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Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990)

Author of Justine

125+ Works 16,890 Members 289 Reviews 85 Favorited

About the Author

Lawrence Durrell was born on February 27, 1912 in Jullundur, India to British parents. During World War II, he served as a British press officer. His first novel, Pied Piper of Lovers, was published in 1935, but was considered a failure. Some of his other works include The Black Book, The show more Alexandria Quartet, The Avignon Quintet, and Caesar's Vast Ghost: A Portrait of Provence. Bitter Lemons won the Duff Cooper Prize in 1959. He died on November 7, 1990 at the age of 78. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: The Freedom of Poetry, Derek Stanford Falcon Press, 1947

Series

Works by Lawrence Durrell

Justine (1957) 2,741 copies
The Alexandria Quartet (1957) 2,116 copies
Balthazar (1958) 1,563 copies
Mountolive (1958) 1,490 copies
Clea (1960) 1,488 copies
Bitter Lemons (1957) 886 copies
The Black Book (1938) 528 copies
Prospero's Cell (1945) 413 copies
The Dark Labyrinth (1947) 405 copies
The Greek Islands (1978) 346 copies
Tunc (1968) 335 copies
Nunquam (1970) 274 copies
The Avignon Quintet (1974) 263 copies
Livia, or Buried Alive (1978) 205 copies
Sicilian Carousel (1977) 197 copies
Esprit de Corps (1957) 189 copies
White Eagles Over Serbia (1957) 185 copies
Provence (1990) 179 copies
Sebastian, or Ruling Passion (1983) 159 copies
Antrobus Complete (1985) 144 copies
Quinx, or The Ripper's Tale (1985) 131 copies
Stiff Upper Lip (1958) 100 copies
Collected Poems, 1931-74 (1960) 87 copies
Sauve Qui Peut (1966) 86 copies
A Smile in the Mind's Eye (1980) 80 copies
Blue thirst (1975) 50 copies
Sappho: A Play in Verse (1950) 39 copies
Judith: A Novel (1962) 38 copies
The Revolt of Aphrodite (1974) 37 copies
Selected Poems (1956) 36 copies
Collected Poems (1960) 33 copies
Travelers' Tales GREECE : True Stories (2000) — Contributor — 31 copies
The Vampire: An Anthology (1963) — Contributor — 28 copies
Selected Poems 1935-1963 (1964) 27 copies
Mountolive ; Clea (1986) 19 copies
An Irish Faustus (1963) 19 copies
Selected Poems (2006) 17 copies
Brassaï (1968) — Introduction; Introduction — 16 copies
The ikons, and other poems (1777) 16 copies
The Plant Magic Man (1973) 16 copies
Acte (1964) 13 copies
Trilogía mediterránea (2012) 11 copies
On Seeming to Presume (1948) 7 copies
Vega and Other Poems (1973) 7 copies
Down the Styx. (1971) 6 copies
Poemas Escogidos (1983) 4 copies
A Private Country (1943) 4 copies
Henri Michaux (1990) 4 copies
Vega 2 copies
JUSTINE-MOUNTOLIVE-CLEA (1995) 2 copies
I.A. 2 copies
Beccafico (1963) 2 copies
Nothing is lost, sweet self — Poem — 2 copies
Karanlik Labirent (2014) 1 copy
בלשאצר 1 copy
Lifelines : four poems (1974) 1 copy
Case History 1 copy
Carnival 1 copy
Poemas 1 copy
Ten poems 1 copy
Frying The Flag (1957) 1 copy

Associated Works

Lady Chatterley's Lover (1960) — Preface, some editions — 13,557 copies
The Colossus of Maroussi (1941) — Appendix, some editions — 1,235 copies
The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry (1999) — Contributor — 593 copies
The Assassin's Cloak: An Anthology of the World's Greatest Diarists (2000) — Contributor, some editions — 550 copies
A Pocket Book of Modern Verse (1954) — Contributor, some editions — 443 copies
Pope Joan (1866) — Translator, some editions — 363 copies
The Olympia Reader (1965) — Contributor — 279 copies
The Penguin Book of Contemporary Verse (1950) — Contributor, some editions — 264 copies
The Gnostics (1977) — Foreword, some editions — 178 copies
British Poetry Since 1945 (1970) — Contributor, some editions — 166 copies
Brassai : Paris By Night (1987) 135 copies
The Norton Book of Travel (1987) — Contributor — 110 copies
7th Annual Edition: The Year's Best S-F (1962) — Contributor — 90 copies
Great Spy Stories From Fiction (1969) — Contributor, some editions — 75 copies
Forbidden Journey: The Life of Alexandra David-Neel (1987) — Foreword — 63 copies
The Lucifer Society (1971) — Contributor — 41 copies
Travelers' Tales PROVENCE : True Stories (2003) — Contributor — 29 copies
A Dream in the Luxembourg (1930) — Preface, some editions — 18 copies
Christ and Freud: A Study of Religious Experience and Observance (1959) — Preface, some editions — 17 copies
The Best of Henry Miller (1960) — Editor, some editions — 8 copies
Bill Brandt: Perspective of Nudes (1961) — Preface — 7 copies
Stroker anthology, 1974-1994 (1994) — Contributor — 7 copies
Justine [1969 film] (1969) — Original book — 6 copies
Shakespeare (1964) — Contributor — 5 copies
海 1969年06月 発刊記念号 — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

1001 books (108) 20th century (604) adultery (114) Alexandria (238) Alexandria Quartet (211) anthology (337) biography (113) British (419) British fiction (114) British literature (446) classic (463) classics (450) Cyprus (135) diary (132) Egypt (473) England (262) English (265) English fiction (129) English literature (631) erotica (241) fiction (4,061) Folio Society (154) Greece (412) history (129) humor (122) Lawrence Durrell (148) literature (964) love (119) memoir (172) non-fiction (249) novel (981) Novela (131) poetry (714) read (229) Roman (199) romance (235) sexuality (116) to-read (1,165) travel (653) unread (244)

Common Knowledge

Members

Discussions

The Lawrence Durrell Centenary in Literary Snobs (January 2012)

Reviews

This elicited a few giggles from me on occasion, but all in all was not really that funny. I assume it’s not a very good reflection of Durrell’s writing style, and I will be trying one of his novels in the future.

I will not be bothering to read any more of the Antrobus books however, just not my type of humour.
 
Flagged
73pctGeek | 4 other reviews | Mar 5, 2024 |
You don't read LD for the plot or the complicated story line. Its all about character and his command of the English language and use of English words that are no longer part of the American idiom.
20 or so years of Felix Charlock's life are spent in thee pages. What read somewhat like a Paris Hemingway novel transposed to Athens with Brits and Greeks evolved into the navel gazing of the scientists life for "The Firm" and a very poor marriage. He finally is disgusted enough to leave and engage with his teenage son but this leaves to a failed assassination attempt that takes the life of his son. Interesting but not uplifting. LD has other better books.… (more)
 
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JBreedlove | 4 other reviews | Nov 30, 2023 |
As we gradually realise the scope of Durrell's literary experiment, in this, the third of the Alexandria novels, it becomes clear how no one human can ever truly know any other human, and it's heartbreaking. Durrell's prose is often too rich, veering into a purple so rich Caesar wouldn't wear it, but for every shot that misses, three hit their mark. Mountolive's drive through the storm is rivaled for beauty only by the dust-storm sequence in "Justine", and the final chapter is a slow, pulsing, vivid depiction of the last moments before death. I'll probably give myself a few weeks to cleanse the palate before reading the final volume in the series, but I'm a Durrell convert for life, I can tell.… (more)
 
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therebelprince | 24 other reviews | Oct 24, 2023 |

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Caroline Alexander Contributor
Paul Theroux Contributor
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Pippa Stuart Contributor
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Noel Young Editor
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Bram Stoker Contributor
Arthur Conan Doyle Contributor
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Guy de Maupassant Contributor
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Peter Barrett Cover designer (uncredited)
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Hikaru Fujii Translator
Bruno Tasso Translator
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Mark Boxer Illustrator
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Roger Vadim Foreword
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Statistics

Works
125
Also by
32
Members
16,890
Popularity
#1,326
Rating
½ 3.7
Reviews
289
ISBNs
830
Languages
30
Favorited
85

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