SOURCE: “A Short Story of Marguerite Duras,” in South Atlantic Bulletin, Vol. XXXIV, No. 4, November, 1969, pp. 22-4.

In the following essay, Cismaru analyzes Des journées entières dans les arbres, praising Duras's realistic depiction of “the world of the dispossessed.”

The year 1954 saw the publication of Marguerite Duras' Des journées entières dans les arbres, her only collection of short stories to date. The book contains four titles: “Des Journées entières dans arbres,” “Le Boa,” “Madame Dodin” and “Les Chantiers.” “Des Journées” has attracted a considerable amount of attention, especially in its play version of 1966 under the adept direction of Jean-Louis Barrault and benefiting from the experienced play-acting of Madeleine Renaud. All four titles, however, are good examples of almost plotless compositions pursuing the vein of the New Novel through repetitions, anonymity of characters, and infrequency of incidental detail. Yet, the author does...