Troyat

Hello Joan! Good to hear from you -- I've been wondering how you are. I like your characterization of Jane Austen's writings -- it seems very true and insightful. I suppose that society became more individualistic later, so the often tenuous bonds that tie it together became less of a focus for writers. I've been trapped for some time in the works of Henri Troyat, an unfortunately prolific French writer of Russian descent and interest. He has written the life of every Tsar -- I've read Paul, Nicholas the First and Second, and Alexander the Second, all in Russian translation (our library doesn't have the original French). Now I'm on Alexander the First, and looking at the Third and Peter the Great which are awaiting me. They take a long time to read, but I find the grand sweep of the empire and the fateful string of events irresistable. It could have turned out differently at many points, but the luck wasn't good. The assassination of Alexander the Second, the Liberator, was really the worst piece of bad luck. He escaped the first bomb thrown at him, which killed several of his entourage, but he wanted to speak to the assailant on the spot, which gave his accomplice the opportunity to throw a second bomb at short range.
I'm listening to a lot of Bernstein lately, especially his songs. He is a congenial voice to me, of similar background (American Jewish), which I suppose brings his music close to me. I read delightful book on our current financial state, Boomerang by Michael Lewis. He's very funny and makes the innumerable economic errors the result of natural human biases. I'm also reading a book on symbolic logic by Douglas Hofstadter. Not much time for other books with all this, plus the entire New York Times every day!
Take care and keep writing!