Song of a Reformed Headhunter

 The four novels in this Grove book are The Square , Moderato Cantabile , 10.30 on a Summer Night , and The Afternoon of Mr. Andesmas . It is marvelous how Duras conjures up a poetic intensity from very simple situations. The paraphrasable plot is laughably simple, but the patterning of language and incident is masterly. There are intensifiers deployed—a limited time and place, the intoxication of alcohol, the murder of one's lover, music, a storm—but all woven in so naturally that they seem to come from within the characters, rather than without. The man and the girl would find their way to the park bench one afternoon because they are who they are. The method is to bypass psychology to aim straight for the formal, and intense, emotion.

 Two full days on Malecon Beach, the first spent finishing Duras's The Easy Life and drinking too many margaritas. The tripartite structure of the book is interesting. The social trigger on the farm, the psychic unravelling by the sea, and then back to the farm again to re-immerse oneself in social life. Too neat an organization perhaps? Part 1, the longest part, is gripping, but Part 2, the second longest part, is the most experimental of the three parts. Part 3 skirts the danger of feeling like a letdown, with its happy conclusion.  On Wednesday evening, we went on the "art walk" in Puerto Vallarta. Some lovely works, particularly ceramics and photography. On both Wednesday and Thursday nights, we walked by the sea, swallowed by people in the Historico Centro, around the Arches and the Sail, and then spat out into silence and solitude further south. 

  On Christmas Eve, visited Museo Mural Diego Rivera, and saw "Dream of a Sunday Afternoon at Alameda Central," his highly personal and political mural. Then walked through the park itself, the oldest public park in Latin America, to Constitution Square, or Zocalo. Lunch at the lovely Cafe de Tacuba. Back in hotel, watched Isi and Ossi , starring a delicious Dennis Mojen and Lisa Vicari who played the innocent rich girl well.  Late start on Christmas Day. Continued reading Duras's The Easy Life Part 2, where the female protagonist goes to the beach and falls apart. Then went to the Museo Nacional de Anthropologia. Very impressive buildings housing an impressive collection of pre-Columbian artefacts. Rainy day. Back in hotel, watched Men in Black: International starring Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson. Hemsworth in bed with an octopus-like alien, but because it's a family movie, he does not even show his butt. Then repeat-watched Lewis on Youtube with Guy: "W...