Justine (Penguin Ink)

Not a drama, but an existence.

This is not a book that you read on a plane or in a NYC cafe to idly waste time, and gather melodramatic tingles. Oh, there is drama-- affairs, childhood tragedies, homosexual police, etc. But, Durrell ties these stories together, and melts them into Alexandria. The city is the story as well. The whole premise of the quartet is that each book offers another dimension to the space-time continuum. Each book offers a different protagonist within the 'same' story. The only thing that stays the same is the city. And there is no 'first' book in the quartet. It was designed to be read in any order. Fantastic writing. Detailed. Similes and metaphors like you've never seen.

First book in the Alexandria Quartet

This book has a dreamy quality to it and focuses as much on the texture of the city of Alexandria, Egypt, as it does on the characters. It's supposed to be a love story, but the narrator has two lovers, Justine and Melissa, and it was never obvious to me why he is attracted to either of them. Most of the action takes place in the last fifty pages, which got me mildly revved up to read the other three books in the quartet. This novel focuses on people and setting rather than events, and perhaps I should have made notes about the characters to keep them straight. Pay particular attention to Capodistria; I didn't and have only a vague notion of his significance. The book is made more confusing by the fact that there are many long quotations, including a long passage from another book, and it's easy to lose track of who's the speaker/author. Still, I'll read the other three to complete the set. Two of them (Balthazar and Clea) are titled with names of characters from this book and could be more absorbing than Justine¿I hope.

Most Sensual, Exotic, and Poetic Novel Ever Written

The Alexandria Quartet is difficult to summarize. Durrell creates an exotic Egyptian world that is difficult to resist. Its inisghts into love, sex, and the full range of human emotions set it apart from anything else I have ever read. Its lyrical descriptions must be read to be believed. The books are told from the middle out -- the characters discover the past as they move into the future. Balthazar, the second book, covers the same time period as Justine but reinterprets the events the narrator misunderstood. The characters are strong, unusual, and utterly different, and they play off each other in interesting ways. The books are full of lines like "as Clea told me on the day Justine fled from Nessim's madness, 'Love is the strongest of drugs, but it must never be used as an anaesthetic.'" I am currently rereading Justine for the fourth time. Each time I get more out of it.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.