It's okay... The only ones that are really any good are in French anyway. >__>

You would think that, but apparently not. Apparently that's all it takes to get rich and famous in times of Revolution. Well, it would explain why Mme Roland seemed to despise him so much.

Especially since the author has completely by-passed Maxime's real personality and opinions to make him into a neurotic Nazi/Communist (yes, both at once--it's not quite as apparent here, but it is elsewhere in the book) psychopath.