Lawrence Durrell Books

Book by Hogarth, Paul

The time is pre World WarII and set in Provence. Features some of the characters who appeared in 'Monsieur'.

With Quinx Lawrence Durrell complets his Avignon Quintet, a quincunx of highly original novels to rival his famour Alexandria Quartet. Monsieur, Livia, Constance, Sebastian and now Quinx comprise a beautifully constructed major work, rich in invention, phsycological truth and sheer entertainment.

Humoristiske skildringer fra diplomatverdenen.

The Living Past of Greece offers an ingenious combination of chronology and topography which the reader will find he can use as a field guide, when actually visiting sites, or for more simple and solitary enjoyment from the comfort of an armchair. From Thermopylae and Olympia to the de-bunking of the Atlantis myth and the story of Thera, this book is a fresh and intimate glimpse into prehistoric Hellenic and Byzantine Greece.

With its politics, passions, corruption and vice, this quartet of novels is set in war-time Alexandria. The experimental form presents the narrative from different view points, allowing the story to unfold gradually.

The magnificent final volume of one of the most widely acclaimed fictional masterpieces of the postwar era. Few books have been awaited as eagerly as Clea, the sensuous and electrically suspenseful novel that resolves the enigmas of the Alexandria Quartet. Some years and one world war was after his bizarre liaisons with Melissa and Justine, the Irish émigré Darley becomes enmeshed with the bisexual artist Clea. That affair not only changes the lovers, it transforms the dead as well, revealing new layers of duplicity and desire, perversity and pathos in Lawrence Durrell’s masterly construction. “A massive, marvelously concrete, deeply felt statement of faith. . . . His style glows with the mineral deposits of many cultures. One of the most important works of our time has come to an end.”—The New York Times Book Review “Clea rounds out the tetralogy with grace, beauty, and stunning impact. . . . This rich, exciting fare is Durrell’s finest writing style, a manner of writing few living authors can equal. . . . A magnificent achievement.”—The Detriot News “The reader is carried along on a current of superbly accomplished prose, as flexible and colorful as that of any contemporary writer. . . . What Durrell has given us is well worth having.”—San Francisco Chronicle

From one of the last century's greatest storytellers, Lawrence Durrell, comes a sumptuous collection of essays that describe the author's unique and cherished approach to life, with its pagan enjoyments as well as its intellectual pursuits. The book contains Durrell's articles about the Mediterranean and Aegean islands he loved so much, along with passages from his letters. My books are always about living in places, Durrell wrote, not just rushing through them.

During sessions with his psychiatrist, Balthazar, their intricate love affair is cast in a radical, sinister light, illuminating a mysterious plot connected to a recent murder - but Lawrence Durrell's dazzling, kaleidoscopic storytelling means that nothing is ever as it seems ...

When a genius inventor is seduced by a mysterious firm to create a robot, technology may save him - or be his undoing ...

Lose yourself in this vivid travelogue evoking the historic Mediterranean island of Sicily by the king of travel writing and real-life family member of The Durrells in Corfu.

Lose yourself in this classic travelogue evoking the idyllic South of France by the king of travel writing and real-life family member of The Durrells in Corfu.

An omnibus edition of the five novels published by Durrell in a kaleidoscopic sequence between 1974 and 1985. The books are set mainly in Avignon and the ancient kingdom of Provence, though significant episodes in the quintet are set in the Egyptian desert, Venice, Paris, Vienna and Geneva.

A scientist discovers that his famous invention leads to a dangerous outcome Felix Charlock's scientific genius is unrivaled--and so is his very special invention. So special, in fact, that a shadowy and enigmatic international firm, called Merlin, recruits Felix and marries him into the family. He is betrothed to the erratic Merlin heiress, Benedicta, and given access to an inexhaustible fortune. Yet he longs to be free of the psychological and scientific toll the mysterious firm inflicts. The inscrutable Merlin is always one step ahead, and twists and turns ensue in this tale of sexual and moral intrigue that leaves Felix's future--and his sanity--on uncertain ground.

Lose yourself in this dazzling travelogue of the idyllic Greek Islands by the king of travel writing and real-life family member of The Durrells in Corfu. 'Incandescent.' Andre Aciman'A magician.' The Times'Invades the reader's every sense ...

Mountolive is a novel of vertiginous disclosures, in which the betrayer and the betrayed share secret alliances and an adulterous marriage turns out to be a vehicle for the explosive passions of the modern Middle East.

The decorative dustjacket adds much to this vintage hardcover. The jacket shows wear along the edges from shelving. Book is like new inside, free of markings, bright and clean. NEVER a library book, NOT priceclipped, Not a worthless book of the month club edition./lh

In his hugely popular Prospero's Cell, Lawrence Durrell brought Corfu to life, attracting tens of thousands of visitors to the island. With Reflections on a Marine Venus, he turns to Rhodes: ranging over its past and present, touching with wit and insights on the history and myth which the landscape embodies, and presenting some real and some imagined. With the same wit, tenderness and poetic insight that characterized Prospero's Cell, Reflections on a Marine Venus is an excellent introduction the Eastern Mediterranean. 'How pleasant . . . to meet Mr Durrell, gloating over his enjoyment of a Greek island! . . . He excites a longing to leave for Rhodes at once.' Raymond Mortimer

A guide to the landscape and manners of the island of Corfu.'One of Lawrence Durrell's best books - indeed, in its gem-like miniature quality, among the best books ever written.' Freya Stark'This charming idyll depicts the country life and cosmopolitan society of Corfu in the years immediately before the war . . . The matter of it is as sound as the story is delightful.' Sunday Times'Corfu, that Ionian island whose idyllic yet blood-stained history goes back the best part of a thousand years, could not have found a fitter chronicler than Mr Durrell. For he is a poet, with all a poet's sensibility, and a humanist to boot, with a keen eye for character and a scholar's reverence for antiquity.' Daily Telegraph

Lose yourself in bestselling author Lawrence Durrell's sublime novel about a group of English tourists trapped in the minotaur's labyrinth on Crete ...

In the first book of Durrell's Alexandria Quartet, the story of the mysterious and charismatic Justine is told by her lover, an impoverished Irish teacher who has sought refuge across the Mediterranean in Greece. It is a love story, but the real heroine of the book is its setting: the city of Alexandria, with a sky of 'hot nude pearl' and a thousand streets below, crowded, sensual and exotic; a complex and heady mix of elegance and poverty.

This is a definitive edition of the collected poems of the author of 'The Alexandria Quartet' and 'The Avignon Quintet'. The volume is charged with Durrell's response to the 'spirit of place', which is one of his exceptional gifts as a writer.

A quest for meaning in a world gone mad - the fourth novel in The Avignon Quintet. At the end of World War II Sebastian, an Egyptian banker who has been living in Geneva, is chosen for a ritual death by a secret gnostic clan based in Alexandria. His autistic son is being treated by Constance, a brilliant psychoanalyst and Sebastian's former lover. Constance's attempt to reshape her life and Sebastian's quest for a death already ordained are at the center of a complex, thought-provoking story. Etched in clean prose, erotic and suspenscful, this novel probes the dark recesses of the human mind and spirit and considers the possibilities for renewal. Lawrence Durrell calls The Avignon Quintet a quincunx of novels (four items hidden in a square, with a fifth in the center). They are dependent on one another as echoes might be... books roped together like climbers on a rockface, but independent. Worth reading for the suspenscful story, the originality of plot and the unique vision of life that is Lawrence Durrell's.

'He writes as an artist, as well as a poet; he remembers colour and landscape and the nuances of peasant conversation. Eschewing politics, it says more about them than all our leading articles. In describing a political tragedy it often has great poetic beauty.'

Will a desperate scientist’s mastery of technology save him—or be his undoing? The ominous and compelling sequel to Durrell’s Tunc finds gifted inventor Felix Charlock called upon by the sinister international firm, Merlin, to apply his scientific prowess to a seemingly impossible project. He must literally reinvent his lost lover, Iolanthe, in the form of a living, breathing replica. Merlin’s dark project leads Felix on a fantastic undertaking. In recreating his former love, Felix knows that he will either find what he had thought lost, or the technology—his very life’s blood—will be the end of him.

Lose yourself in this classic 1950s Cold War spy thriller tracking a British secret agent in Communist Serbia by the celebrated author of The Alexandria Quartet. 'A spell-binder ...

Described as 'the most exhilarating surge of language, style, and sordid English manners,' this novel presents a wild, passionate, and flamboyant extravaganza. It follows the story of Death Gregory, who vanishes, leaving behind his diaries in a seedy London hotel. These diaries, discovered by Lawrence Lucifer, reveal a group of intellectuals immersed in a life of debauchery, grappling with loves, lusts, and a relentless quest for innovation. Their indulgence in both physical and mental appetites leads them deeper into darkness. Written at just 24, the author characterized this controversial third novel as 'a two-fisted attack on literature by an angry young man of the thirties,' marking the emergence of his unique voice. First published in Paris in 1938, it faced a near four-decade ban in Britain due to its 'obscenity,' influenced by Henry Miller. Vivid and surreal, the narrative delves into the depths of the human soul, establishing the author as a pioneering stylist. Critics have praised the work for its 'Stygian prose' and 'verbal brilliance,' noting its lavish display of language and its potential to inspire hope for the future of prose fiction. This major work showcases the author's showy brilliance and remains a brilliantly strange and astonishing read.

Durrell’s remarkable memoir of his spiritual journey with famed Taoist philosopher Jolan Chang Beginning with their first meeting over lunch at Lawrence Durrell’s Provencal home, Durrell and Jolan Chang—renowned Taoist philosopher and expert on Eastern sexuality—developed an enduring relationship based on mutual spiritual exploration. Durrell’s autobiographical rumination on their friendship and on Taoism recounts the author’s existential ponderings, starting with his introduction to the mystical and enigmatic “smile in the mind’s eye.” From parsimony, cooking, and yoga to poetry, Petrarch, and Nietzche, A Smile in the Mind’s Eye is a charming tale of a writer’s spiritual and philosophical awakening.

Pełne namiętności, nasycone egzotyką i emocjami fascynujące zwieńczenie jednego z najwybitniejszych cykli w literaturze XX wieku to legendarne dzieło Lawrence'a Durrella, składające się z czterech powieści: Justyna, Balthazar, Mountolive i Clea. Trzy pierwsze tomy, dzięki barwnej fabule i wyrazistym postaciom, kreują hipnotyzującą wizję Orientu, w której toczy się pełna perwersji i namiętności gra między bohaterami. Finałowy tom, zmysłowa i trzymająca w napięciu Clea, stara się rozwiązać niektóre zagadki cyklu i dopowiedzieć losy postaci. Od wydarzeń opisanych w poprzednich tomach upłynęło kilka lat, a na śródziemnomorski Bliski Wschód dotarła II wojna światowa. Irlandczyk Darley, po niezwykłych relacjach z Melissą i Justyną, wraca do Egiptu i angażuje się w romans z namiętną malarką Cleą. Ten związek nie tylko zmienia kochanków, ale także wprowadza nowe warstwy dwulicowości i pożądania w mistycznym świecie zmarłych, w magicznej atmosferze Aleksandrii. „Wspaniałe, cudownie konkretne i głęboko duchowe wyznanie wiary... Styl Durrella jaśnieje złożami minerałów wielu kultur. Jedno z najważniejszych dzieł naszych czasów dobiegło końca”.

Das „Alexandria-Quartett“ ist vielen ein Begriff und auch andere Romane von Lawrence Durrell sind in deutscher Sprache bekannt geworden. Doch niemals zuvor wurden seine Gedichte ins Deutsche übersetzt. Dieser Gedichteband ist eine Sammlung des Autors Peter Porter. Seine Leidenschaft für Lawrence Durrells Poesie hat ihn all seine Werke lesen lassen, um daraus eine Auswahl zusammenzustellen für dieses Buch. Nun erscheint es zum ersten Mal in deutscher Sprache. Übersetzt von dem Verleger und Autor Burkhard P. Bierschenck, der Lawrence Durrell in seinem französischen Landhaus persönlich getroffen hat. Die Auswahl der Gedichte ist eine Essenz der gesamten Bandbreite veröffentlichter Poesie von Lawrence Durrell. Sie reicht von „A Private Country“ (1943) bis „Vega“ (1973). In seiner Einleitung plädiert Porter für „A Private Country“ als eine der erfolgreichsten Debütsammlungen des 20. Jahrhunderts. Er lieferte damals eine außerordentliche Neubewertung der poetischen Texte von Lawrence Durrell.

Eine Liebeserklärung des berühmten englischen Dichters an die Sonneninsel Rhodos. Seien begeisternden Schilderungen dieser wilden und heiteren, zugleich antiken und heutigen Welt mit ihren Fischern, Bauern und Händlern, Mönchen, Moslems und Heiligen wecken Sehnsucht und Reiselust.

My Family and Other Animals is the bewitching account of a rare and magical childhood on the island of Corfu by treasured British conservationist Gerald Durrell. Escaping the ills of the British climate, the Durrell family - acne-ridden Margo, gun-toting Leslie, bookworm Lawrence and budding naturalist Gerry, along with their long-suffering mother and Roger the dog - take off for the island of Corfu. But the Durrells find that, reluctantly, they must share their various villas with a menagerie of local fauna - among them scorpions, geckos, toads, bats and butterflies. Recounted with immense humour and charm My Family and Other Animals is a wonderful account of a rare, magical childhood. 'Durrell has an uncanny knack of discovering human as well as animal eccentricities' Sunday Telegraph 'A bewitching book' Sunday Times

Die Bäcker stellen Schilder in die Schaufenster: Heute kein Brot. Panzer zermalmen alle Fahrräder, damit Nachrichten nur im Fußgängertempo an die Résistance gelangen können. Der Krieg ist über Avignon hereingebrochen – aber der geheimnisvolle Zauber der alten Papststadt triumphiert über Haß und Grausamkeit. Constance, die Herrin des Schlosses Tu Duc, steht ein letztes Mal im Mittelpunkt abenteuerlicher und geheimnisvoller Ereignisse.

Lawrence Durrell a toujours été fasciné par le taoïsme, une philosophie mêlant sagesse et règles de vie. Il y voit une esthétique universelle, où le yin et le yang alternent dans un mouvement global des processus naturels, une vision qu'il considère comme poésie. Le taoïsme unit les deux parties de cet ouvrage, où des souvenirs s'entrelacent avec une interrogation philosophique. Deux rencontres marquantes symbolisent pour lui le Tao et en révèlent le sens profond. Avec Jolan Chang, un érudit chinois à l'apparence juvénile, Durrell découvre la magie du taoïsme, ce "point d'équilibre" idéal où l'homme s'inscrit dans le cosmos. Il explore un amour transcendant, loin du narcissisme occidental. Son autre guide, Véga, avec son regard tantrique, l'accompagne dans une quête de Nietzsche et Lou Andrés-Salomé sur les rives du lac Majeur. Ce récit de souvenirs et de réflexions est ponctué d'étonnantes notations, oscillant entre humour débridé et poésie intime. À travers le sourire du Tao, Durrell nous invite à un monde de gaieté, de légèreté, d'émotion et de réflexion, le tout servi par un style superbement élaboré, aux effets incantatoires et envoûtants.

A penniless and as yet unpublished writer, Henry Miller arrived in Paris in 1930. Leaving behind a disintegrating marriage and an unhappy career in America, he threw himself into the low-life of Bohemian Paris with unwavering gusto.

Laurence Durrell, Dichter und Freund der mediterranen Welt, entführt den Leser auf eine Rundreise um die Insel Sizilien, das berühmte "Sizilianische Karussell". Aber nur vordergründig geht es dem Autor um die Schilderung amüsant-schrulliger Erlebnisse mit seiner sehr gemischten Reisegruppe. Sein eigentliches Thema ist eine kulturhistorische Zusammenschau all dessen, was Griechen, Römer, Araber, Normannen, Spanier und Österreicher im Laufe der wechselvollen Geschichte dieser Insel an prägenden Zeugnissen hinterlassen haben.

Velkolepá freska života v předválečné Alexandrii. Ústředním tématem je konvencemi nespoutaná láska. Tetralogii začal Durrell psát za svého pobytu v Alexandrii za 2. světové války. Alexandrijský kvartet je sebereflexivním dílem, které v sobě obsahuje ucelenou estetiku románu. Ten nepostupuje lineárně chronologicky, ale cyklicky. Obraz Alexandrie a jejích obyvatel autor láme a tříští do různých odrazových ploch „heraldického světa“. Termínem heraldický svět myslí Durrell obrazové vidění. – Justina: 1. román, jeho název je podle románu markýze de Sade Justine. Justina nemá daleko k bohyni. – Balthazar: 2. román, prorok. – Mountolive: 3. román nazvaný podle hlavní postavy. – Clea: 4. román posouvá příběh v čase. Celková kompozice tetralogie je navíc komplikována tím, že zatímco první, druhý a čtvrtý díl vypráví spisovatel Darley, který je účastníkem děje, třetí díl je vyprávěn ve třetí osobě a nejvíc se blíží objektivnímu vyprávění.

Gnostický román odehrávající se v kraji Provence, je příběhem hledání ztraceného zlatého pokladu rytířského řádu templářů, které se stává obecnějším hledáním smyslu života, smrti a moudrosti. Kniha je zároveň zasvěceným úvodem do gnosticismu, filozofie, která vychází z toho, že pánem tohoto světa je zlo, ale přesto nerezignuje na hledání univerzálního ducha světla, byť by měl být za hranicí tohoto života. Gnostická představa hmoty jako zlého démona, souvisejícího s touhou vlastnit a ovládat je v dnešní době obzvlášť inspirativní. Lawrence Durrell je pokládán za předchůdce magického realismu. Byl posedlý tématem šílenství, lásky a především smrtí, mystériem smrti.

„Je to rozšířená moralita, ale stylisticky nekomplikovaná, psaná na způsob detektivky.“ Takto charakterizoval autor román v dopise svému americkému příteli Henry Millerovi. Příběh, jehož děj se odehrává na poválečné prázdninové cestě skupiny britských turistů, plavících se parníkem po východním Středomoří, spojuje tajuplnou krásu starořeckého mýtu o Minotaurovi s reálnou skutečností několika turistů, uvězněných nedobrovolně v jedné z podzemních chodeb krétského labyrintu. Autor zde na pozadí středomořské přírody a historických památek a také na pozadí filosofických a etických úvah z poválečné Evropy načrtává zdařilé psychologické portréty jednotlivých postav.