Josep Pla

Pla, unpublished.

“The ideal thing is to be under all possible illusions, and not believe any of them.” J. Pla

The twelfth volume of Pla’s Complete Works appeared in 1969, containing notes from different periods, of varying length and intent (from minimal aphorisms to short essays, including ledger entries), under the title Notas dispersas (Scattered Notes). The unpublished material now edited by researcher Francesc Montero (Josep Pla Chair at the University of Gerona) in Hacerse todas las ilusiones posibles is what the author himself had intended to include in a new volume of his Complete Works, which would have been titled Nuevas notas dispersas (New Scattered Notes) or Vagas notas dispersas (Vague Scattered Notes).

The pages we can finally read today reveal Pla at his most memorable: the keen observer of society, the commentator showing the best-informed scepticism, the reporter of priceless anecdotes, the writer capable of breathing the most life into the characters and landscapes he portrays, the prose writer most convincing and friendly to his writers.