The concept of multi-layered and complex Alexandrian reality is already beginning to take shape.

If the first novel is like this, a piece of the city's life, generously seasoned with sufferings and thorns, as well as admiration for Justin, then here everything turns out to be completely different. Justin loses his demonic charm, Nessim acquires a completely different kind of humanity, and new interesting characters are introduced...

In general, after Baltasar, you start to understand what you have gotten into, and it's a great feeling.

As the story unfolds, the reader is drawn deeper into this intricate web of relationships and experiences. The vivid descriptions bring the Alexandrian setting to life, making it easy to imagine the bustling streets, the ancient buildings, and the diverse characters that inhabit this world.

Each character has their own unique story and motivation, adding depth and complexity to the overall narrative. The author's skillful use of language and pacing keeps the reader engaged from beginning to end, eager to discover what will happen next.

Overall, this is a captivating and thought-provoking work that offers a unique perspective on life, love, and the human condition.

Justine’de beni zorlayan şeyin doğru kitap yanlış zaman olduğunu düşünmüştüm.

The author's flowery and convoluted language that bored some readers had the opposite effect on others, but I had been looking for the problem within myself.

The good news is that we have become accustomed to this - that is, to the language. The effort we spend while reading has decreased to a minimum, and we can no longer stutter.

The bad news is that this time it's the right time but the wrong book.

Like everyone else, I started the book with high motivation, but I got lost along the way; I don't understand how it suddenly changed to a downward trend, but I swear it's not a lie that I read it a bit sluggishly towards the end. When I finish the fourth part, I don't know if my opinion will change, but for now, I can say that this book is the weakest link in the series.

Things that bother me are not such as exaggerated descriptions and convoluted words in books where the plots should be connected and the reflections of the sea should be described for pages. It's not a problem that I get sleepy, but there's a feeling that I fell asleep while reading and missed something. That's when a false perception comes. I don't expect a completely clear reading and perception from the web of events where nothing is as it seems, but for example, why did character X enter the scene as zinc? That's the feeling of falling asleep while reading. I don't like it at all.

These things are normal in series books. Suddenly a new one appears in the eighth volume and we get to know him until the tenth volume. That's not what I'm talking about. The author has already described his books not as a series but as if everyone is related, so let's see how we will understand the subject. Where is my mind?

To understand it, one must work backwards, traversing the great Interlinear that Balthazar has painstakingly constructed around the manuscript.

This book is not so much a sequel to Justine as it is a reimagining of the events and a reaffirmation of the characters. In the first book, characters like Justine, Nessim, Clea, and Melissa were distorted to suit the narrator's emotional perspective. However, this volume enriches the story by adding layers, providing diverse histories, motives, and desires that, while still leading to the actions in the first book,赋予 those actions different significance and meaning. These new threads emerge through the "inter-linear" offered by Balthazar. The "inter-linear" literally refers to what lies between the lines of the manuscript, Justine, which Darly shared with Balthazar for commentary. In between the lines, Balthazar fills in the missing details, and at its most captivating moments, it undermines and challenges what both Darly and the readers know.

I still find the principal narrator, Darly, a bit excessive. Perhaps less so in this book, as his emotional quagmire is not the only one to navigate. There are some beautiful chapters centered around Nessim and his brother Narouz in the desert. Pursewarden has a more prominent presence in this book through quotes and journal entries. Mountolive is also more present. And as these characters come to life, the complexity of their relationships and the various kinds of love they feel (or don't feel for each other) becomes evident.

The writing is poetic, evoking a meaning that transcends the words on the page.

**"Such Characters!"**

In our daily lives, we encounter all kinds of people, each with their own unique personalities and traits.

Some are kind-hearted and always ready to help others, while others may be more self-centered and focused only on their own interests.

There are those who are outgoing and full of energy, always the life of the party, and then there are the quiet and reserved ones who prefer to observe from the sidelines.

These diverse characters make our world a more interesting and colorful place.

We can learn a lot from them, whether it's about different ways of thinking, or how to handle various situations.

Sometimes, we may even be inspired by their actions or words to become better versions of ourselves.

So, the next time you meet someone new, take a moment to appreciate their individuality and the qualities that make them who they are.

After all, it's these such characters that make our lives so rich and meaningful.

Either things are better in relation to Justine, or I have started to get used to the style of Durrell, where the plot is rather a pretext for the prose and the eulogy. Love and passion are once again present, human relationships in a decentered center.

Despite the emigration of the "narrator" and the fact that the time of the narration is later, the events are of the same period as Justine's, as the book functions complementarily as to the first part and not as a continuation of it.

Next up is Mountolive...

This text seems to be a literary analysis or reflection on a work or works. It delves into the style of Durrell, perhaps comparing it to something else related to Justine. The mention of the plot being a pretext for the prose and eulogy suggests a focus on the beauty and artistry of the writing rather than a strictly linear or traditional narrative structure. The presence of love and passion and the decentered nature of human relationships add another layer of depth to the exploration. The fact that the events are of the same period as Justine's but the book functions complementarily rather than as a continuation indicates an interesting relationship between the two works. Finally, the mention of Mountolive implies that there is more to come in this literary discussion or exploration.

Above, the festival and the subsequent carnival scenes were like that. It was literary, like Eyes Wide Shut.

After reading Justine, it's a postmodern literary device where you now feel interactively involved in the formation of the manuscript. It's a different feeling that I really liked.

Also, I couldn't help but envy how the characters could easily move among different cultural identities like oil. The city slicker businessman easily flows into the rural French settings. That cosmopolitan Iskenderian merchant, chauffeur, diplomat, constantly mingles, with 4 - 5 languages interchangeably floating in the air. The Levant influence is quite natural, but one feels sad about the limited identity fluidities that existed even in the previous century.

Moreover, the constant references to antiquity and Cavafy are really enjoyable while reading.

However, the casual racism while reading is a bit tiresome.

In conclusion, Kelam is definitely a tetralogy that every Mediterranean or self-ascribed Mediterranean should read.

Continua el ritme de la primera, amb canvis de punts de vista i jugant amb el lector. The story unfolds in a captivating manner, keeping the readers on the edge of their seats.

With each new perspective, a different layer of the narrative is revealed, adding depth and complexity to the overall plot.

The author skillfully plays with the readers' expectations, leading them down unexpected paths and creating a sense of anticipation and excitement.

As the story progresses, the readers find themselves more and more invested in the characters and their fates, eager to see how the tetralogy will conclude.

The unique style and structure of the writing make it a truly engaging and immersive experience, leaving the readers with a desire to continue exploring the world created by the author.

Durrell manages to enhance the levels of humor and irony splendidly as our narrator shines a spotlight on his other great love apart from Justine, the captivating gem that is Alexandria.

The language employed here is truly remarkable. Phrases such as "A liquid-eyed camel, pure as a theorem, the sort of smile that might have hardened on the face of a dead baby, and a character is a sexual turnstile through which we must all pass" add a unique flavor to the narrative. Initially, "Balthazar" utilizes lighter scenes to flesh out the story that was begun in "Justine", the first book of the Quartet. However, as the story progresses, these scenes darken until they are as black as blood in the night. The idea of Nobel consideration for just this series does not seem at all far-fetched.

Alexandria comes alive on the page with a plethora of vivid characters including fire-breathers, magicians, tattooers, hypnotizers, spies, assassins, and dancers clad in bronze, black, and gold. The senses are bombarded with nostril-grabbing smells and exotic sounds in every scene. The plotting is also exquisite, culminating in a wild double twist ending.

In conclusion, "Balthazar" significantly enriches this famous Quartet and is highly recommended for readers who appreciate masterful storytelling and a richly detailed world.

I wasn't really into it. It seemed to be too reflective for my taste.

When I first encountered it, I found myself struggling to engage. The excessive reflection made it feel a bit heavy and perhaps a little too deep for my immediate understanding.

I prefer things that are more straightforward and less inclined to make me dwell on my thoughts for an extended period.

However, I also recognize that everyone has different preferences when it comes to such matters. Maybe for some, this level of reflection is exactly what they seek.

It just goes to show that what appeals to one person may not necessarily appeal to another.

Despite my initial lack of enthusiasm, I'm willing to give it a second chance and see if I can find something more in it upon further exploration.

Who knows, perhaps I'll discover a new perspective or gain a deeper appreciation for its reflective nature.

Only time will tell if this will become something that I truly enjoy or if it will continue to remain on the outskirts of my interests.

Y Lawrence Durrell continues to do so: he continues to fascinate me, captivate me and make me feel that I am in the presence of something very great, a masterpiece, art in its purest state.

In this second volume, the story expands, twists, retraces its steps, looks for other exits... like the gnarled and enormous trunks of the millennia-old olive trees, so Mediterranean, although they are more typical of the other side of the place where the story takes place.

In this volume, the narrator is still the same one who told us the story in "Justine", and for the first time, and almost at the end of the novel, we can find out his name, which is mentioned only once: Darley.

But although the narrator is the same, the perspective of the events and the interpretation (or modification) of some memories is conditioned by the figure of another of the characters from the previous novel: Balthazar, who opens Darley's eyes and makes him analyze everything that happened, even what happened to Darley himself, as well as the people he met, in a different way, by revealing secrets that he did not know, or aspects that he had been unable to appreciate.

And how skillful Durrell is when it comes to presenting us with twists that leave us amazed, how he manipulates the reader so that his ideas change completely, as if we were socks that are turned inside out.

But "Balthazar" is much bigger, and much more original than to be just a "simple narration of the same thing analyzed in a different way": as I said before, the story expands, BUT IT DOES NOT ADVANCE (at least in the temporal plane... in the plane of events and the motivations of the characters it advances, and a lot. Oh yes it does). The time and space are the same, but the story is stratified, new characters are presented to us who had not entered the scene until now, or had been mentioned in passing, others are delved into, such as Pursewarden, Scobbie or Clea and in addition, new events are narrated: some happened in parallel, others occurred in succession to some of the events narrated in Justine, and fill small spaces that we didn't even know existed. And others, this time yes, go back on themselves, revisiting the things that Darley thought he had perceived clearly and remembered faithfully... and it was not so.

And all of this, with the same lyricism, richness of style and true poetry that populate each of the pages that Durrell writes.

I am an absolute fan.

What I am not such a fan of is the edition by edhasa, which has more and more misprints (even changing one word for another: for example, putting "matinal" instead of "manantial"). I already noticed it in the previous volume, but in this one the number of mistakes made by these fools is scandalous. This issue is starting to make me nervous.

But without ruining my reading experience, because Lawrence Durrell is such a great writer, that few external things could ruin what it means to read this masterpiece.

In the second book of the series, Durrell continues to describe the relationships between the city of Alexandria and the society in which the characters in the first book are located, just as he did in the first book.

In the first book, Justine, he outlined the plot and introduced us to the main characters. Balthazar follows almost the same line but completes the story by adding the perspective of Doctor Balthazar to Justine's plot. As other relationships are explored in the book, the story seems to pull back a bit, and it feels as if the author is devoting more time to society in this series. An incredible love cycle also continues in this book.

Even if we only consider the first two parts of the book, it more than deserves the praise that has been lavished on it as one of the glories of English literature.

No solo es una vuelta a la tuerca y una realidad alternativa y a la vez paralela de Justine. Esta obra es un libro mucho más hermoso y entretenido que Justine. Se aclaran varios puntos oscuros de Justine, pero a la vez se abren otros. Las descripciones de la ciudad son tan vívidas que te hacen sentir como si estuvieras caminando por sus calles. La atmósfera es palpable, te envuelve y te hace sumergir en la historia. El dibujo de los personajes es realmente fenomenal, cada uno tiene su propia personalidad y características distintivas. Vale mucho la pena leerlo. Es increíble que alguna vez el ser humano vivió de una forma y un lugar tan fascinante. Este libro te llevará a un mundo lleno de maravillas y te hará reflexionar sobre nuestra propia existencia.