The authors met with the presidents at the Elysee Palace.
It was a fine meeting. All felt extremely at ease, Viktor Yerofeyev said to Novosti afterwards. "It seemed to me that Jacques Chirac and Vladimir Putin are on very good terms with each other. They not merely share political interests-they like each other."
"The presidents and the litterateurs were very polite to each other, and eager to develop a mutual liking," another modern classic, Edward Radzinsky, said to newsmen.
All French-based newspapers and magazines, with token exceptions, carried a vast number of contributions on Russian literature throughout the week preceding the book exposition, said Yerofeyev. "The French press usually chooses a biting tone to write about Russia. Things were quite different this time-the journalists must have pondered the matter very thoroughly, and read much about Russia."
The writer says he was pleasantly surprised to see a great many books by Russian authors of all generations in French bookshops. "The French have much to read, and we Russians to offer them reading," he remarked.
Daniil Granin, one of the oldest and most respected Russian fiction authors, confessed his dislike of book shows and fairs: "You see heaps of books-and you wonder whether there is a topic left untreated."
The Paris show, however, made a delightful impression on him. "I saw people flocking in-kids, too. It was a pleasure to see so many people taking an avid interest in books."
