Patrick modiano, do you have any interesting essays?

/files/writer/4247.htmlsurfing the Internet.

The following is the first chapter of his work "Youth Cafe".

There are two doors in that cafe. She always goes in and out through the narrowest door, which is called the secret door. The coffee shop is very small, and she always sits at the same table in the innermost part of the small hall. When she first arrived here, she never accosted anyone. As time went on, she got to know the regulars of Kangdai Cafe. Most of them are about our age. I mean, we are all between the ages of 19 and 25. Sometimes, she will sit in it, but most of the time, she still likes to sit in her seat, that is, the seat at the innermost end.

The time when she came to the cafe was uncertain. Sometimes, you will find her sitting there early in the morning. Or, she didn't show up until midnight, and then stayed there until the cafe closed. In this block, this coffee shop, as well as Bouguet and La Begra, are the last to close, but Conte has gathered the strangest customers. Over time, I often can't help asking myself, is it because of her existence that the cafe and the people there are so unusual and different, as if she had soaked them all with her own fragrance?

Let's make a hypothesis. Suppose someone covers your eyes with a piece of cloth, takes you there, makes you sit at a table, then takes off the blindfold and gives you a few minutes to answer this question: Which block of Paris are you in now? At this time, you may just observe the neighbors and listen to their conversations, and then you can guess: it is near the intersection of Odeon. In my imagination, this area is always gray when it rains.

One day, a photographer walked into Conte. From the outside, he is no different from the customers in the shop. Same age, same sloppy. He is wearing a coat that is too long for him, a pair of ordinary trousers and a pair of heavy military boots. He took many photos of the guests who frequented Conte, and then he became a frequent visitor himself, so that for others, he took a family photo. Later, these photos were published in an album with the theme of Paris. The description below the photo is very simple, only the names or nicknames of these customers are listed. She appeared in several photos. As the movies often say, she is more photogenic than others. Of all the people in the photo, the reader noticed her first. In the footnote of the photo album, her name is "Rouge the Bat". "From left to right: zaharia, Rouge the Bat, Mount Tai, Jean Michel, Fred and Ali Sharif ..." "Close shot, Rouge the Bat sitting in a bar. Behind her are: Annette, Don Carlos, Mikhail, adamov and Dr. Valla. " She stood straight, but everyone else's posture was casual. For example, the man named Fred even fell asleep with his head on a leather-like lacquered bench. Apparently, he hasn't shaved for several days. One thing must be clear: Rouge the Bat's name was given by others when she began to visit Kangde frequently. One night, near midnight, she came in and I was there. There are only Taishan, Fred, zaharia and Michael in the shop, and they are all sitting at the same table. Mount Tai shouted, "Oh, here comes Rouge the Bat ..." At first, she looked a little scared, but before long, a smile appeared on her face. Zaharia stood up and said in a serious tone, "Tonight, I will say your name. From now on, your name is Rouge the Bat. " Over time, they all called her Rouge the Bat. Now that I think about it, she thinks the new name is very relaxed. Yes, I'm relaxed.

In fact, the more I think about it, the more I can find my initial impression: she came to Kangte to take refuge, as if to avoid something and escape from a danger. I had this idea when I saw her sitting at the bottom and no one would notice her. She doesn't stand out when she is mixed with others. She is always silent, cautious and willing to be their audience. I even think that in order to be safer, she likes to stay in the bustling crowd and prefers to mix with those "big mouths". Otherwise, she can't almost always sit at the table of zaharia, Jean-Michel, Fred, Taishan and Raouba ... With them, she is integrated into the whole set, just one of the unknown dumb corners, an insignificant figure. In Yes, when she first played Conte, I never saw her have a close relationship with anyone. From then on, one of the big mouths called her Rouge the Bat backstage, which is not her real name.

However, as long as you look closely, you will find that she is completely different from others in some details. Her dress is very exquisite, which is in sharp contrast with other guests in Conte. One night, she sat at the table of Mount Tai, Ali Sharif and Raouba and lit a cigarette. Her slender fingers shook my heart. What surprised me most was that her nails were shining. Nails are painted with colorless nail polish, and this detail may seem trivial. Then let's get down to business. To this end, we must introduce Kong Zai's regular customers. Their age is between 19 and 25 years old. Only a few guests, such as Barbie Ray, adamov and Dr. Valla, are almost fifty years old, but everyone forgets their age. Dr. barbieri, Dr. adamov and Dr. Valla all faithfully adhered to their youth, and adhered to this outdated but pleasant nickname that people might call "the prodigal son". I

Look up the meaning of "prodigal son" in the dictionary: it refers to a wandering, homeless, bohemian and carefree person. This interpretation is very suitable for these men and women who often go in and out of Conte. Some of them, such as Tarzan, Jean-Michel and Fred, all claimed that they had been dealing with the police frequently since they were teenagers, while Raouba escaped from the kind Pasteur juvenile reformatory at the age of sixteen. However, everyone is on the left bank, and most of them are under the protection of literature and art. What about me? I go to school there. I'm afraid to tell them about my school. I didn't seriously enter their circle.

I really think she is different from others. Where was she before someone gave her this name? Where did she come from? People who often visit Kangdai always have a book in their hand, and they will put it on the table with wine stains on the cover. Song of Maldoro, Epiphany, Mysterious Roadblock. However, at first, she was always empty-handed Later, she may want to imitate others. One day, I never imagined that I saw her studying alone in Kangdai. Since then, she has never left her hand. When she is with adamov and others, she likes to put books in a conspicuous position on the table, as if this book is her passport or residence permit, which allows her to stay with them legally.

The works of French writer Lautemont. The famous poems of the French poet Rambo. The works of American poet jared Carter.

However, no one noticed this, adamov, Barbire, Mount Tai and Raouba, and none of them noticed it. It is a pocket book with a dirty cover. This is the kind of book found in the old bookstall by the Seine. The cover is printed with "Lost Horizon" in big red letters. At that time, this book didn't make any association with me. I should have asked her what the theme of this book was, but I foolishly told myself that Lost Horizon was just a window dressing for her. She pretended to read the book in order to keep pace with Conte's customers and mingle with them. For these guests, a pedestrian who peeks from the outside or even looks through the glass window will treat them as ordinary college students. However, once he saw these people drinking at the table of Mount Tai, Mikhail, Fred and Raoba, he would immediately change his mind. In those quiet cafes in the Latin quarter, guests may never drink so much. Of course, in those leisure moments in the afternoon, Conte may give people the illusion. However, with the arrival of night, it has become a gathering place called "the younger generation who are no longer in their prime" by sentimental philosophers. Why did you choose this coffee shop instead of another one? There is a proprietress factor here. The proprietress, Mrs. Chadli, seems to be used to everything, and even shows a certain degree of generosity to the guests.

James hilton, a representative novel of British writers, described Shangri-La in his book, which was later hailed as a paradise for everyone.

Years later, on the streets of this block, only the glass windows of luxury shops can be seen. The former site of Condai Cafe was occupied by a leather shop. One day, I met Mrs. Chadli on the ramp of Brown West Street across the Seine. She didn't recognize me at a glance. We walked side by side for a long time and chatted with Conte. Her husband was Algerian and bought real estate after the war. She remembers all our names. She often thinks about it and doesn't know how we are all doing, but she has no illusions. From the beginning, she knew that our situation would be very bad. Like some stray dogs on the street, she told me. When we parted in front of the drugstore in Blansy Square, she looked me straight in the eye and said bluntly, "Well, my favorite person at that time was Rouge the Bat."

When she went to Tarzan, Fred and Raoul's table, did she drink as much as they did, or did she pretend to drink so as not to upset them? Anyway, her upper body is straight, her movements are slow and elegant, and there is an almost imperceptible smile on her mouth. She can drink a lot, not just any drink. It is easier to cheat in bars. Your friend is already drunk. You can pour the wine in the cup into the pool when they are not looking. However, it's hard to cheat at any table in Kangdai Cafe. They will force you to drink at drunken parties. At this time, if you don't do what they say and swim with them to the end, they will be suspicious and feel that you are not qualified to stay in their circle. As for other toxic substances, although I'm not sure, I still think Rouge the Bat has been smoking with some people in the circle. But from her eyes and manner, she can't see that she is "visiting an artificial paradise", and she can't see the pleasure brought by drug abuse.

I often wonder if she heard familiar people tell her about this cafe before she first walked into Conte. Or, did someone ask her to meet in this coffee shop, but she stood her up? So, day after day, night after night, she stood at the table, hoping to see him again in this place, because it was the only landmark between her and the stranger. There is no other contact information. No address. No phone number. There is only one name. However, she may have just accidentally and unconsciously walked into this cafe, just like me. She came to this block and wanted to find a place to shelter from the rain. I have always believed that some places are like magnets. If you walk around, you will be attracted to them. You won't notice this attraction, and you didn't even expect it to happen. Just an uphill street, a sunny sidewalk or a sidewalk hidden in the shadows is enough. Or a sudden downpour. All these factors can take you there, to a definite place, where you will inevitably stop unconsciously. In my opinion, Conte has this magnetic force because of his special geographical position. If someone calculates the probability, the calculated result will certainly confirm this point: in a fairly broad area, people will inevitably deviate from the original direction and involuntarily walk towards it. I still know something about this.

There is a man named bowling in this circle, but we all call him "captain". He is desperate to do a great thing that other members agree with. He wrote down the guests who visited Comte Cafe in the past three years, as well as the date and exact moment when they came in each time. He also sent two friends to Bouguet and Rabegla to perform the same task. These two cafes are open to customers all night. Unfortunately, customers in both cafes are not willing to give their names. In the final analysis, bowling is to remember the moths that wandered around a lamp at a certain moment, so as not to be forgotten. He said that he dreamed of having a huge roster, which could record the customers' names of all cafes in Paris in the past 100 years and indicate their arrival and departure times. These things, which he called "fixed points", bothered him all the time.

Crowds of women, men, children and dogs are like surging waves. They were bustling and flowing, and finally disappeared in the long streets. In these people, we hope to remember a face from time to time. Yes, in Pauling's view, we must find some fixed points in the vortex center of the metropolis. Later, he went abroad. Before going abroad, he handed me the notebook, which recorded the names of customers in Kangdai Coffee Shop for three years. Her name in the notebook is just Rouge the Bat's nickname, and she was first mentioned on 23rd 1 month. It was extremely cold that winter, and some of us stayed indoors all day to keep out the cold. The captain also wrote down our address, so that we could imagine our routine trip to Conte. For bowling, this is another way to establish a fixed point. Her own address was not immediately recorded by him. It was not until March 18th that we read these words: "Fourteen o'clock. Rouge the Bat, District 14, Fermat Street 16. " However, on September 5 of the same year, she changed her address: "Twenty-three forty. Rouge the Bat, Zone 14, No.8 Searle Street. " I guess Pauling has been drawing our route to Conte on the map of Paris. To this end, the captain used ballpoint pens with different inks. Perhaps, he wants to know if we have a chance to meet on the road before we reach this destination.

We do have a chance to meet. I still remember that I once met Rouge the Bat in a block. I went there to visit a distant cousin of my parents, but I'm not familiar with that place. Walking out of his house, I walked towards the Mayomen subway station and met her by chance at the end of Dajun Avenue. I stared at her for a long time, and she stared at me in fear and trembling, as if I suddenly found out what she had done. I held out my hand to her and said, "We met in Conte." At that moment, I suddenly felt that this cafe was on the other side of the world. She smiled awkwardly: "It's true ... in Kangdai ..." It happened shortly after her first visit to Kangdai. She didn't know anyone else, and zaharia didn't name her "Rouge the Bat". Kant, what a strange cafe, isn't it? She nodded in agreement with me. We walked together for a while, and she told me that her family lived nearby, but she didn't like this neighborhood at all. I am really stupid. I could have found out her real name that day. Then, we parted in front of the subway entrance of Mayomen. I saw her walking towards the forest of Nai and boulogne, and her pace became slower and slower, as if to give others a chance to keep her. I thought she would never go to Kangdai again. I thought I would never hear from her in my life. She will disappear into the so-called "metropolis nobody" in bowling; Every page of that book is full of names, and he also claims to fight for it. That's a Claire Fontaine notebook with a red plastic cover of 190 pages. However, to be honest, this matter has not achieved much. If you look through this book, you know nothing about all these people, including me, except those names and temporary addresses. Maybe the "captain" thinks it is enough to record our names and "fix" us somewhere. As for the others ... in Conte, we don't ask about their origins.

We are all too young. We have nothing to disclose in the past. We live in the present. Even elderly customers like adamov, Barbie Ray or Dr. Valla never give any hints about their past. If they can stay there and stay among us, they will be satisfied. Until today, after so many days, I feel a little sorry: I could have hoped that bowling would write the guest's situation in my notebook, a famous French notebook brand with a history of 150 years.

Remember to be more precise and add a short biography to everyone. In the future, to find a clue to a person's life, does he really think that a name and an address are enough? In particular, there is only a simple name written in the notebook, and it is not a real name. "Rouge the Bat. February 12 at 23 o'clock. " "Rouge the Bat. April 28, 14 o'clock. " He also pointed out where the customers sitting around the table sat every day. Sometimes, the recorded guests are even anonymous. In June of that year, he recorded these words three times: "Rouge the Bat and the brown-haired man in the suede coat". He didn't ask the man's name. Maybe the man refused to tell him his name. On the surface, this man is not a frequent visitor in the shop. In this way, the brown-haired man in a suede coat disappeared from the streets of Paris forever. What Pauling could do was to fix his shadow for a few seconds. Moreover, the contents recorded in that notebook are somewhat inaccurate. I finally determined some time coordinates through hard work, which convinced me that her first trip to Dai Kun was not recorded as bowling, not in January. I remember seeing her long before this date. The captain only mentioned her after she was called Rouge the Bat. I guess he didn't notice her at all before that. She didn't even enjoy the right to be vaguely written down like this: "14 o'clock, a dark-haired man with blue eyes", but the dark-haired man in a suede coat enjoyed it.

She appeared in 10 of the previous year. I'm in the captain's notebook

Found a time coordinate: "10 month 15 day. 2 1 o is zaharia's birthday. His desk is surrounded by Annette, Don Carlos, Mikhail, Ba, Fred and adamov. " I remember it very clearly. She is also sitting at that table. Why didn't bowling ask her name curiously? The evidence is contradictory and fragile, but I am sure she was there that night. I am surprised that bowling turned a blind eye to her. She is shy, slow, and the smile on her face, especially the silence, are all reasons. She is standing next to adamov. Maybe she came to Conte because of him. I often meet adamov by chance near Odeon and in the poor St Julian's neighborhood further away. Every time, he puts a hand on a girl's shoulder and walks forward. He is a blind man who needs guidance. However, he seems to be observing everything with the eyes of his office dog. But every time I meet him, I seem to feel that different girls are guiding him. Or a nurse. Why not her? She just left Conte with adamov that day. I saw them walking along the quiet deserted street leading to Odeon. Adamov put a hand on her shoulder and walked mechanically. She seems worried about walking too fast, and sometimes she stops for a while, as if to give him a rest. At the intersection of Odeon, adamov solemnly grabbed her hand, and then she rushed into the subway. He once again took the gait of a sleepwalker and made a pilgrimage to Andre de El. How is she? Yes, she often goes to Conte in autumn.

This may not be a coincidence. For me, autumn is never a bleak season. Dead leaves and shorter and shorter days never remind me of anything to end. For me, it is not the end, but the expectation of the future. In Paris, in the evening of 10, when night falls, the atmosphere is tense and people tend to be impetuous. Even when it rains. At that moment, I didn't lose heart, and I didn't feel that time flies. On the contrary, I think anything is possible. A year begins in October. It was a month when the students returned to the classroom, and I believe they can make great achievements in this season. In this way, 10 she came to Kangte, because she had completely broken with her whole life, because she wanted to "reinvent herself", as described in the novel. Besides, there is another sign that I can't be wrong. In Conte, she was given a new name. On that day, zaharia even talked about the word "naming". It can be said that it gave her a second life.

As for the brown-haired man in a suede coat, unfortunately, he is not in the photo taken by Conte. Sorry, people can usually identify a person by photos. People can publish photos in newspapers to find witnesses. Is he a member of the circle? Is bowling too lazy to mention his name because you don't know him?

Last night, I carefully checked every page of my notebook. "Rouge the Bat and that?

Jetebaptise, which appeared in the last article, means "I want to name you" and "I want to baptize you".

A brown-haired man in a suede coat. "After reading it, I found that the captain did not mention this stranger in June, which greatly surprised me.

At the bottom of a page, he hurriedly wrote: "May 24th. Rouge the Bat and a brown-haired man in a suede coat. " I also found the same title, which appeared twice in April. I once asked Bowling why every time she was involved, she would draw a line under her name with a blue pencil, as if to distinguish her from others. Not him. It wasn't him. One day, he was standing in a bar, remembering the guests who appeared in the hall in his notebook. A man standing next to him suddenly saw what he was doing: this man was in his fifties and knew Dr. Valla. He spoke softly and smoked a yellow tobacco cigarette. Pauling felt that he was a trustworthy person, so he told him what was recorded in this notebook which he regarded as a "golden book". This man seems very interested. He is "Art editor". Indeed, he knows the photographer who took pictures in Conte not long ago. He proposed publishing a related photo album, which could be named "A Cafe in Paris". Can you ask him to lend him his notebook for just one day so that he can choose the title of the photo? The next day, he returned the notebook to bowling, and he hasn't appeared in Conte since. To the captain's surprise, Rouge the Bat drew a line under each name with a blue pencil. He wanted to know more, so he asked Dr. Valla something about this Art editor. Vala was surprised. "Are you? He told you he was Art editor? "

He and that man are only casual acquaintances, and often meet at La Malana and Montana Bar on St. benoit Street. In Montana, he even called him 42 1. This man has lived in this block for a long time. What's his name? In the world. Vala seems a little embarrassed to talk about this person. When Pauling hinted to him that the notebook and the column under Rouge the Bat's name were drawn in the notebook with a blue pencil, the doctor's eyes flashed a trace of anxiety. But it is fleeting. Then he smiled. "He must have taken a fancy to that little girl ... she is so beautiful ... but your idea of writing so many names in a notebook is strange enough ... you make me happy, you and your circle, and your absurd metaphysical experience ..." He confused everything, including absurd metaphysics, alphabetism, subconscious writing, super cartography, and Conte's most literary, such as bowling. "In any case, it's dangerous for you to do so," Dr. Valla went on seriously. "Your notebook is like a blacklist register in a police station or an event record in a police station. It's as if we were all arrested in a sudden arrest by the police ... "

Pauling spent a lot of time explaining his fixed-point theory to him and refuting him, but from that day on, the captain felt that Vara seemed to begin to disbelieve.

A game of dice. A doctrine that satirizes scientific ideas and works. Modern French poetry schools believe that the unit of poetry is not meaningful words, but letters.

Let him go, even trying to avoid him.