Lawrence Durrell – författare

Rediscover one of the twentieth century's greatest romances in Lawrence Durrell's seductive tale of four tangled lovers in wartime Egypt that is 'stunning' (André Aciman) and 'wonderful' (Elif Shafak)'A masterpiece.' Guardian'A formidable, glittering achievement.' TLS'One of the great works of English fiction.' Times 'Dazzlingly exuberant ... Superb.' Observer'Brave and brazen ... Lush and grandiose.' Independent 'Legendary ... Casts a spell ... Reader, watch out!' Guardian'Lushly beautiful ... One of the most important works of our time.' NYTBRAlexandria, Egypt. Trams, palm trees and watermelon stalls lie honey-bathed in sunlight; in darkened bedrooms, sweaty lovers unfurl. But in a world trembling on the brink of the Second World War, passion and death are inextricable. When Darley, a penniless schoolteacher, begins an affair with Justine - a married Egyptian woman of unparalleled glamour - their partners, Melissa and Nessim, are sucked into a whirlpool of jealousy and violence. One of the twentieth-century's greatest romances, Lawrence Durrell's scandalous 'investigation of modern love' set the world alight in 1957. Rich in political and sexual intrigue, his epic masterpiece burns just as brightly today. Introduced by Jan Morris, this oomnibus edition collects all four novels together in all their glory.What Readers Are Saying - Justine (Book 1):'Sometimes you discover a new author and know you're going to be friends for life ... One of the most beautiful books I've ever read.''I absolutely adored this book ... I felt sucked into it with an amazing force by the beauty of the words ... The backdrop of 1930s Egypt's literary circles and bohemian relationships is mesmerising ... Breathtaking.''Shimmering and dreamlike ... One of the most beautifully written books I've read ... All of life is here; can't wait for the next one.''Lush, brutal, beautiful ... Durrell captured a place and time that will never exist again.''What makes this novel truly spectacular is the language, the episodic jumps in time, the lush lyricism, and how Durrell so deftly manages to tie this all into both the city of Alexandria and the themes of passion, love, and jealousy. '

The Avignon Quintet gathers Lawrence Durrell's five kaleidoscopic, Booker Prize-nominated novels - orbiting around the South of France in World War II - into one epic modern classic, one of 'the greatest novels of our time' (Sunday Times).'Durrell is a magician. He juggles with glittering words, he conjures up "cloud capped towers, gorgeous palaces and solemn temples," he entrances, intrigues and impresses.' The TimesAvignon: the kingdom of kings and Popes, capital of the historic South of France, heart of legendary Provence. The entwined lives of a group of friends - and lovers - are transformed forever by the outbreak of World War II. But their dramatic present only plunges them further into the darkness of an ancient past, as they become entangled in buried plots, gnostic cults, religious rituals, and a mysterious hunt for hidden Knight's Templar treasure. From Hitler's Europe to the medieval world, French chateaus to Egyptian deserts, The Avignon Quintet is an epic symphony of ecstasy and terror, madness and memory, passion and death. Consisting of five majestic novels - Monsieur, Livia, Constance, Sebastian and Quinx - it is a wild, wise masterpiece that could only be written by the literary master of his century, Lawrence Durrell.'Entrancing ... Swooning ... Charged with Durrell's strange magic.' Guardian'An enigmatic and secretive work, a cluster of dark passages and gaudy treasure-filled caves ... Inventive gusto and fictive extravagance ... Sensational.' London Review of Books'Splendid ... Reckless all-or-nothing writing.' Sunday Telegraph 'A virtuoso, capable of extraordinary feats.' New York Times 'Pungent and teasing ... There is some insidious power in him that keeps one reading.' ObserverWhat readers are saying:'As if Proust had written Raiders of the Lost Ark ...Templars, gnostics, handsome princes, asylums, madness, Freudians, southern France, Egypt, ancient tombs, castles, exotica, erotica, incest, ghosts, gypsies, ascetics, spies, Nazis, secret societies, bordellos, feasts, Nubian lesbians, assassins disguised as nuns, literary doppelgangers, convents, hidden treasure, suicide, and art.''Mystery, love, incest, war, espionage, gypsies, mysticism, secret rituals: a masterful writer.' 'Magnificent ... An incredible level of writing that should be experienced by everyone who loves modern literature.''A masterpiece ... Unlike anything I've ever read.' 'The master at his peak.' 'The writing is spectacular, unlike anything today.' 'Deeply complex, very clever use of language and gripping. Highly recommended.' 'Hairs suddenly rise on the back of the neck ... Read with a glass of wine.'

In 1935, Lawrence Durrell, a young Englishman living on Corfu, wrote enthusiastically to a middle-aged Brooklynite - Henry Miller - of his just published novel "Tropic of Cancer". Miller felt that he had found his ideal reader and responded, thus beginning a correspondence that lasted 45 years.

In this new selection from the poetry of Lawrence Durrell (the first for thirty years), Peter Porter has drawn on the full range of the published work, from A Private Country (1943) to Vega (1973), and has provided a long overdue revaluation of Durrell's poetic career. In his detailed and generous introduction, Porter makes the case for A Private Country as one of the most accomplished debut collections of the twentieth century, and traces Durrell's preoccupations and poetic personality within the wider scene. The selection of poems makes its own strong case for the continuing power and originality of this attractive, metropolitan and wholly individual body of work.

Lose yourself in the thrilling political intrigue and tangled love affairs of wartime Egypt in Durrell's epic modern classic, introduced by bestselling author Elif Shafak (The Forty Rules of Love).An expat schoolteacher has spent years in exile reflecting on his turmoiled love affair with Justine, a glamorous Egyptian wife. Returning to wartime Alexandria, he finds that his old friends have suffered dramatic changes of body, mind, and fortune - and someone whom he has never really known wishes to see him. His affair with Clea, a bisexual artist, not only changes the lovers, but transforms the dead, forever - and heralds a new beginning, just as Lawrence Durrell's intoxicating masterpiece ends. 'Durrell has written about a dozen real love stories, entwined them, and explored them with a truly Proustian ferocity ... Superb.' Observer 'Lushly beautiful ... His style glows ... One of the most important works of our time.' New York Times Book Review'It is hard now to recapture the impact half a century ago of these novels' heat, luxuriance and profanity [or] his descriptions of Alexandria - its beauty, cruelty, menace, mystery, decadence ....' Spectator

Lose yourself in the thrilling political intrigue and tangled love affairs of wartime Egypt: Durrell's epic modern classic, introduced by William Boyd (bestselling author of Any Human Heart and Restless).'A master at creating and handling tension ... I was fascinated from the start.' Wilbur SmithDavid Mountolive, a young English diplomat, has been obsessed with Egypt ever since a youthful love affair. Returning to Alexandria as British Ambassador just before World War Two, he unravels an intricate political and religious conspiracy - one that connects a web of wildly different characters, including an exiled schoolteacher and glamorous Egyptian couple. Mountolive gradually exposes the sinister underbelly of these tangled relationships, their deceptions and betrayals mirroring the explosive turmoil of the modern Middle East - and the result is Durrell's most cinematic masterpiece. 'Astonishing ... A work of splendid craft and troubling veracity.' New York Times Book Review'A masterpiece ... Don't be fooled by the richness of the prose, the depth of the passions ... Wicked and funny.' Guardian'Dazzlingly exuberant in style and vision, reckless in ambition, wonderfully prolific in invention ... Superb.' ObserverVOLUME THREE OF LAWRENCE DURRELL'S ALEXANDRIA QUARTET

Lose yourself in the thrilling political intrigue and tangled love affairs of wartime Egypt: Durrell's epic modern classic, introduced by Alaa Al Aswany (bestselling author of The Yacoubian Building).Every interpretation of reality is based upon a unique position ...As the threat of world war looms over the city of Alexandria, an exiled Anglo-Irish schoolteacher unravels his erotic obsession with two women: Melissa, a fragile dancer, and Justine, a glamorous married Egyptian woman. Through conversations with Balthazar, a doctor and mystic, these intricate love affairs are cast in an ominous, sinister new light, as his private fixations become entangled with a mysterious murder plot ... One of the twentieth century's greatest masterpieces, rich in political and sexual intrigue, Lawrence Durrell's 'investigation of modern love' in the Alexandria Quartet set the world alight. Published in 1958, a year after the sensational Justine, the kaleidoscopic Balthazar burns just as brightly today.'Legendary ... Casts a spell ... A fine storyteller. Reader, watch out!' Jan Morris, Guardian'A brave and brazen work ... Lush and grandiose.' Independent 'One of the very best novelists of our time ... [such] beauty.' New York Times Book ReviewVOLUME TWO OF LAWRENCE DURRELL'S ALEXANDRIA QUARTET

Rediscover one of the twentieth century's greatest romances: this seductive tale of four tangled lovers in wartime Egypt, introduced by André Aciman (Call Me By Your Name and Find Me), is 'wonderful' (Elif Shafak)I remembered Justine saying harshly as she lay in bed: 'We use each other like axes to cut down the ones we really love'.Alexandria: the great winepress of love. Trams, palm trees, and watermelon stalls lie honey-bathed in sunlight; in darkened bedrooms, sweaty lovers unfurl. But in a world trembling on the brink of war, passion and death are inextricable. When a penniless schoolteacher begins an affair with Justine - a married Egyptian lady of unparalleled glamour - their partners are sucked into a whirlpool of jealousy and violence. One of the world's greatest romances, rich in political and sexual intrigue, Lawrence Durrell's scandalous 'investigation of modern love' set the world alight in 1957 and - as André Aciman reveals - it burns just as brightly today.What Readers Are Saying:'Sometimes you discover a new author and know you're going to be friends for life ... One of the most beautiful books I've ever read.''I absolutely adored this book ... I felt sucked into it with an amazing force by the beauty of the words ... The backdrop of 1930s Egypt's literary circles and bohemian relationships is mesmerising ... Breathtaking.''Shimmering and dreamlike ... One of the most beautifully written books I've read ... All of life is here; can't wait for the next one.''Lush, brutal, beautiful ... Durrell captured a place and time that will never exist again.''What makes this novel truly spectacular is the language, the episodic jumps in time, the lush lyricism, and how Durrell so deftly manages to tie this all into both the city of Alexandria and the themes of passion, love, and jealousy. 'What The Critics Said:'A masterpiece.' Guardian'One of the great works of English fiction.' Times 'Dazzlingly exuberant ... Reckless ... Superb.' Observer'Brave and brazen ... Lush and grandiose.' Independent 'Legendary ... Casts a spell ... Reader, watch out!' Guardian'Lushly beautiful ... One of the most important works of our time.' NYTBR

Lose yourself in this classic prize-winning memoir of life in 1950s Cyprus on the brink of revolution by the legendary king of travel writing and real-life family member of The Durrells in Corfu. 'Stunning.' André Aciman 'Masterly ... Casts a spell.' Jan Morris'Invades the reader's every sense ... Remarkable.' Victoria Hislop'These days I am admiring and re-admiring Lawrence Durrell.' Elif Shafak'Our last great garlicky master of the vanishing Mediterranean.' Richard Holmes'Exceptional ... Revelatory ... A master.' Observer'He writes as an artist, as well as a poet . Profoundly beautiful.' New StatesmanCyprus, 1953. As the island fights for independence from British colonial rule, ancient conflicts between Turkish and Greek Cypriots trouble the glittering Mediterranean waters. Into the brewing political storm enters Lawrence Durrell, yearning for the idyllic island lifestyle of his youth in Corfu.He settles into a dilapidated villa, and with his poet's eye for beauty - and passable Greek - vividly captures the moods and atmospheres of island life in a changing world. Whether collecting folklore or wild flowers, describing the brewing revolution or eccentric local characters, Durrell is a magician with words: and the result is not only a classic travel memoir, but an intimate portrait of a community lost forever.WINNER OF THE DUFF COOPER MEMORIAL PRIZE'Brilliant ... Never for a moment does Durrell lose the poet's touch.' New York Times

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. 'Full of stories, landscapes, comedy, history, heresies, animals, food, drink, and songs of the Midi.' Patrick Leigh Fermor 'A richly characteristic bouillabaisse by our last great garlicky master of the vanishing Mediterranean, our old Prospero of the south.' Richard Holmes Provence, Southern France. Celebrated writer and poet Lawrence Durrell made the Midi his home for more than thirty years: and in his final book, he shares his most evocative, dazzling memories of life as a local. A seductive blend of travelogue, poet's notebook, and intimate autobiography, Durrell guides us through the rich layers of human history that lie beneath the region's legendary landscapes. From stories of magic and mythology infusing the rolling vineyards and vivid lavender fields to tales of Roman conquest, bull-worship, and courtly love beneath the wounded blue skies, Caesar's Vast Ghost is a classic memoir to be treasured.'Casts a spell ... Masterly.' Jan Morris'A virtuoso.' New York Times

Lose yourself in this glorious memoir of the island jewel of Corfu by the king of travel writing and real-life family member of The Durrells in Corfu.'In its gem-like miniature quality, among the best books ever written.' New York TimesIn his youth, before he became a celebrated writer and poet, Lawrence Durrell spent four transformative years on the island jewel of Corfu, fascinated by the idyllic natural beauty and blood-stained ancient history within its rocky shores.While his brother Gerald collected animals as a budding naturalist - later fictionalised in My Family and Other Animals and filmed as The Durrells in Corfu - Lawrence fished, drank and befriended the local villagers.After World War II catapulted him back into a turmoiled world, Durrell never forgot the wonders of Corfu. Prospero's Cell is his magical evocation of the blazing Aegean landscape, brimming with memories of the places and people that changed him forever.'Cannot be bettered ... A classic ... His words still evoke the magical qualities of the island.' Telegraph'Some writers reinvent their language; others the world. Durrell did both.' André Aciman 'Invades the reader's every sense ... Remarkable.' Victoria Hislop 'These days I am admiring and re-admiring Lawrence Durrell.' Elif Shafak'Our last great garlicky master of the vanishing Mediterranean.' Richard Holmes 'Corfu could not have found a fitter chronicler.' Daily Telegraph'A charming idyll ... Delightful.' Sunday Times

Lose yourself in this classic travelogue evoking the Greek island of Rhodes after World War II by the king of travel writing and real-life family member of The Durrells in Corfu. 'A magician ... Durrell enchants.' The Times 'A lovely book ... Makes people feel happy ... [So] pleasurable.' Observer 'A poet's intoxication with landscape, a humanist's appetite for history, and an eye for character worthy of a novelist . He excites a longing to leave for Rhodes at once.' Sunday TimesWorld War II is finally over, and after four torturous years serving the Crown in Egypt, Lawerence Durrell seeks peace in the landscapes he has loved ever since his youth in Corfu: Mediterranean islands. He is posted to the Greek island of Rhodes, and from his first dip in the dazzling blue Aegean - which jolts his soul awake for the first time in years - he immerses himself in the rhythms and moods of local life, befriending eccentric villagers and quaffing ouzo as through the war was a distant dream. With his dazzling poet's eye and passion for excavating ancient history, Durrell recaptures the mythic Rhodes of legend, of knights and crusades, that lies beneath its war-ravaged surface. It is a place that you will never forget. 'Our last great garlicky master of the vanishing Mediterranean.' Richard Holmes 'Masterly ... Casts a spell.' Jan Morris 'Incandescent.' André Aciman 'Invades the reader's every sense ... Remarkable.' Victoria Hislop 'Like long letters from a civilized and very funny friend - the prose as luminous as the Mediterranean air he loves.' Time

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. 'A magician.' The Times Despite decades spent poetically chronicling Mediterranean life in Rhodes, Cyprus and Corfu, celebrated travel writer Lawrence Durrell had never set foot on the largest island: Sicily. For years, his friend Martine begged him to visit her on this sun-kissed paradise, but it took her sudden death to finally bring him to its shores - and he is not disappointed. Joining an eccentric tour group, Durrell immerses himself in the island's spectacular archaeological remains, and becomes dizzy with Sicily's rich history: its mysterious myths and meanings. Featuring unpublished poems and illustrated with elegant engravings. Sicilian Carousel is a gem that ranks with Durrell's finest work.'Readers who have been to Sicily will love this book. Readers who have not been to Sicily will love this book.' Paul Fussell 'Like long letters from a civilized and very funny friend - the prose as luminous as the Mediterranean air he loves.' Time

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.' André Aciman'A magician.' The Times'Invades the reader's every sense ... Remarkable.' Victoria Hislop 'Nobody knows the Greek islands like Durrell.' New York Times White-washed houses drenched in pink bougainvillea; dazzling seascapes and rugged coastlines; colourful harbours in quaint fishing villages; shady olive and cypress groves; terraces bathed in the Aegean sun ... The Greek islands conjure up a treasure-chest of images - but nobody brings them to life as vividly as the legendary travel writer Lawrence Durrell. It was during his youth in Corfu - which his brother Gerald fictionalised in My Family and Other Animals, later filmed as The Durrells In Corfu - that his love affair with the Mediterranean began. Now, in this glorious tour of the Greek islands, he weaves evocative descriptions of these idyllic landscapes with insights into their ancient history, and shares luminous personal memories of his time in the local communities. No traveller to Greece or admirer of Durrell's magic should miss it.'Masterly ... Casts a spell.' Jan Morris'Charming ... Delightful.' Sunday Times 'Our last great garlicky master of the vanishing Mediterranean.' Richard Holmes'Like long letters from a civilized and very funny friend - the prose as luminous as the Mediterranean air he loves.' Time

'The most exhilarating surge of language, style and sordid English manners [in] literature.' DBC Pierre 'A wild, passionate, brilliantly gaudy and flamboyant extravaganza ... Richly obscene, energetically morbid, very often very funny ... Above all, stylistically and verbally inventive.' ObserverDeath Gregory has disappeared, abandoning his diaries in a seedy London hotel. Discovered by Lawrence Lucifer, they depict a clique of intellectuals living a life of squalid debauchery: struggling writers and artists consumed by loves, lusts, and a quest for innovation. But as they satisfy violent appetites of the flesh - and mind - their descent into darkness accelerates ... Written when he was only 24, Lawrence Durrell described his controversial third novel as 'a two-fisted attack on literature by an angry young man of the thirties' in which he 'first heard the sound of my own voice.' First published in Paris in 1938, it was banned in Britain for nearly four decades due to its 'obscenity' (influenced by Durrell's friend Henry Miller). Vivid, surrealist, and haunting, The Black Book peers into the recesses of our souls: and establishes Durrell as a trailblazing stylist.'Stygian prose ... Words like stones, throwing, rockerying, mossing, churning, sharpening, bloodsucking, melting, and a hard firewater flows and rolls through them.' Dylan Thomas'Genuine art ... Lavishly displays Durrell's gift of language ... Verbal brilliance.' New York Times 'The first piece of work by a new English writer to give me any hope for the future of prose fiction.' T.S. Eliot'Durrell's first major work ... Its showy brilliance is certainly that of a born writer ... Savage and obscene.'Guardian'Brilliantly strange ... It will astonish.' Independent on Sunday

Lose yourself in this classic 1950s Cold War spy thriller tracking a British secret agent in Communist Serbia by the celebrated of The Alexandria Quartet, perfect for fans of John le Carre.'A spellbinder ... Desperately exciting.' Daily TelegraphMethuen is a seasoned British secret agent, weary of espionage missions and desperately in need of a break - but he can't resist an assignment to investigate dirty dealings in the Balkans. A fellow British spy has been murdered in Serbia by a guerrilla gang of underground royalists, the White Eagles - but when Methuen arrives, he soon finds himself in a life-and-death struggle, pursued by both the royalists and Communists alike ...Inspired by Lawrence Durrell's own experiences in the British Foreign Office, White Eagles Over Serbia is a classic Cold War espionage thriller: a white-knuckle adventure perfect for fans of John le Carre and Graham Greene.'Exceptionally well written [and] brings back memories of boyhood classics.' Sunday Times'Vivid ... Beautiful descriptions ... Carries us expertly from one excitement to another.' PunchWhat Readers Are Saying:'All spy-novel fans should read this wonderful mysterious portrayal of post-war Balkans. Read it now!''A very good espionage / thriller novel ... Fantastic descriptions of the post war Yugoslav atmosphere ... Durrell could have given LeCarre some competition.''As a setting for adventure and intrigue, the mountains in post-WWII Serbia, are unparalleled.''A good old fashioned spy romp over the mountains.''A spy thriller very much in the British Boys Own style ... Superlative.'

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 dystopian novel by the bestselling author of The Alexandria Quartet.'A superb craftsman and stylist.' New York TimesFelix Charlock is a world-famous inventor. His scientific genius draws him into the web of a sinister multinational corporation called Merlin who recruit him for their own ends. When Felix is married into this wealthy family, 'The Firm' sets him an impossible project, demanding that he reinvents his former lover as a living, breathing replica. But creating this perfect robot facsimile heralds a new era of destruction, threatening not only Felix's sanity, but his very existence ...Consisting of two novels - Tunc and its sequel, Numquam - The Revolt of Aphrodite is a dystopian novel of ideas, rich in mystery and drama, with an epic global sweep and dazzling cast. Showing literary master Lawrence Durrell at his most conceptually ambitious, this tale of a modern Frankenstein will revolutionise the way you view technology forever.'Scenes of wild and deliberate fantasy ... [of] peculiar and disturbing poignancy.' New Statesman 'Such readability ... Few writers can tell a story better.' Observer

Lose yourself in bestselling author Lawrence Durrell's sublime novel about a group of English tourists trapped in the minotaur's labyrinth on Crete ... 'Spellbinding ... A fine storyteller.' Guardian'Superb ... Quite simply a lovely work of art.' New York TimesA group of English tourists have come ashore from their cruise ship to explore the island of Crete. This motley crew - including a painter, spiritualist, spinster, soldier, convalescent, and elderly couple - are holidaying to seek respite from a broken post-war world. But their journey reaches a disastrous climax when they visit a cave reputed to be the legendary labyrinth of the minotaur, and become trapped within ...Set in the glorious Mediterranean landscapes which Lawrence Durrell so famously evoked in his travel writing and novels, The Dark Labyrinth is a morality tale unlike any other. Artfully blending horror and humour, comedy and tragedy, witty allegory and profound philosophy, it is a sublime novel, as refreshing today as it was decades ago. 'Superb, not only in the great passages of poetical description but also [the] casual wit and the brilliance of comment.' Observer'Will amuse those who enjoy satires on English manners and morals, engage readers who like a build-up of suspense and delight lovers of the sensuous world of the Greek islands.' New York Times

In 1935 a young Englishman living on Corfu wrote enthusiastically to a middle-aged Brooklynite who had just published a succès de scandale in Paris: “…Tropic [of Cancer] turns the corner into a new life which has regained its bowels.” Henry Miller, realizing that in Lawrence Durrell he had hooked his ideal reader, responded: “You’re the first Britisher who’s written me an intelligent letter about the book.” Thus began a correspondence that ended only with Miller’s death in 1980—nearly 1,000,000 words later. The Durrell-Miller Letters, 1935-80 contains an extensive and representative selection of the total correspondence. Almost half of the present volume has never been published before, including some recently recovered “lost” letters; in addition, many passages expurgated from letters published in 1963 have been restored. Editor Ian S. MacNiven of the State University of New York, Maritime College, is quite right to regard the Durrell-Miller correspondence as a dual biography of the creative lives of two of this century’s great literary iconoclasts, a biography “At once as serious as Schopenhauer and as winning as wine.”

A selection of mainly late poems by Lawrence Durrell which were not included in COLLECTED POEMS 1931-1974, but appeared only in prose works and have not been collected before. Poems drawn from SPIRIT OF PLACE, SICILIAN CAROUSEL, THE AVIGNON QUINTET and CAESAR'S VAST GHOST. Edited by Peter Baldwin.