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Proust is a huge author for me.

Proust is a hero of mine. I read 'A la recherche' in one go, and I'm a very slow reader. It had an astonishing impact, reading it on my own and being my main company. I think Proust is the most intelligent person to ever have written a novel.

I grew up reading Proust all my life, and he's very dear to me.

I could start with Mandelstam, who was a huge influence on my early writing.

I read H.P. Lovecraft. I also like Sword and Sorcery stuff, Arthurian legend.

After Proust, there are certain things that simply cannot be done again. He marks off for you the boundaries of your talent.

The advice of the elders to young men is very apt to be as unreal as a list of the hundred best books.

I honestly don't read that much. Obviously I read chess books - in terms of favorites, Kasparov's 'My Great Predecessors' is pretty good.

Read Don Quixote; it is a very good book; I still read it frequently.