For the manner of writing his book entitled “Ithaca”which is expected to be released on November 24 from publications Gutenbergbut also about the difficulties he faced in recording the events, spoke former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
He describes the process as “an act of debt towards history, but also of purification and self-awareness”. “It was a, how can I say it, in terms… it’s not branding, it’s a reload. I recharged my batteries through writing the facts and putting my own truth on paper.” says Alexis Tsipras.
The peculiarity of writing “in the present tense”
“I do not hide that my book has a particularity. And the peculiarity is that no former prime minister writes in the present tense. Everyone writes in the past tense. I do my self-criticism, but I also criticize”, emphasizes Alexis Tsiprasunderlining that this choice gives liveliness and immediacy to the narrative.
As he says, “I have left nothing out… From the first writing to the last there has been editing, not with an eye to the future, but with the effort to be as objective and as less unfair as possible. Because you can’t be fair at all to events and people. For this reason the book was written once and twice and a third time. I wanted every word to represent me and be as close to the truth as possible.”
“Writing as an act of redemption and self-knowledge”
For him Alexis Tsiprasthe writing of the book was a process of deep mental confrontation.
“For me, this whole process had a character of redemption, purification. Psychotherapeutic, one would say, of self-awareness. And yes, indeed the part of the narration, when it enters into dialogues and an attempt to transfer the experience to the text, has a charm”, confesses the former prime minister.
The “Calvary of 2015”
Alexis Tsipras does not hesitate to talk about the difficulties he faced in recording the 2015 season, which he characterizes as his personal “Calvary”.
“Ithaca is not just a political narrative, it is also an inner journey. There were times when it was difficult to relive the events of 2015, to write them without charge. But I felt it was time to speak. Because many people – Greeks and foreigners – have spoken about that dramatic period of modern Greek history. I also wanted to give my own testimony,” he notes.
The philosophy of “Ithaca”
Referring to the title of the book, Alexis Tsipras explains that the choice of “Ithaca” is not accidental:
“Ithaca is not a destination, it is an eternal journey. And this concerns each of us. We all experience our own Odysseys and have our own Ithacas. But it also has to do with politics, with the Left, with society, with social struggles, with the evolution of the world. It never stops,” he emphasizes.
“In this sense, the title also has a philosophical value. I chose him six months ago, having already structured the book and realized that there is an allegorical field of everything we lived — as a collective adventure but also as a personal journey full of struggles, hopes, dreams and perseverance,” adds the former prime minister.