Good to hear from you. I know what it's like to get lost in an author -- I was too in Stendhal for about a year soon after college. I read his two great novels, but my favorite book of his was his Life of Rossini. It is great fun and quite wise about music. The people who fascinate Stendhal -- young up-and-comers full of ambition -- are so different from me that while I admire his writing and insights, they don't touch me very directly. You can't beat him for an understanding of a time and place.
Yes, I'm reading Troyat in Russian -- they don't have him in French in our library here. The translations are very good, the Russians here agree, so I'm quite happy with them. He's the best introduction to Russian history I've come across -- a light touch and no heavy axes to grind. He's interested in the personalities of the individual Czars, which makes it interesting and easy to follow. The Russians have an enormous number of biographies of literary figures like Pushkin for young readers (to inculcate them with a love for literature), which I enjoy a lot. I seem to like simple, straightforward writing with a focus on an individual hero, his or her choices and destiny. I loved the Harry Potter books.
Someone recommended the history Niall Ferguson to me, and I've started his works. Since I loved the conservative historian Paul Johnson I thought I would like Ferguson too. He's very interesting but doesn't write as well as Johnson. I'm halfway into Fukuyama's latest book on the Origins of Political Order, but have found it rather heavy going. So that's it! Take care, Sidney
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