Justine

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a b c d e f Ezard, John (29 April 2002). "Durrell Fell Foul of Migrant Law". The Guardian . Retrieved 30 January 2007. Durrell was born in Jalandhar, British India, the eldest son of Indian-born British colonials Louisa (who was Anglo-Irish) and Lawrence Samuel Durrell, an engineer of English ancestry. [3] His first school was St. Joseph's School, North Point, Darjeeling. He had three younger siblings — two brothers and a sister — naturalist Gerald Durrell, Leslie Durrell and author Margaret Durrell.

For the majority of this book all I saw were four characters egotistically satisfying their own desires, needs and wishes. Self-centered characters using people. Sex and jealousy and self-gain. I tremendously disliked the style of writing. The adjectives that went through my head were highbrow drivel, pretentious language and convoluted philosophizing. A friend here at GR, Sandra, described it as “amoral sophistry”. I thought she hit the nail right on its head. The middle novel of the quincunx, Constance, or Solitary Practices (1981), which portrays France in the 1940s under the German occupation, was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1982. The last part induced me to raise the rating from one to two stars. In this part Lawrence Durrell switches from excessive philosophizing to a resolution to the "characters" egotistical behavior. Things actually happen; we see what these people have brought down on themselves. In fact there ARE some wonderful descriptions. Kaczvinsky, Donald P. Lawrence Durrell's Major Novels, or The Kingdom of the Imagination. Selinsgrove: Susquehanna U P, 1997. Now if I wrote I would try for a multi-dimensional effect in character, a sort of prism-sightedness. Why should not people show more than one profile at a time...a hybrid: a joint."Journals and Letters [of] Sappho Durrell". Sappho Durrell, quoted posthumously in a lengthy review of an "edited selection from the journals and letters [of Sappho Durrell] ... drawn mainly from 1979". Granta 37. 1 October 1991 . Retrieved 14 October 2020. I fail to believe that Lawrence Durrell delivers a balanced view of Alexandria, the city itself, in the 1930s. It is one-sided.

The Alexandria Quartet is a tetralogy of novels by British writer Lawrence Durrell, published between 1957 and 1960. A critical and commercial success, the first three books present three perspectives on a single set of events and characters in Alexandria, Egypt, before and during the Second World War. The fourth book is set six years later. Justine is married to Nessim, but Justine and the narrator are deeply in love. Nessim seems to know, but chooses and or pretends, for as long as he can justify it, not to know. The narrator feels terrible about the situation, is worried of what Nessim will do, but too much in love to break it off. Justine at least appears to not care at all. I don't want you to read what I wrote and get the mistaken idea that this book is actually exciting. It isn't. It's the most boring and pedantic version of hedonism that I've ever had the displeasure of reading about. I went home to Melissa. "You are in love with Justine," she said. "No," I replied. "It is much worse than that." Is narcissism a habit? Was I too strong to be loved? Was I utterly deluded? The improved toward the end, when I felt I had a better grasp of events, but that’s also when the plot finally speeds up, which may have just as much to do with it. I even have a mild interest in seeing how the early part of the book unfolded, now that I know the story – but not near enough interest to actually re-read it.Herbrechter, Stefan. Lawrence Durrell, Postmodernism and the Ethics of Alterity. Postmodern Studies 26. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1999. Each character is a facet of the Alexandrian world. Equally, each discrete section of text displays a separate facet of one of the characters. Morrison, Ray. A Smile in His Mind's Eye: A Study of the Early Works of Lawrence Durrell. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 2005. The biggest problem, however, is the theme of the book itself. Or perhaps not the theme, but the recurring elements. In brief, our protagonist cheats on his girlfriend Melissa with Justine, who is in turn cheating on her husband Nessim. So far, so standard. The difficulty comes when our unnamed protagonist and Justine spend much of their time lamenting their infidelity, but unable to help themselves. Durrell is clearly trying to make some philosophical statements about love and life, but I simply felt that the narrator and Justine were fairly shallow people that I would not much like.

a b c Lillios, Anna (2004). Lawrence Durrell and the Greek World. Susquehanna University Press. ISBN 978-1575910765 . Retrieved 26 June 2013. Hoops, Wiklef. Die Antinomie Von Theorie Und Praxis in Lawrence Durrells Alexandria Quartet: Eine Strukturuntersuchung. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1976.

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This is my ideal book; an interesting story in a fascinating locale, plenty of philosophy and poetic prose. The words Durrell used were like poetry and left me stunned. His characters are so well-developed, which maybe makes this one stand out to me a bit more than those in Anais Nin books (I do find their styles similar and I can see why Nin admired him so much). The characters seemed so real to me, one of the most interesting being Scobie: Beleaguered thus, I was nevertheless defined and realised in myself by the very quality which (of course) hurt me most: selflessness. This is what Justine loved in me - not my personality... The word "rebirth" is in the air. It is the main idea behind another important British novelist, C.P. Snow. But there is a world of difference between the two. Snow is responding from a sense of public responsibility; Durrell is testifying shyly This may shake off lazy readers, but it permits a concentration on "moments" that enables Mr. Durrell, a born lyricist, to put his best foot forward at almost every word. His people, his places are masterly. It is a long time The function or destiny of an artist's creativity, according to Durrell, is not to be wounded or defeated by everyday reality, but to complete, perfect or fulfil the potential of the experience in our imagination. He refers to the relation of experience and imagination as a "joyous compromise".