![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() I don't think this quartet is read very much anymore, and I can understand why. One could make the argument that one might react to Joyce's "Ulysses" in a similar fashion, and that if I knew more about the history of the book, et cetera, I might appreciate it more, but I dont think so. Some seem to think these books have important things to say about romance and relationships, but I have no clue what those things might be.ĭurrell seemed to want to conjure up a world of cafe intellectuals in an exotic Mediterranean locale, experiencing passion and the life of the mind, but all I got out of it was a few hours reading dense, unappetizing, and dated prose. He discussed his womanizing friends and their relationships, and the weird women that they got involved with. The main character chattered on about his life in Alexandria, Egypt in, I dont know, the 1940s or 1950s, maybe. The writing was as pretentious as can be - a kind of cynical, Gallic romanticism was being presented that seemed completely out of date and not at all engaging. I got thru about 50 pages, but it was an uncomfortable and unrewarding slog. This is considered his masterpiece, so I took the book with me on vacation, expecting great things. I have read some of Durrell's travel writing, and I found that very poetic and engaging. ![]()
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