THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET
Faber & Faber – no price given,Published between 1958 to 1962
Although published over forty years ago, the Alexandria Quartet still contains much
writing of great creative interest. Laurence Durrell was a superlative wordsmith, and
his word pictures of pre-World War 11 Egypt and Alexandria are very evocative. So
too, are his fascinating cast of colourful characters.
The quartet is comprised of four parts - 'Justine', 'Balthazar', 'Mountolive' and 'Clea',
each of which can be read as a separate novel, but which together form an intricate,
interwoven and intermingled story of Egypt and the Mediterranean world just prior to
the outbreak of World War Two.
If you like literary writing - (some of it is incomprehensible, but you can easily skip
these parts) and colourful descriptions of Alexandria, the desert and an odd
Bohemenian coterie of diplomats, businessmen, spies and authors engaged in a
strange, dangerous and complicated political plot in Alexandria in the period between
1930 - 1940, you will find the quartet spellbinding.
Laurence Durrell worked in Alexandria in a junior position in the British Embassy and
got his material and local colour from personal experience. The picture he draws of
Egypt and the Levant is unforgettable, and his characters remain in the memory - a
true test of a good novelist. His use of the English language is impressive,
occasionally causing one to reach for the dictionary, but the monumental feat he has
achieved of interweaving a major story seen from four different perspectives with four
different interpretations and conclusions, is extremely skilful and has seldom been
repeated. Do try it; it will give you a taste of beautiful prose writing, extraordinary
descriptions of pre-war Alexandria and also enrich your understanding of a very
different part of the African continent.