Durrell tells his story through the eyes of four different characters within it: Justine; Balthazar; Mountolive and Clea. Each section covers the same events and the whole unravels bit by bit as one's perspective changes.
I first read it when I was in my late teens and was gripped by ... Read review
Durrell tells his story through the eyes of four different characters within it: Justine; Balthazar; Mountolive and Clea. Each section covers the same events and the whole unravels bit by bit as one's perspective changes.
I first read it when I was in my late teens and was gripped by it then. I revisited it recently - 35 years on - and found myself caught up again in the heat of Alexandria and the depth of the passions and events ... more
Durrell tells his story through the eyes of four different characters within it: Justine; Balthazar; Mountolive and Clea. Each section covers the same events and the whole unravels bit by bit as one's perspective changes.
I first read it when I was in my late teens and was gripped by it then. I revisited it recently - 35 years on - and found myself caught up again in the heat of Alexandria and the depth of the passions and events described.
Although it isn't a who-dunnit, it is the type of book which one doesn't want to put down and there is a strong compulsion to read on and to see what is happening to the people one has become so involved with. And to finish it is a sad parting.
Advantages: An enchanting and very funny story of an idyllic childhood. Disadvantages: None unless you read it in a public place as it is laugh out loud funny!!
born in in 1925 in Jamshedpur, India, the youngest of four children and it was alleged that he said "zoo" as his first intelligible word. Gerry's eldest brother by 13 years was the author LawrenceDurrell, who later became famous for his series of novels The AlexandriaQuartet. His other brother Leslie was eight years older and his sister Margot was five years older than him.
The book starts with 'The Migration' where we first meet the delightfully eccentric, and quintessentially English "family" of the title the Durrell family: Mother, Larry, Leslie, Margo, Gerry and Roger the dog on a wet and windy August day in Bournmouth as they were all suffering from the effects of the British weather :
"Considered as a group my family was not a very prepossessing sight that afternoon, for the weather had brought with it the usual selection ...
of telling the story in an hitherto unheard way. The idea of presenting a chain of events not from a detached third person narrator’s viewpoint or from the viewpoint of one character, but from the viewpoint of each person involved, is not Barnes’ invention. LawrenceDurrel (sometimes written DureLL) wrote The AlexandriaQuartet, four books with the titles Justine, Balthazar, Mountolive and Clea in the years 1957 - 1960, a description from different viewpoints of a series of events in Alexandria, Egypt, before WW II. (Btw, do you know that The AlexandriaQuartet is among the 100 best English language novels of the century, as chosen by the editorial board of the Modern Library?)
But the way Barnes presents his characters’ point of view is indeed original, he makes them address the reader directly. I found that quite puzzling ...
Product Information for "The Alexandria Quartet - Lawrence Durrell" »
Product details
Type
Fiction
Genre
Modern Fiction
Title
The Alexandria Quartet
Author
Lawrence Durrell
ISBN
0140153179; 0571086098; 057122556X
Manufacturer's product description
With its politics, passions, corruption and vice, this quartet of novels is set in war-time Alexandria. The experimental form presents the narrative from different view points, allowing the story to unfold gradually.
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