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Oct 31, 2007

John rated it:

In terms of literary achievment, I have never ever ever read any book (or, technically, four books) that surpass The Alexandria Quartet. These are my favorite books. Period.

Durrell was a master of atmosphere and voice, and if you can make it through "Justine", narrated by the story's centerpiece, the exiled Irish school teacher, Darley, you will be greatly rewarded. Darley speaks in long-winded (though often lovely) prose and is clearly self-absorbed and emotionally near-s More...

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Feb 08, 2008

Chuck rated it:

Anyone who has not read these amazing novels by Lawrence Durrell owes it to him/herself to read at least the first one, Justine, and then to decide whether to go on or not. I confess that I read all four in rapid succession when I was in college, younger and much more romantic and impressionable. I do plan, though, to go back and reread them--or at least to reread Justine, and then decide whether to continue. These are not novels about incident, but rather focus on ideas and emotion. And the emo More...

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Mar 10, 2008

Reese rated it:

There are some stories to which one should return at intervals. I got my first taste of Durrell when I was twenty or so: I'd just described my view of the Manhattan skyline at night, and my (older, better-read) paramour (who may have had ulterior motives) said, "My God, you sound just like Durrell." I dove in and these books changed me. Just as our reflections on still water bear remarkable fidelity to us but break apart when the water roils, the Quartet reveals that what we know (or t More...

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Mar 12, 2008

Chris rated it:

The word "epic" comes to mind when I think of The Alexandria Quartet. I read it several years ago when I was about 20, and I recognized then as I do now that it is largely above my head. That is not to say that it was not worth reading; I know that with each re-read I will glean more from this sweeping collection. I'm certain that everyone, no matter how well-read they are, will equally gain more from each re-read.

P.S. If only Alexandria today was the stuff of the Quartet.. More...

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Dec 06, 2011

Howard rated it:

To remain in the literary canon (whatever that is these days), a book must presumably withstand the test of time. The Alexandria Quartet hasn't, in my view. It may rate as a magnificient ruin, and it is certainly a revealing artifact of its time, but its enduring literary merits seem slight.

Durrell claimed the Quartet as a bold exploration of the many faces and meaning of love, but that proves to be the weakest element in all the books. Lots of sex and adultrous affairs and unfaithfu More...

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Nov 26, 2011

Psheryl rated it:

I've loved Durrell's "Alexandria Quartet" since I was first an undergraduate. I don't recall how I heard of it, but I had all four volumes in mass amrket paperbacks with elegantly sexy and vaguely Art Nouveau covers and sat in my rooms at university just being amazed at what Durrell could do with language--- and discovering C.P. Cavafy's poetry via Durrell.
I've re-read the Quartet three of four times since then, and every time it's a new Alexandria, a new story. Part of that is More...

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Mar 29, 2011

Jon rated it:

Looking over the Goodreads reviews of this tetralogy, I find almost everyone gave it either five stars with the note that it's the greatest work they have ever read and that it changed their lives, to one or two stars marked by utter impatience. I can identify with both. There are breathtakingly beautiful descriptions of every aspect of nature, light, desert, sea, wildlife; and repeated descriptions of the lovely, decadent, and deadly city of Alexandria. Durrell makes you feel the heat, smell th More...

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Sep 05, 2010

Sarah rated it:

"What is the object of writing?"
"To grow a personality which in the end enables a man to transcend art".
From Laurence Durrells' Alexandrian Quartet, which is a magical and powerful book, and a great tonic for artists. Of course you can substitute any creative act for writing. Writing is the most dangerous one I think because as he points out "Words kill love". This is why I have had to stop reviewing music, because I really have no time to waste talking More...

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Aug 29, 2010

KeithTalent rated it:

You could never mistake it for a happy book. The sexual provender which lies to hand is staggering in its variety and profusion. For there are more than five sexes and only Durrell seems to distinguish among them. The symbolic lovers of the free Hellenic world are replaced here by something different, something subtly androgynous, inverted upon itself. Durrell cannot rejoice in the sweet anarchy of the body - for he has outstripped the body. 'The Alexandria Quartet' is the great winepress of lov More...

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Aug 18, 2010

Russell rated it:

This is a set of four novels (Justine, Balthazar, Mountolive, and Clea) that are meant to be read together as one work. The setting is Alexandria, Egypt during the World War II years. The plot involves various European expats and native Alexandrians who weave in and out of each other's lives in a slowly evolving web of mystery, tragedy, and passion. But this novel's innovative structure is almost more important than the plot. Instead of creating a straight forward time-based narrative, Durrell o More...

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Jan 28, 2010

Roy rated it:

It is hard to imagine a novel in the English language published in the last 60 year that comes even knee high to Durrell's The Alexandria Quartet. It is at once a psychological thriller, an exploration into the human heart ("Tell me who it was who invented the human heart," Justine asks, "and show me the tree where he was hanged.") It is involving, hysterically funny, and often frightening. Though I have no patience with the so-called "occult," there are a couple of More...

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Jan 21, 2010

Jessie rated it:

I first read the Quartet almost ten years ago, while travelling in Europe. I've been thinking about them a lot lately, and the time for a re-read is near. It will be interesting to see how they hold up. Durrell's prose is fevered and lush; his Alexandria is the real protagonist of the work. Writers who can so richly and completely evoke a place with their words have always inspired me, and Durrell is no exception.

From the first few pages of Justine:

As for me I am neither happy nor

More...

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Aug 11, 2009

Sean rated it:

What is he talking about?

'But there are more than five sexes and only demotic Greek seems to distinguish among them. The sexual provender which lies to hand is staggering in its variety and profusion. You would never mistake it for a happy place. The symbolic lovers of the free Hellenic world are replaced here by something different, something subtly androgynous, inverted upon itself. The Orient cannot rejoice in the sweet anarchy of the body - for it has outstripped the body [...:] More...

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Apr 02, 2009

Keith rated it:

With its non-linear structure, sensuous prose, and cast of characters buffeted and beleaguered by love, this tetralogy is one of the masterworks of the twentieth century, and remains the finest work of literature to emerge from Alexandria.

Durrell jotted notes toward his "Alexandria novel" in the tower of the Ambron Villa, but began writing Justine, which he initially called his "Book of the Dead," in Cyprus in 1953. Soon after their arrival in Cyprus, Eve Cohen, D More...

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Oct 24, 2011

Veronica rated it:

I was somewhat taken aback by the volume of this tetralogy, but as I’ve taken on such challenges before and managed to survive, I wasn’t overly concerned…I should have been. Needless to say, I only got through the 1st of 4 and have no intention of returning to the remainders.

A new understanding came to me while I slogged through this tome. I could never understand anyone who didn’t enjoy reading and truly pitied those who struggle to get through a few pages. Reading for me is someth More...

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Jan 04, 2009

Megan rated it:

Four books, like translucent doors, overlap to make one of the richest narratives I've come across.

The first book is Justine. Our protagonist, Darley, in self-imposed exile reflects upon his years in Alexandria before the war, desperate to make sense of his love affair with a friend's wife. The love story unfolds against a stunning backdrop of the desert landscape, poetry and this gilded society of literati and diplomats.

At the beginning of the second book, he sends his More...

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Apr 04, 2011

Daryl rated it:

The first novel in this series, Justine, sets the stage for the rest of the quartet. Durrell was a poet and the language is quite beautiful and sometimes overwhelming. Unfortunately, the language makes the events hard to understand, follow, or frankly care much about. Durrell seems more interested in his writing style than in actually telling the story clearly. The second novel, Balthazar, covers the same time frame and many of the same events (though given Durrell's style, it’s hard to tell oft More...

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Jan 22, 2008

Adrienne rated it:

I have no idea what these books are about, but that's exactly the kind of books I like. The emphasis is on the beauty of every single sentence and the imagery that results, not on plot. These books are truly beautiful and would definitely choose them if I were stranded on a desert island as I could read them over a million times.

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Aug 12, 2011

Kevin rated it:

A stunning tour de force of a book which is even better than the book I remember 30 years ago when I first read it. This is without doubt a meisterwerk in the canon of western literature and one which contributes immensely to the fabric of literature as well as just being a bloody good book and a great read. Durrell uses the four book style to construct a story through layers of time and differences of view and the depth and breadth of that view are quite stunning. Justine, the first book concer More...

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Apr 17, 2009

Claire marked it as to-read

from wikipedia:
The Alexandria Quartet is a tetralogy of novels by British writer Lawrence Durrell, published between 1957 and 1960. A critical and commercial success, the books present four perspectives on a single set of events and characters in Alexandria, Egypt, before and during World War II.

As Durrell explains in his preface to Balthazar, the four novels are an exploration of relativity and the notions of continuum and subject-object relation, with modern love as the subje More...

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Oct 11, 2009

Phae rated it:

A four-book series—Justine, Mountolive, Clea and Balthazar—which revolves around characters both in power and on the peripheries of power in post-WWII Alexandria. Justine and Mountolive deal most directly with political espionage and betrayal, and various factions are unveiled from the British Consul to Israelites to Coptic Christians to Muslims. Clea and Balthazar are more about Le Beau Monde, the artists and writers who are pawns in vaster political machinations, rather than direct actors. Non More...

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Apr 09, 2009

Ariel rated it:

The Alexandria Quartet is so well-written that for me to write about Durrell's tetrology seems sacrilege; I feel as the proverbial bull in the china shop must've. But the reviews here on Goodreads--at least the ones I've read so far--don't say much about what I love about this series, so I throw my hat in the ring anyway:

The amazing thing about Durrell's masterpiece is that it comes as close to collage as I've ever seen in a novel. Narrated by a self-exiled writer living on a small More...

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Sep 04, 2010

Clint rated it:

A very uneven work. Parts are amazing, parts are just plain bad. The fourth book, Clea, feels like it was just thrown together in an effort to just get the thing over with. Then again, it's final description of the festival of al scoob is magnificent.

When I first read the Quartet I was really taken with Durrel's prose, now, not so much. The descriptions of Alexandria and it's people that are not major characters are wonderful. Worth the read just for that. That is not to say that More...

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Jul 23, 2011

Jim rated it:

My high rating may be rank nostalgia. In keeping with the old cliché, I didn't read this book when I discovered it in my callow youth – I devoured it like a gnostic eucharist. Set in Alexandria during the last days of decadent European glory, Durrell's ensemble of conflicted characters etch themselves upon the imagination. Durrell is guilty of over-writing everything; still the secret center holds. Connoisseurs may prefer his Avignon Quintet but I never made it past Monsieur. I left my heart in More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 10, 2011

Bill rated it:

The most beautifully written books I have ever read.

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 05, 2009

Joe rated it:

tetralogy of short novels taking place in egypt in the 1930s and 40s, each depicting the same events, but from a different viewpoint. incredible the shock of changing people at each new book, how well he crafts character-dependent points of view. interesting how he overlaps and portrays time periods. sensual writing style in the sense of immersing one in feelings, images and metaphors using a huge vocabulary. romantic in the sense of being full of descriptions of feelings and of characters w More...

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Nov 14, 2011

Lawrence rated it:

Lawrence Durrell reminds me of that maiden aunt, beloved by her little nieces and nephews, who never found love, but found travel instead. She would regale them with exotic tales and delight in the guileless worship of their upturned faces.

"No, dear, an Egyptian would never do that, but a Frenchmen...oh yes, a Frenchman; that is another matter entirely."

Read it when you are young, very young. Drink it in as the very mystery of life itself. Wait too long and all you More...

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Aug 04, 2011

Mark rated it:

Read Justine first as an assignment in my college Sci-Fi class. I didn't really see the sci-fi aspects... It took years to get back into Durrell though when I did - primarily through his nonfiction- I found him one of the best descriptive writers I'd come across since Tolstoy. The whole series constitutes a marvelous snapshot from several levels of a place and a time now perhaps forgotten, but in light of recent world events, maybe deserving of more scrutiny! I don't plan to part with any of t More...

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Jun 22, 2011

Miriam rated it:

Four books, totally worth rereading to catch the twists the second time around.

Justine: Dreamy, languid, a mix of senses. Alexandria the city is a character in all of the books, really vivid. The ideas fly high away sometimes, but there's also this strong sense of the material world--you can imagine the rooms and the bedside tables and how it feels to get a shave in the morning.

Balthazar: This book explodes the first one. I love the idea of the first book as a manuscri More...

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Jul 10, 2009

Robert rated it:

“The oranges were more plentiful than usual that year. They glowed in their arbors of burnished green leaf like lanterns flickering up there among the sunny woods.” These are the first two sentences in the last volume (“Clea”) of “The Alexandria Quartet.” It has to be in the top ten or top five greatest books I have ever read. I knew one day I would have to read it but I had no idea what an amazing read it would be. At first, one almost thinks that Durrell is just showing off: great sente More...

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