Iljieli bla rqad u rakkonti qosra oħra

by Sergio Grech,

published by Klabb Kotba Maltin, 2024.

The advent of social media has changed the way we communicate. Twitter (now X) has a 140-character limit, later revised to 280 words. TikTok has forced content creators to be brief. Instagram depends entirely on an eye-catching image. Though Facebook allows for longer posts, the key to effectiveness lies in the brevity of the message. We live in a world where attention spans are shorter, and the message needs to be brief and effective.

This is what Sergio Grech attempts to do in the collection of micro-stories “Iljieli bla rqad u rakkonti qosra oħra” (Sleepless nights and other short stories) published by Klabb Kotba Maltin.

Ġorġ Mallia provides a brilliant introduction to the book. Indeed, it is upon Mallia’s invitation that Grech began writing these stories, each no longer than 200 words. They proved popular and have now been collected in this attractive volume of 87 micro-stories.

Each of these stories has elements of the “social media” mindset. Besides the emphasis on brevity, social media has democratised the public space, allowing every individual to be a content creator. It has highlighted the tensions in every person; the lines between public and private become blurred, and the ordinary becomes somewhat extraordinary – open for all to judge and like.

Each one of these stories is also about people who are unseen but desperate to be seen. They are stories of ordinary lives which need to be told. And they are stories of how things appear to be – and of how deceitful appearances can be. In some ways, they are also our stories – our insecurities, inner feelings, and that paradoxical desire to be both visible and invisible.

The book's cover

They are also the stories of our changing society and the tensions born from such changes. In other words, these stories need not be longer because they are very relatable.

Some of these stories are very familiar. There’s the man who promises his wife his undying love as he drives to the airport, only to have his lover waiting inside the terminal building.

Each story confronts us with the fact that every human being is complex and has thorny issues, thoughts and motivations

There is the village gossip who does not hold back from passing judgement and spreading rumours about the gay couple who moved into the neighbourhood. There is a social media user who adopts the username “Kristu l-Feddej” (Christ the Saviour) and posts frequent religious musings, only to then “like” posts that are either mundane or racist in tone.

Then, other stories are more poignant and speak to the changes we are experiencing in our society. The theme of solitude and loneliness runs through some of these stories. There is the story of a man who collects cigarette buts and spends his free time imagining who smoked them and what their back story was. In one of the stories, one man commits suicide and only has a handful of people at his funeral.

We can also reflect on some of the changes brought about during the last few decades by overdevelopment. The author wryly comments on the humble caper plant – once ubiquitous, now practically impossible to find due to greed and overdevelopment.

Another man whose only solace is the comfort of his home and the view from his window is plunged into further anguish and loneliness when the site next door to his house is developed into an apartment block.

Each of these stories is a testament to the extraordinary depth in the most ordinary situations.

As an author, Grech needs no introduction. This book highlights his versatility as an author. While much of his oeuvre focuses on the great and the good in Malta, this book recounts the lives of those who live in relative anonymity but, nonetheless, have interesting anecdotes.

To some extent, this is exemplified in the story of the man who writes his memoir as a cathartic exercise, only to delete the entire document from his computer once he completes this task. It is an ode to all those stories and experiences that each person has buried within them but are often taken to the grave.

Each story confronts us with the fact that every human being is complex and has thorny issues, thoughts and motivations. Though short and to the point, each anecdote confronts us with the same contradictions within us. And while every micro-story deals with a different character, they all, in various ways, relate to us and who we are as a society.