Highsmith: I'm a struggling swimmer in a flood and writing in search of a rock to settle on

The Highsmith Diaries and Notes: 1941-1995 is a difficult work by Pat to define.

Although the book's editor, Anna von Planta, repeatedly reiterates in the book that this is not Highsmith's autobiography. But we can see that the book shows a biography on many levels.

In her diaries and notes, Highsmith talks eloquently, about writing, about the world, about herself, and does not shy away from dissecting her private life in front of the reader.

When Planta edited these texts, the diaries and notes for each period were preceded by a brief account of Patricia's history of the period.

All of this gives the book the character of a biography and a chronology.

But we must not be naïve enough to think that with the help of Pat's own words, we can see a real Pat.

Planta, the book's editor and editor of Pat, put it this way: the person we read about in our diaries and notes is not necessarily the "real" Pat, but more likely what she thinks she is, or what she wants to be. Whether it is herself or the characters who appear in it, the process of remembering is also a process of interpretation.

Based on the above position, the value of "Highsmith Diary and Notes" is obvious, it is not Pat's autobiography, but it allows readers to see how Patricia Highsmith became Patricia Highsmith.

Given that Highsmith writes so many blushing and heart-pounding details of his private life in the book, it may make the reader feel awkward to peek into other people's lives.

But there is no need to be awkward, firstly, the diary and notes of this book have been properly edited by Planta and others; Second, Pat himself may not have felt that the reader was offended by reading these words. Even, Pat had anticipated the publication of these diaries and notes, and would therefore speak to future readers in the diaries.

Rather than just talking about it, let's take a look at Pater's diary entry dated May 24, 1941: Schulberg (or Thomas Wolff) wrote that a man writes in a diary because he is afraid to make what he writes public. That's how I am. Either way, I like to document my progress and regression.

The second half of the sentence is about the truth, but in the first half of the sentence, Pat is a little duplicitous.

In fact, Pat was not afraid of her diary being made public. For in a diary later written on September 12, 1945, Pat called out directly to her future readers:

Attention future readers! These diaries should be read at the same time as my notes, so that there is no impression that I am only writing about trivial matters.

A similar text appeared in Pat's diary on January 17, 1970: "After my death, if anyone looked through this notebook, it would be too boring, too trivial."

Admittedly, "The Highsmith Diaries and Notes" does record too many trivia, but this just proves that Pat is real and vivid.

What's more, in these trivia, we can see a Pat in writing.

In a note written on June 21, 1941, Pat has a brilliant remark about her own writing: I am a swimmer struggling in a flood and seeking a rock to settle on through writing.

As the title suggests, the book consists of two parts, one diary and one notes. But the editor, Planta, tells the reader at the beginning that the boundaries between the two parts are sometimes not clear, and even Pat can't tell them apart.

Overall, Pat's diary describes her personal experiences that were sometimes nervous, sometimes happy, and sometimes painful; Notes help her process these experiences rationally and conceive her own writing.

Planta's summary of these two parts in the book is impressive: Pat writes down every detail of her life, love, and loss in a diary, and notes her philosophical observations and insights into her creative work in a notebook, which complement each other.

As mentioned above, The Highsmith Diaries and Notes is preceded by a brief overview of Pat's life and work before the diaries and notes of each period, with the help of which we can understand Pat's life and work in more detail.

As a writer, Pat was fortunate to have published his first novel, "Stranger on the Train", which was adapted into a film by the great director Alfred Hitchcock, and Pat became famous in one fell swoop.

This was Pat's 30th birthday, and he had just entered the 1950s, and in the next decade, Pat would make more progress in his work. Her famous lesbian novel, Carol, was also published during this period, followed by another famous series, The Genius Ripley.

The Highsmith Diaries and Notes also talks about the story behind the publication of Carol.

This is Pat's second novel, and Pat wrote the story at a time when the United States was in the midst of the chaos of the "McCarthy era," when the persecution campaign against homosexuals, the so-called "lavender scare," was commonplace, and suspicions of homosexuality were as serious as suspicions of being Communists.

Based on the above background, Patricia took the advice of her agent and published Carol under the pseudonym "Claire Morgan", originally titled "The Price of Salt".

It wasn't until forty years later, in 1990, that Pat ventured to republish the work under his real name and renamed it Carol.

In addition to Carroll, The Highsmith Diaries and Notes also details Pat's inspiration for the Ripley series, which enriches the literary value of the book.

The Highsmith Diaries and Notes show the reader not only a writer Highsmith, but also an avid reader Highsmith.

This book is a detailed account of Pat's vast readership, and we can summarize a very heavy list of Highsmith's books.

Pat has several recurring references in his diary, including Dostoevsky, Julian Greene, Shakespeare, and Thomas Wolfe, among others. She repeatedly praised their creations and the influence they had on her.

Pat not only reads the great works that are recognized by the world, but also discovers some relatively unknown writers. For example, in her diary on April 16, 1941, she mentioned that she had read James Blanche Campbell's "The Essence of Jokes," and then she said that it was important to know both well-known and unknown writers: everyone has their own value.

In a note dated January 30, 1947, Pat also mentions that she prefers to read science books to novels when writing an unusual story.

Patricia's extensive reading is the same as that of many other writers, who, as Susan Sontag said, are people who are interested in everything.

In keeping track of her book list, Pat also recorded in her diary the days of the death of many writers, such as Woolf, Joyce, Gide, Faulkner, and Graham. ）

When Woolf died, Pat wrote down in her diary a reflection that she believed was due to her inability to reconcile art with human slaughter.

Pat hit the nail on the head when he pointed out that murder is a human act, or rather, an occasional human trait, and that some of us have a desire to murder.

It is not difficult for us to see from Pat's writings her criticism and disappointment with the world.

In a note written on another day (August 2, 1942), she said, "Why can't I write about the peach blossoms on human faces, the meeting of lovers, the beauty of the veil, and the taste of home?" Because the world has become a miasma, the old way does not point to the future.

We will read similar texts again and again, and we can see that Pat is not only a writer who cares about herself, but also about the world around us.

All of us are overboard in this torrent world, and Pat uses writing to find a stone to settle on, and we, the readers, may be able to find a stone to settle on in Pat's writing.