123 rue de la Tour, Paris XVIe - Shares her observations of him, arguing that it is still a true portrait even if she does not know him well: "vous êtes essentiellement brillant et vous savez que vous l'êtes. Vous tirez parti de ce don -- comme une femme attirante de son charme.... Je crois ... que vous enterrez, sous la carapace de os facilités naturelles, soit ce que fait la substance de votre 'vous'".
Writes from Paris. The Australian girl he met has gone home, which has given him a idea of PS's life of isolation from people; will be in Cambridge next Tuesday; tells him he dropped Vera [Neuhoff?] because he just wanted her French and her contacts; finished Conrad's 'Arrow of Gold'; was amused by his treatise on his absent-mindedness; is delighted at the improvement in his 'home situation'; thinks the 'smash' with Brenda [Dumaresq?] was a happy ending for Peter at least.
Paris is entertaining and restful; saw [Jean-Louis] Barreult [recte Barrault]'s Hamlet, which would have been overdone for Cyrano; discusses 'Hamlet', 'Brighton Rock', 'Four Quartets', and Conrad, thinks Conrad can weave a spell, but is prone to bad writing; will have to talk when they meet about increasing American sense of responsibility manifesting itself as belligerence; went to a Debussy concert played by the 'putrid' Opera House orchestra; hearing 'Iberia' makes him believe in the Platonic theory of knowledge, given his certainty that it was a great piece of music being played wretchedly; continues their conversation about why Spain at her height culturally produced no great music, and PS's theory that they had no contact with the West and an isolated nobility; Paris is a musical void unless you take into account the language; has not pursued the friendship with Vera [Neuhoff?]; the idea of going to Berlin is probably on hold given the current situation; discusses 'Boomerang' further; agrees with his comments on the Chandler genre; doesn't know what he'll do if he doesn't land a teaching job.
Describes people he's met in Paris; discusses job prospects: teaching high school children of the Army of occupation, re-educating Germans with UNESCO; thinks he has the gift of understanding communities intuitively the way PS understands people; will see Jean-Louis Barrault as Hamlet, details why ‘Brighton Rock’ is a disappointment, including the fact that PS told him the plot has ruined it though PS told him it wouldn’t; continues the letter later that afternoon dismissing the UNESCO job; had an interesting encounter he’ll tell PS about in person; his banking, expenses; the beard means no one takes him for a Yank, is also different in that he tries to speak French; as for Brenda [Dumaresq?], he’s said all he can say, thinks PS will hurt her and himself; discusses the movie ‘Boomerang’, which he admires.
5bis Rue Agar, Paris 16e - Describes Paris: 'people are weary & waiting for the next war'; describes his journey there, and meeting an Australian girl he hopes to see when she travels to Paris again; is staying at a high quality house, landlady and tenants very kind; met Janine [?] and her family, likes her, but is not going to romance her; asks for Vera [Neuhoff?]'s address; will not thank him for his hospitality as he expects to return it in the U.S.