Justine, by Lawrence Durrell ***1/4

Durrell's book was recommended to me by my friend, Craig, several years ago, and I had my copy for a long time before I finally started reading it. I'd picked it up once or twice along the way, but something about the density of the first couple sentences always kept me from starting. After finishing a few shorter, faster reads (Bester's The Demolished Man, Shepard's Kalimantan, Lovecraft's The Case of Charles Dexter Ward), I felt I was ripe for a more surreal, word-painting type experience (though Shepard's writing is certainly both surreal and full of lush imagery, it's short).

There's lots to love about this book, particularly the narrative style. The book is in first person, but it floats freely among myriad experiences, times, and places, much the way a person's mind might connect memories. At first this made it difficult to follow, but it didn't take long before I moved right in step with the narrator. I also liked the semi-detached quality of the narrator's recounting, which, along with the quality of the prose, made for a simply divine reading experience, no matter what was happening in the actual story. Fortunately, the story was good too, connecting a jumble of interesting characters in an imbroglio of confused relationships and loyalties. Issues such as politics, money, sex, class, success, art, and love are dealt with intelligently and creatively. Highly recommended.

Note: There are 3 more books in the Alexandria Quartet, based on characters in this book. Apparently they all tell more or less the same story but from different points of view. Though I may at some point, I don't plan to read any of them, primarily because they're not supposed to be quite as good.
(Spring 2006)

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