A radiant hour with one of the 20th century's finest writers, who tells us, among much else, why he doesn't mind having gone blind ("Of course, when you are blind, time flows in a different way. It flows, let's say, on an easy slope"), and why his second language is his favorite ("Firstly, English is both a Germanic and a Latin language, those two registers. For any idea you take, you have two words. Those words do not mean exactly the same. For example, if I say 'regal,' it's not exactly the same thing as saying 'kingly.' Or if I say 'fraternal,' it's not saying the same as 'brotherly.' ... It would make all the difference in the world in a poem if I wrote about 'the Holy Spirit' or I wrote 'the Holy Ghost,' since 'ghost' is a fine, dark Saxon word, while 'spirit' is a light Latin word").

Technical note: This program is black and white.