What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
First and foremost, it helps clarifying ideas I have developed over time. You often think about a number of subjects and connect dots between facts, theories so to grasp a bit more of awareness and, why not, a small tidbit of truth to show your kids and nephews. But there is nothing like writing it down to inspect, challenge and make sure it stands on its feet. Then there is the feeling of coming back to things written in the past and finding yourself back, a bit like your soul in a time machine. Sometimes you like and approve even more what you wrote, sometimes not. But the time machine feeling is always amazing, it is like a time-warped soul looking glass.
Who are your favorite authors?
I have to make a distinction between essayists and novelists. Among essayists, it is by far Rene Girard. Powerful, far reaching ideas on the core concepts of anthropology and yet a very clear, accessible writing style. I think he is in the same league of Voltaire, when it comes to clarity of exposition and sharpness of analysis. Next comes Yuri Slezkine, he has a much narrower field of interest but somehow an even more imaginative writing style. When it comes to novelists, today I would start with Mordechai Richler, all the works I read are great novels and he is also a quite good essayist. Then Vassily Grossman, Joseph Roth and some works of Jorge Amado and Bruce Marshall. Among classics, certainly Stendhal (a long time preference since high school times) while Cervantes is a relatively recent discovery and I have to admit I find Bulgakov more intriguing than Dostoevskij.
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