Warning from an Italian writer The way of life in the Corona era is July 16, 13:10

Why did the spread of the new coronavirus spread? I sometimes think about the world before corona. What would everyone think if the answer were to say "it was our own fault"? The book "We in the Corona Era" written by Paolo Giordano, one of Italy's best-selling authors who suffered serious damage from corona, is drawing attention all over the world. What did you think of in Italy, where the outbreak spread, and how did you feel that you should live in the future? In the interview, Giordano, the author, asked about the thoughts he put in the book. (Nana Yamada, Reporter, International Department)

Means to warn the world

"I wrote this book as a way to warn that Corona is a problem for the whole world, not Italy or China."

Italian author Paolo Giordano said in an interview why he wrote the book.

"We in the Age of Corona" is a compilation of 27 essays that Giordano wrote from the end of February to the beginning of March. At that time, many people still thought that the new coronavirus was not a serious problem.

"Writing a book could help sort out this mess," he said. "I think Italy, which is at the forefront of the spread of infection in Europe and America, was responsible for other countries."

Giordano looked back four months ago.

This book, written by a best-selling author who has also won the "Strega Award", which is also known as the Akutagawa Prize in Italy, was published as a "warning for the world" in approximately 34 million countries. Even in Japan, where 10,000 foreign translations are considered successful, it has been a quiet hit with over 50,000 copies since its release at the end of April.

“Intelligibility and empathy”

Why is this book getting attention all over the world? The answer lies in "understanding and empathy."

First, "intelligibility". The author, Giordano, has a unique background of becoming a novelist after majoring in particle physics at graduate school. In this book, I try to keep a calm and accurate understanding of unknown infectious diseases as a scientist, but at the same time, I use the rich expressive power of a novelist to make it easy to understand. For example, Giordano explained in the beginning of the book how each infectious disease spreads by comparing each of us to a billiard ball.

"When one infected ball rushes in at a blazing speed, it hits two balls and then stops, and each bounced ball hits another two balls. Is repeated endlessly and the spread of infectious diseases begins.''

It explains the speed at which infection spreads to people who are not familiar with infectious diseases.

Another point is "sympathy." For example, a scene in which Giordano is invited to a friend's house for dinner as the infection spreads rapidly in Italy.

Tell yourself, "If the number of infected people exceeds 2000, let's voluntarily quarantine, this is the last one." However, I feel uncomfortable when my friends say, "I will be able to get back to my normal life in a few days" while eating.

He added, "In the event of an infectious disease epidemic, if you look forward to a less feasible future, people will often experience repeated disappointments."

In fact, because the infection did not end in "the next few days", many people could experience similar conflicts and disappointments and empathize with Mr. Giordano.

Mistakes already occur in "normal times"

In many essays, I am often touched on why the spread of the new coronavirus spread and the underlying cause.

Giordano explained that the aggressive behavior of human beings against the environment such as global warming and deforestation destroyed the ecosystem, and bacteria that were living in the body of extinct animals have lost their place. As a "moving destination" of the bacteria, people who are easily infected with pathogens are likely to be selected, and the possibility of contact with unknown pathogens will only increase in the future.

And he says, "If you just want to name the criminal, it's all our fault," and we're repeatedly claiming that the cause of the new Corona lies with us.

(Reporter)
Where and how did we make a mistake as the infection spreads all over the world?

(Mr. Giordano) The
specifics of what should have been done to prevent the spread of infection are still unclear. But what I can say now is that the big mistake was that it was happening before the corona outbreak spread, ie in peacetime. Some people say corona is unexpected, but it's a lie. Since the 2003 SARS epidemic, experts have warned that these infectious diseases may come back again, but in peacetime we have not listened to them. Corona is a global concern. If you do not deal with global issues globally, you will make the same mistakes over and over again. We have to change our own local thinking circuit.

Write a list of things you don't want to forget

At the end of the book, Giordano urges readers to keep in mind that the new coronavirus is "after".

"I'm making a list of things I don't want to forget now. I think everyone should make their own list."

This list is made to find out what has made the situation so bad, and when the calm time comes back, I would like to think about what to do based on the list.

Then I repeat the phrase "I don't want to forget" ten times to introduce my list. Of these, he said "I don't want to forget" that Europe could not unite in the crisis of spread of infection.

(Reporter)
How do you feel that Europe could not unite during the crisis?

(Giordano)
The most desperate part of this corona crisis is that Europe could not unite. Everyone was looking only at their own place and their own country. I felt lonely and lonely when the spread of infection in Italy got worse. Even in neighboring countries, the corona infection was acting as if it had nothing to do with them. We were frustrated as well as disappointed that our compassion for others was very limited. The most important thing to live in the age of corona is unity.

Do not forget the death of the victim

Mr. Giordano says that he has been adding this "list of things he does not want to forget" for about four months since the publication of the book. The list is now said to be three notebooks long.

(Reporter)
Looking back over the past four months, what do you most want to forget?

(Giordano)
These are the victims of Corona. I think forgetting about the dead is a lot easier than we think. Their death is a warning to each of us so that the same cannot happen. It is a warning that we should change the way we treat nature, environment and society. Besides forgetting it right away, I feel that many people around me have already forgotten their death.

After the interview

With the declining number of deaths in Japan, how much can we listen to the warnings from the deceased? Giordano made me feel as if I was pointing out about myself.

This book says Giordano says that unless we change our behavior about how we interact with nature, even if vaccines and medicines are developed and coronas pass, similar infections will occur repeatedly. It is a warning from.

How do you feel when you hear this warning? I also want to make a point of reassessing my way of life.

International Department reporter
Nana Yamada

Joined in 2009. After working at Nagasaki station, Chiba station, and economic department, currently in charge of the United States and Europe in the international department.