In Impromptus today, I begin with Claudia Sheinbaum, the new president of Mexico, and end with Johann Sebastian Bach, who is ever new. In between? Japan, China, the Middle East, Eric Adams, Donald Trump, the Detroit Lions — the works (or at least some of the works). That column is here.
Let’s sample the mail.
On Monday, I had an article about Stefan Zweig, and, in particular, his novel Beware of Pity. A reader says,
Jay, thank you for a wonderful distraction from my daily media. I feel as if I could paint Mr. Zweig’s writing. If only I could paint!
Our reader goes on to say,
I remember several years ago you published a column about novels that everyone should read. I can’t find it in my files. Can you help?
The reader is referring to an article called “Right Words: On how to write, and what to read.” At the end, I have two lists of books — fiction and non-fiction. I selected them for their writing, the kinds of writing that young people, and all people, should get in their ears.
A distinguished professor writes,
I discovered Zweig’s novels while living in Germany in the 1980s, and today I listen to them in German during my commute, which is either weird or obnoxious, or both. [I don’t think so.] The one you need to read next is Verwirrung der Gefühle (“Confusion”). Absolutely.
Another reader is on his third Zweig book, and says,
I started with Beware of Pity, then went to The World of Yesterday, and have begun The Post-Office Girl. His prose, his storytelling, his observations of human nature — all of it is magical, exactly as you claim. I can see myself reading Pity several times in the future, as it is so different. So insightful. So readable!
A reader writes,
I have greatly enjoyed your two columns on Zweig, and by referring to Dostoevsky you really pique me because I divide the world into two kinds of people: those who love Dostoevsky and those who have not read him.
In that column on Monday, I said,
Zweig esteemed Dostoevsky (who died the year Zweig was born). Dostoevsky had “the magnifying power of a microscope and the clarifying insight of a seer,” said Zweig. He himself had similar capacities.
Let’s veer off. A reader and friend writes me from Northern Michigan, saying that he has seen many Trump signs and fewer Harris signs. But he also saw what must be a collector’s item — namely:
About a week ago, I had a post headed “A Great and Pivotal Day,” which published a single letter from a reader. In response, another reader says,
It was encouraging to read of a reader’s redemption from alcohol.
“Encouraging” is a wonderfully apt word. Thank you, one and all.