The pleasure and pain of reading

There are lurid rumours circulating around this Alpine village that an international literature symposium has taken place, with some of the richest and more recent arrivals demanding that the arch suspect behind the alleged outrage deny it or else. ‘Say it ain’t so, Joe,’ screamed a nightclub freak at the suspect right on Main Street. The suspect’s name, incidentally, happens to be Thomas Gommes.

Now I am the first to admit that reading can be a dangerous waste of time, especially when there are great mind-expanding shows to watch on large and small screens such as Batman, The Masked Marvel, Godzilla vs. King Kong, and other similarly spiritually uplifting examples. Be that as it may, a literature symposium did take place with the support of many people who live here, and its prime mover and organiser was the aforementioned Thomas Gommes.

And about time, too! We’ve had a conference on how to make more money, and an even more popular one on how to live much longer if you’re rich (covered by your intrepid correspondent in this column last winter).