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  • Justine

  • The Alexandria Quartet, Book 1
  • Written by: Lawrence Durrell
  • Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
  • Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (6 ratings)

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Justine

Written by: Lawrence Durrell
Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
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Publisher's Summary

Justine is the first volume in the Alexandria Quartet, four interlinked novels set in the sensuous, hot environment of Alexandria just before the Second World War. Within this polyglot setting of richly idiosyncratic characters is Justine, wild and intense, wife to the wealthy businessman Nessim, a Mari complaisant. Her emotional and sexual wildness fuels a highly charged atmosphere that, caught famously by Durrell’s poetic language, made Justine (1957), and the three novels that complete the Quartet - Balthazar (1958), Mountolive (1958), and Clea (1960) - both a critical and a popular success.

©1957 Lawrence Durrell (P)2021 Naxos AudioBooks UK Ltd.
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Disappointment.

Unread the Alexandria Quartet when I was in university in the 1980s. I was so enamoured that I considered completing my PhD on the subject. That never happened. When I discovered this newly recorded audiobook version decades later, I thought it would be a wonderful trip down memory lane. What I wasn’t prepared for was the shocking racism and misogyny which litters Durrell’s prose. I even Found some of the voicing to be problematical, to be frank.

I found much of it actually painful to read. And what disturbed me even more was that I do not recollect having been shocked at the time. I’ve had to reflect on that.

So just be prepared. I actually did a bit of research online, and discovered multiple articles dealing with the pervasive racism in the pages of Justine. It’s not hard to find if you look.

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