Kenneth Rexroth, an American poet and literary critic, contemporary of Durrell's, said that Justine was the best of the four.

The epigrams that sparkle throughout and the gorgeous prose style are incomparable and, when combined with the layered and ever shifting unreliable narration, justify these novels selected by one source as the 60th best of 100 best 20th Century novels. Durrell was not in the least a racist author, but he indulged himself without filter, as Faulkner, during a time when such usage was pardoned if even then actually fairly rare. Also, be warned - there are about ten uses of the N-word that a thoughtful publisher editor would do well to sterilize with a non offensive omission or substitute. What would have helped me is translating some rather extensive French from the dullest character in the novels. At first I understood why he was criticized but then I got used to his exalted tone and rather liked it for the otherworldly atmosphere his hyper-actorly reading offers. The narrator of this and all the other novels comes in for some very harsh criticism from some readers. Masterpiece from Mid-20th Century British authorĮach one of the Alexandria Quartet novels are for me an absorbing and enthralling journey into pre World War ll Egypt, mainly Alexandria. Impossible to pick from one sentence more beautiful than another, but here's one: “These are the moments which are not calculable, and cannot be assessed in words they live on in the solution of memory, like wonderful creatures, unique of their own kind, dredged up from the floors of some unexplored ocean.” Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you? I know that Durrell's work is great literature, but I don't need every other word to be pronounced with deliberate poignance. I would really like to listen to this novel, but with a straightforward reading. But for a novel, his eloquence was a distraction. The narrator is an excellent reader of poetry. How did the narrator detract from the book? All are worth a read, as are his other works. Justine is one of four sibling novels in The Alexandria Quartet.

What other book might you compare Justine to and why? I wish for every reader of great literary fiction to revel in his prose. Would you consider the audio edition of Justine to be better than the print version?

Justine book durrell