Has anyone here ever read the Alexandria Quartet?

[rug]

[pitohui]

1. yes i have

i enjoyed it but it was many, many years ago so i probably can't offer much intelligent discussion about it now -- they are certainly worth reading if that's what you're asking, perhaps i will pick them up again

ironically i remember more of his brother gerald's books about birds and animals which were quite funny and captivating

[rug]

3. Thanks for your opinion. I'll dig into them.

[blitzen]

2. yep, about 30 years ago...

It was one of the first works of "serious" Lit that I ever read--and now I'm a Lit prof. Anyway, I was a big Durrell fan for a long while after that--even retraced his steps in Corfu (as described in his book "Bitter Lemons") and in Southern France.

The funny thing is that my interest in Durrell started from a line in Jerry Jeff Walker's song, "Stoney"...The line is: "He had a gray pillowcase full of books by Durrell"

[rug]

4. I bet you're glad you didn't take up tap dancing instead of literature.

30 years ago sounds right. His popularity seems to have waned. Odd how literary tastes are cyclical. But with two thumbs up, I think I'll read them.

[blitzen]

5. Hah! good one...I see that you're in tune with Jerry Jeff....anyway,

if you do like the Alexandria Quartet, you might want to check out his Avignon Quintet (or "Quincunx," as he called it)...It's kind of wacky--conspiracy theories revolving around Templars, etc.--but I remember enjoying it. Durrell was a great friend of Henry Miller, who may have been a more interesting thinker. Miller's near-porn (Tropic of Cancer, etc.) is fine, but his essays are really brilliant.

[murielm99]

6. I read them about thirty years ago.

In fact, I still own the books.

I should refresh my memory of them.