Ben excitedly awaited Clea, thinking there would be something she would tell from her mouth. So, in fact, I was a bit surprised :) In this wonderful series, one of Durrell's greatest successes is undoubtedly his success in creating characters. Each character included in the narrative through letters and diaries has its own unique narrative and writing style. Experiencing this in the last novel of the series was an incredible experience. One moment the author can be Clea, one moment Pursewarden, and one moment Balhtazar.

And without being a spoiler, I finished it with surprise. The series managed to surprise me in each novel and create relationships among unexpected people. I am as happy as having started this series by reading it in 2023 and at least finishing it by reading the whole series. ☺️

At first, this final book in the series didn't hold up as much as the other three.

The reason being that requited love can seem rather boring when compared to the angst of unrequited love. However, oh! How lovely it is to settle into that flush of the union of spirits.

Durrell's poetry in this book truly captures that sense of transcendence.

Moreover, it is vital to the complete series as it delves into the horror that the soul experiences as it attempts to assimilate the hate and ugliness of war.

I only keep books that I love and that are worth rereading.

While I doubt I will reread this one in its entirety, given there are so many books and so little time, I still can't bear to part with it either!

It holds a special place in my heart, despite its initial drawbacks.

The beauty of the union of spirits and the exploration of the soul's journey in the face of war make it a book that I will cherish.

Even if I don't revisit it often, it will always be a part of my collection.

Over ten years ago, I had the pleasure of delving into the first book of the Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell. This summer, I decided to revisit this literary masterpiece and completed books 3 and 4.

Clea, the final installment of the quartet, ties up some loose ends and reveals hidden truths about the characters. Clea herself becomes a central focus, serving as a connection for Darley back to the vibrant city of Alexandria, which has unfortunately become more sordid due to the war.

The writing in this book is truly astounding. Durrell's command of language is remarkable, although I did have to look up quite a few French and English words along the way. He has a unique ability to capture the heightened emotions and the distinctiveness of each character, based on their diverse backgrounds.

Clea is a bit of a hodgepodge of different texts, including the journal and letters of Pursewarden, a satisfying letter from Leila that alters some of the previous volume, the poetry of Cavafy, and quotes from characters in the earlier books of the quartet. Whether it's pretentious of Durrell to quote himself is debatable, but it does add a sense of nostalgia.

The city of Alexandria has changed, but colonialism still lingers as Darley and his friends continue to engage in their hedonistic pursuits, even as the harbor is bombed. It's quite unsettling how sheltered they believe themselves to be, while Justine and Nessim are virtually in hiding and only play a minor role in the background.

Clea's determination to carry on despite the changes and increased danger in the city really resonated with me, especially in light of our current pandemic situation. Her words, "I always believed that a love of human beings would flower more strongly out of a common misfortune. It isn't true... To be here, just the two of us, sitting by candle-light is almost a miracle in such a world. You can't blame me for trying to hoard and protect it against the intrusive world outside, can you?" really struck a chord.

And Darley's thoughts, "...from the depths of my own inner selfishness I was glad of these external pressures, for they circumscribed our world perfectly, penned us up more closely together, isolated us!" further emphasize the complex emotions and relationships in the book.

With the completion of Clea, I have finished a formerly unfinished series for the Reading Envy Summer Reading challenge. It has been a rewarding experience, and I look forward to exploring more literary works in the future.

Well, I read it and finished the series.

Perhaps Larry Durrell isn't really my cup of tea after all. There are indeed some interesting parts in the story, but there are also elements of banality.

Moreover, there is no morality to speak of. It seems that the author pays more attention to describing the complex and decadent relationships among the characters rather than exploring moral issues.

The true protagonist of the series, the city of Alexandria, does come looking better than its inhabitants. However, this isn't saying much in this case.

The city is portrayed as a place full of history, culture, and mystery, but the people who live in it are often flawed and immoral.

Overall, while the series has some redeeming qualities, it didn't really resonate with me on a deeper level.

Like all young men, I once set out with great ambition to be a genius. I had dreams of achieving extraordinary things and making a name for myself in the world. However, mercifully, laughter intervened. It was as if a gentle breeze blew away the clouds of my overinflated ego. Suddenly, I realized that perhaps my aspirations were a bit too lofty.

Wow, I didn't expect such a sudden dislike. It caught me completely off guard. But rather than getting overly frustrated, I decided to take a step back. I thought to myself, "Allow me to retreat to my hutch." My hutch, in this case, could be seen as a place of solitude and reflection. There, I could gather my thoughts and try to make sense of this unexpected turn of events. I would scratch together a review, analyzing the situation and perhaps learning something from it. After all, even in the face of disappointment, there is always an opportunity for growth and self-discovery.

So, I have spent the past 6 months or so engaged in reading the Alexandria Quartet with my girlfriend. At present, I am approximately a third of the way through volume three, conducting a close read and taking extensive notes. I have no intention of penning a full review, but I do plan to write an essay on Durrell's plagiarism. I have managed to track down a good half dozen and counting sources that he appears to have filched from. Additionally, I want to attempt to understand the reasons why Durrell did this and whether the quartet should be perceived in a different light.

Anyway, if anyone else has any inquiries regarding the quartet or specific aspects of Alexandria, I have conducted some in-depth research. I have entertained the idea of attempting to create digital annotations on a website, but I am uncertain about the copyright implications. We'll have to wait and see. The essay will be forthcoming in the next couple of months, so stay tuned!

Finally

Punto final al Cuarteto de Alejandría. La ciudad, sometida a los rigores de la guerra, se convierte en un escenario trágico y fascinante. Es aquí donde Darley y Clea nos llevan hasta el supuesto "desenlace" de todas las historias previamente trazadas en los otros tres libros. Sin embargo, como un gran reflejo de la vida misma, los cierres de estas historias no son finales, sino que abren nuevas historias. Y aquí radica la ironía: aunque sabemos que hay más historias por contar, ya no las veremos. Quizás esto sea una lección sobre la naturaleza inacabable de la vida y la literatura. Aunque las historias que conocemos tienen un final, el mundo sigue girando y nuevas historias están por nacer. Y aunque no podamos presenciarlas, sabemos que están ahí, esperando a ser contadas.

The previous one was really quite boring. However, this one is not as dull as that. But then again, it's not as good as the first two either.

It has its own characteristics, I guess. It's not completely uninteresting, but it also doesn't have that wow factor that the first two had. Maybe it just needs a little more something to make it stand out.

Overall, it's an okay piece, but it could be better. There are areas where it could be improved upon to make it more engaging and captivating.

I hope that in the future, more effort will be put into making it as excellent as the first two.

The text presents a set of profound thoughts and emotions.

"How was it possible that such a small change in the landscape, the loss of a single life, could distort the whole?" This question makes us wonder about the significance and impact of seemingly insignificant events.

"We are in the clutches of the emotional field that we project onto each other. You yourself told me that one day. Perhaps our only evil is the desire for a truth that we cannot bear instead of being content with the imaginary characters we have invented." This statement reflects on the complex nature of human relationships and our search for truth.

"Now I knew that Clea would share everything with me, without restrictions, without even hiding that complicit look that women reserve for mirrors." This shows a sense of trust and openness in the relationship between the narrator and Clea.

Overall, the text delves into themes such as the fragility of life, the power of emotions, and the importance of authenticity in relationships.

My total series score is 3.5⭐️

I couldn't get that huge pleasure that Goodreads readers got from these 4 books...

In fact, I could have given up after reading Justine. Because the flowery and showy language in the Justine book wasn't to my taste. The author, in the later books of the series, left that language quite a bit. I didn't like at all that the author entered with an aphoristic sentence that was not very relevant to the topics and then related what he said with the character who told it. But this narrative style I'm talking about is mainly present in the first book. In the subsequent books, with the events being brought to the fore, these huge sayings are decreasing quite a bit.

As someone who had the opportunity to visit the city of Alexandria, I'm saying that in this book, the city didn't affect me or anything, in fact, it bored me.

Of course, what I wrote is not related to the literary value of the work. It's related to the pleasure that I couldn't get...

If there are those who read Justine and don't continue the series, with my advice that they can get a little more pleasure from the subsequent books of the series (like me), maybe they will give Baltazar a chance.

Would it not, I wondered, be wiser to stay where I was? Perhaps. Yet I knew I must go. Indeed this very night I should be gone! The thought itself was so hard to grasp that I was forced to whisper it aloud to myself.

Dawn was breaking among the olives, silvering their still leaves. The beauty of the scene was almost overwhelming, yet it did little to ease the turmoil in my heart.

How could I help but think of the past towards which we were returning across the dense thickets of time, across the familiar pathways of the Greek sea? The night slid past me, an unrolling ribbon of darkness. The warm sea-wind brushed my cheek — soft as the brush of a fox. Between sleep and waking I lay, feeling the tug of memory’s heavy plumb-line: tug of the leaf-veined city which my memory had peopled with masks, malign and beautiful at once.

‘Yet the truth’ I said ‘is that I feel no resentment for the past. On the contrary I am full of gratitude because an experience which was perhaps banal in itself (even disgusting for you) was for me immeasurably enriching!’

But now, then, tell me — which of us was the greater liar? I cheated you, you cheated yourself.

Perhaps our only sickness is to desire a truth which we cannot bear rather than to rest content with the fictions we manufacture out of each other.

I wasn’t sure that the cycle would really change, I didn’t know how much you had or hadn’t changed yourself. You are such a bloody correspondent I hadn’t any way of judging about your inside state of mind. Such a long time since you wrote, isn’t it?

But I am aware the test may come under any guise, perhaps even in the physical world by a blow between the eyes or a few lines scribbled in pencil on the back of an envelope left in a café. The heraldic reality can strike from any point, above or below: it is not particular. But without it the enigma will remain. You may travel round the world and colonize the ends of the earth with your lines and yet never hear the singing yourself.

Yes, one day I found myself writing down with trembling fingers the four words (four letters! four faces!) with which every story-teller since the world began has staked his slender claim to the attention of his fellow-men. Words which presage simply the old story of an artist coming of age. I wrote: ‘Once upon a time….’

And I felt as if the whole universe had given me a nudge!