About this title: Durrell's monumental four-novel exploration of love, character, friendship, and death includes JUSTINE, CLEA, BALTHAZAR, and MOUNTOLIVE. Published between 1957 and 1960, the quartet, which follows the romantic and political fortunes of a group of friends in Egypt, was an international success, and marked Durrell as an important writer.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: [1st ed. ]
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Dutton, New York
Date Published: 1960
Description: Good. 287 p. This is the fourth volume of a group of novels intended to be judged as a single work. It is the sequel to Mountolive. Together the four novels constitute the Alexandria quartet. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Dutton, New York
Date Published: 1961
Description: Fair. No dust jacket as issued. Paperback. Covers lightly worn, dulled, over-all, two-inch tear from bottom of front cover-hinge. Lightly 'tanned'. NO stains, tears, writing. Paperback, 287 pp, 19 cm. read more
Edition: First Printing
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Pocket, New York
Date Published: 1961
Description: Very Good. No Jacket. 16mo-over 5¾"-6¾" tall. Makr on bottom page edge. Some scuffing to spine. Light shelf wear. Solid copy with clean pages. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Pocket Books, New York
Date Published: 1961
Description: Good. No Jacket. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. Good copy with some general wea. some very light edge and corner rubbing. pages clean and unmarked. good copy! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Cardinal
Date Published: 1961
Description: Good in Unknown jacket. Good to Very Good Tight spine, some cover and edge wear and no markings. "The final volume of Lawrence Durrell's investigation of modern love. " Fiction. (#11053) read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Dutton, New York
Date Published: 1961
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Used; shelf wear, edge wear, pages clean and unmarked. 287 p. This is the fourth volume of a group of novels intended to be judged as a single work. It is the sequel to Mountolive. Together the four novels constitute the Alexandria quartet. read more
"The 4th volume of the Alexandria Quartet. I should have read these texts closer together -- more like a single novel. This final volume pulls a lot of the information together from the first volume and I unfortunately had only a general recollection of some of the characters and events. Even so, the Durrell prose is so beautiful it stands by itself. As I previously suggested, this would make an interesting thesis for grad school and I would enjoy reading it."
"Some heavy going in parts of this last volume of the Alexandria Quartet, but reading the four volumes has been a treat. Begin with the first volume, not with Clea. The language and evocation of Alexandria are wonderful. What an extraordinary gallery of characters. The themes are complex and elusive. Love comes in myriad forms. All is relative. Seeking truth is lke stepping into quicksand."
"Clea Clea is the denouement for the series the Alexandria Quartet Finished the book Sunday, April 19, 2009. The lives of Justine, Nessim, Narouz, Pursewarden, Melissa have all unraveled or ended. Pursewarden and Melissa are already dead. The first two books of the Alexandria Quartet were the foreplay, lovemaking and orgasm, these last two books; Mountolive and Clea are the climax, then the limp, flaccid state in which one reflects. By this time WWII is raging and the remaining characters are either rendered powerless or spent. Clea is the dream sequence. One of deflated egos and broken dreams. As in Justine the series begins and ends with the protagonist Darley, the Irish ex-patriot. Clea and Darley seem to be haunted by the ghosts of Pursewarden and Melissa; of course Darley has been caring for Melissa's baby by Nessim, the little girl named Justine for several years before his return to Alexandria. Upon Darley's return to Alexandria he tries to step back into a memory like in a painting or a photograph but is hit by reality much like Mountolive was when he met up with Leila. The lovemaking between Darley and Clea is a fractured and delicate sex made a little pathetic by the advance of WWII. Theirs is a lovemaking made comfortable like a soft old sofa that you sink into upon sitting. A subdued passion if you will. One caveat, the author, Mr. Durrell should leave the character of Pursewarden dead and stop resurrecting him. Pursewarden dies back in the second book of the series Balthazar but he keeps reappearing in subsequent books. The chapter in Clea, "My conversations with Brother Ass" could have been left out. It contributes nothing to the book. It is merely the sarcastic ramblings of an oversexed pervert who lacks creativity and imagination. I find Pursewarden to be an empty, arrogant individual who takes away from rather than adds to the Quartet.
The book ended on a good note with the love affair between Darley and Clea also for Nessim and Justine. Not really a "happy ending" but there is resolution between those two characters. However I am glad that Mr. Durrell did not continue the series. He would have belabored the points and overextended the reach of the characters."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
