The Alexandria Quartet is a tetralogy by Lawrence Durrell set in that city in the years leading to, and including, World War II. The work was immediately recognized among the most influential fiction of the 20th Century. I have been reading and re-reading it for 60 years. Recently finishing it once more, I finally feel that I have gotten my arms and my head around the stories and the work, in my way.
Durrell described the work as a “word continuum.” So, a symphony is a “note continuum?” So, Justine, Balthazar, Mountolive, and Clea are movements on a theme of Love, and Clea is the finale that combines them “as a spire crowns a cathedral” Saturday Review said.
The influence of this work is incalculable but I believe that it would be impossible for a reader who is a writer to not be influenced by the style and structure. And I think that influence, if acted upon, would improve the product of any writer who does not go so far as imitation. I have occasionally recognized that influence on a work that I was reading, and I loved it, and my view of the writer was elevated by the recognition.
Writing this, I am moved to read it all once more. But I will not. My 1962 boxed set, held together with tape and rubber bands, wouldn’t take it well if I tried.
“And so it goes.”
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If you would like to see my collection of Carolina Lowcountry memories—"Magnolia Elegy: Place In the Edisto Fork," you can view the book trailer here, and see the book page here on the publisher's website. The book is also available from Amazon, B&N, and your independent local bookseller.
