seemed to be true, but now it sounds like a phrase from Mr. Wonderful, it even seems to me that it attractiveness for slavery.”

Another of the topics covered in the book is the figure of a tourist. Alonso is surprised by the stress that people convey when they are on vacation, “there is everything, but I see cases of genuine stress and I think these people would rather relax than do tasks, get up early, leave the hotel.” early so that they can visit everything they have to see, etc. I think that there is a subtle difference between free time and leisure, which is becoming more and more noticeable. Leisure has become the opposite of work, we continue to follow a schedule to do what we have to do to have fun without stopping to think about what entertains us or what allows us to relax.

And it’s true that it’s getting harder to separate leisure from productivity, a trend based on the need to seize the moment. “At the end of the day, we comply with almost everything because of the fear that drives us, the fear of being out of work, the fear of being bored, the fear of not enjoying anything.”

The Asturian writer reflects on the rejection of the peripheral, on the failure to understand everything that does not correspond to the type of life that we have always been told that we should strive for socially. “There are things that direct the intentions or tastes of many people, but many others who do the same without wanting it, not knowing if this is really what they like are not taken into account. I think some people have a need to conquer these other lifestyles that don’t seem to have a clear purpose because they’re not organized around work but have other strengths, other keys to fulfillment.”

One of the recurring themes throughout the book is an overwhelming desire to be somewhere else, something that Alonso associates with certain geographic locations. “I’m not just talking about escapism, although I’ve always felt that there is something valuable in running away from what hurts us. But I mean, first of all, falling in love with places. In my case, there are three or four places where I always want to be. The desire has always been to be in that other place that fascinates me, but when I am in it, I want to be in the first.

One such landscape, able to occupy a privileged place in the heart of Alonso’s Azahara, is his beloved island of Gozo. A place that will henceforth remain a treasure, not subject to aging or deterioration thanks to the miracle of literature. The love shared with all those readers who found each other Joy refuge.