Justine - Softcover

Lawrence Durrell

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0525470808 ISBN 13: 9780525470809

Publisher: Faber and Faber, 1961

Synopsis

The time is the eve of the Second World War. The place is Alexandria, an Egyptian city that once housed the world's greatest library and whose inhabitants are still dedicated to knowledge. But for the obsessed and purblind characters in this mesmerizing first novel of the Alexandria Quartet, the pursuit of knowledge leads to no library, only to the bedrooms in which each seeks to know - and possess - the other. Since its publication in 1957, "Justine" has inspired an almost religious devotion among readers and critics. It is not so much a book as it is a self-contained universe, constructed by one of the most elegant and formidably intelligent minds in contemporary fiction.

About this title

Book Description:

Justine by Lawrence Durell tells the tragic story of the mysterious and fascinating Justine, and those whose lives she touched in pre-war Alexandria.

About the Author:

Lawrence Durrell was born in 1912 in India. He attended the Jesuit College at Darjeeling and St. Edmund's School, Canterbury. His first literary work, The Black Book, appeared in Paris in 1938. His first collection of poems, A Private Country, was published in 1943, followed by the three Island books: Prospero's Cell; Reflections on a Marine Venus, about Rhodes; and Bitter Lemons, his account of life in Cyprus. Durrell's wartime sojourn in Egypt led to his masterpiece, The Alexandria Quartet, which he completed in southern France, where he settled permanently in 1957. Between the quartet and The Avignon Quintet he wrote the two-decker Tunc and Nunquam. His oeuvre includes plays, a book of criticism, translations, travel writing, and humorous stories about the diplomatic corps. Caesar's Vast Ghost, his reflections on the history and culture of Provence, including a late flowering of poems, was published a few days before his death in Sommieres in 1990.

Robert Ryan has written and illustrated several books including: Justine, This Is For You, and A Sky Full Of Kindness. Ryan was born in 1962 in Akrotiri, Cyprus. He studied fine art at Trent Polytechnic before he went on to specialize in printmaking at the Royal College of Art in London. In addition to fine art, he works in the mediums of ceramics, textiles, homewares, and jewelry. His work has been exhibited widely across the UK and internationally. He lives and works in London.

About this edition

• Publisher: Faber and Faber
• Publication date: 1961
• ISBN 10: 0525470808
• ISBN 13: 9780525470809
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1