Michèle BoccozAmbassador of FranceI have a pile because I enjoy reading.

I started rereading a book I’ve read many, many years ago, “In Search of Lost Time,” by Marcel Proust. Remember we had that art exhibit last year in Alliance Francaise de Manille inspired by Proust? It’s seven volumes, so I’m now finishing the fourth one.

I’m also trying to read José Rizal’s “Noli Me Tángere.” I can read in Spanish, but I also read in English.

For Proust, I was far too young and immature to completely grasp it when I first read it years ago. I found it more interesting this time, much more entertaining.

When you first read it as a young person, you’re pushed into reading it. So at some point I got bored. Now I really enjoy reading it so much. It’s a caricature of the French salon at the turn of the 20th century. It’s so funny. I much enjoyed and understood it better now than the first time. —Cheche V. Moral INQ