Leaving Madeleine - Part 4
Madeleine and I arrived at the restaurant last; a cozy, affordable establishment in the ninth agrandissement . With the exception of Marie-Claire, our dinner companions were all friends of Madeleine’s and all students at La Sorbonne. We had a real united nations to dine with. Omar, an Egyptian. Estelle, a Jew. Patrick, a Christian (not only in word, but in deed). And Luc, who could not be described adequately by his religious affiliation or ethnicity, but rather by his claim to have read the entire Comédie Humaine – an accomplishment that, if true, would have endeared him to me, if only he wasn’t so oft to repeat it. Without fail, within a half-hour of any conversation, Luc would inevitably allude to his conquest of Balzac’s oeuvre. Moreover, every opinion or thought expressed by Luc, regardless of subject, seemed to find its origin in this story or that of the staggering collection. I once found the occasion to quote Aquinas to him: “Beware the man of one book.” Either the insinu...