my guest is the renowned colombian novelist juan gabriel vasquez, who weaves powerful stories out of fact and fiction. is there anything magical about colombia s current reality? juan gabriel vasquez, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. it s a pleasure to have you. now you inhabit two different intellectual worlds. you are a political commentator. it is yourjob to have instant, strong opinions for newspapers. on the other hand, you re also a novelist who writes complex, nuanced novels that are sort of riddled with doubt and uncertainty. which of these two mental attitudes comes more naturally to you? well, i m first and foremost a novelist. iwas. i began writing fiction at a very young age, and it was always my ideal to write the kind of novels that i had grown up with. but in south america, a novelist is also a citizen. and so you develop very quickly the need, the compulsion sometimes, the feeling of obligation to comment on the political reality. so in a sense, t
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