"He loved her to death. She loved him to the point of not knowing it." — Marguerite Duras, The North China Lover
Why read the PDF of The North China Lover if you have already read The Lover ? Because it is Duras unmasked. The first novel is a masterpiece of repression; the second is an exorcism. By 1991, Duras was old and ill. She no longer had the patience for metaphor. In this version, the hatred for her mother (the "crazy" schoolteacher) is venomous. The brutality of her older brothers is visceral. The colonial setting of Saigon is no longer a dreamscape, but a sticky, violent trap. L-amant De La Chine Du Nord Marguerite Duras.pdf