Théo d'Or ’s Reviews > A Gentleman in Moscow > Status Update

....but maybe I am the one out of touch, still believing that reading and understanding are related. Maybe I'm just not optimized. Or maybe - and this is the heresy - I still believe that difficulty is not elitism, and that the act of reading is a far more complex process than it appears.

Bonjour, Théo !

Kurt Vonnegut argued that one must always keep the reader in mind, but that, in the act of writing, one should never picture a crowd — far too many people altogether. It is far better to imagine a single friend. In a more romantic vein, as the song has it: “I don’t want to set the world on fire; I just want to start a flame in your heart.”

Merci.

Ah, Ink Spots, at the time when " L'Étranger " appeared...Yes, writing for a single friend is one of the most revealing acts a writer can perform. Like Kafka did....

... and Towles didn't write letters, here, but the read feel like they're adressed to a single reader, someone who appreciates elegance. His characters speak as if they're confiding in someone just off the page. That's the magic - the sense that the story is being told for You.
And one more important détail - Towles once said in an interview that his reader is " as smart and as well-read as he is ". That reflects perfectly what I wrote in my update...

I hope that someday Towles will write more Amor letters to his readers ... :))

Oh...if Towles were to turn his pen toward his readers
I imagine the result would be no less elegant than his fiction. But I would say he writes to us already, just not with our names at the top of the page...In a letter for us, he would not rush to the point, there would be no point, in the modern sense. Maybe he would talk about a man he once saw reading a book on a park bench, in the rain...But not because it mattered, but because it stayed with him. And, what's more beautiful than something which stayed with you...even small things, apparently sans importance...

Brilliant word-play - " Amor letters " :))

Amor (which means ‘love’ in Portuguese) writes with such elegance that it feels like a love letter to the readers. I’ve come to visit Celeste at the hotel… we’re up on the rooftop, reading and laughing together.

Merci Théo.

On the rooftop ?? Hahaha !! It's only 3° here...
I couldn't afford that kind of luxury. Only if I'd take my car up there, hahaha !
And singing like the Beatles, on rooftop - Get Back:)) I could never forget that... c'était une vraie folie....

Around here, people say Portugal is very poor, but the sun and the blue sky are free. In the end, what does GDP — the so‑called ‘PIB’ — even matter?

Maria, please....😅😅😅😅😅😅

The ones who said Portugal is poor, I bet they even don't see the blue sky , or the sun, or hear the
cries of the seagulls, nor the raindrops tapping on the window, with the rhythm of a poem.. They are poorer than that PIB that pretends to measure their worth..

:)) Well said, Théo. Merci.

Let Maria talk, por favor !
Liberté, Égalité, Celesté !

Maria tends to be very talkative, and sometimes she might come across as a little too enthusiastic.😅😅😅😅

Bah.. I believe she's exactly the kind of person who sees the sky turn red, and tell everybody.
And that's more than enough for me :))

Of all the compliments I’ve ever received, this is without doubt the most beautiful of them all. :))
Merci, Théo.
Tous les ciels rouges pour toi en 2026.

Bien plus que tous les ciels rouges que 2026 pourra offrir, Théo !
Merci.

Tout ce que je pourrais désirer plus que mes ciels rouges ce serait de remonter le temps, Celeste. Juste pour entendre à nouveau le grincement du vieux portail, à Barbizon, sentir l'odeur du pain grillé dans la cuisine de grand-mère, et courir pieds nus sur le carrelage froid, sans que personne ne dise rien. Et tu sais, pour ça, je n'ai besoin que d'une chose - fermer les yeux. Parce que parfois, l'enfance ne me manque pas - elle m'attend..

Merci pour tes vœux.