Item 15 - Letter from Mal Diamond

4 folded sheets, 1 env.

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.

Year supplied from postmark.

Addressed to Peter Shaffer Esq, Windy Ridge, Ryders Avenue, Westgate on Sea, Kent, England