The Alexandria Quartet is the novel-tetralogy of Lawrence Darrell , which takes place in the Egyptian city of Alexandria on the eve of World War II , during the era of the British military presence in Egypt .
| Alexandria Quartet | |
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| The Alexandria Quartet | |
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| Genre | novel |
| Author | Lawrence Darrell |
| Original language | English |
| Date of writing | 1957 - 1961 |
| Date of first publication | 1962 |
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The Alexandria Quartet is the most famous work of Lawrence Darrell , the pinnacle of his literary work. The book brought the author tremendous success among the reading public and was enthusiastically received by many critics.
Lawrence Darrell created a novel in which many storylines were intertwined, the narration is conducted in the third person, then alternately on behalf of several characters, and a complex language is the subject of study for several generations of literary critics.
Tetralogy consists of four large books, approximately the same in volume: Justine, Balthazar, Mountolive, and Clea. According to the author’s intention, the first three books contain three different points of view on the events of the same time interval, and in the fourth book, events begin to develop again and combine all previous episodes into a single whole.
This is a novel in which baroque meets romanticism, and modernism - with postmodernism. The story that happened in the 30s of the XX century - and it could have happened in the Ptolemaic era: eastern exoticism, romantic passions, love polygons, mysticism, espionage and political intrigue, luxury and poverty, missing children, mysterious murders and suicides - all a twist on an adventure novel: either the detective Le Carré or the tragedy of Webster. It seems that Darrell was writing a book for all tastes and for all occasions. Do you want a traditional “parenting novel”, with a linear narrative, third-person narrative, omniscient and invisible author in Flober’s taste, with a clear and rational intrigue? Here it is - Mountolive. Would you like something modernist-poetic, obscure and mysterious, interlaced with philosophical contexts, references to Jung and the Gnostics, saturated with poetic allusions from Cavafy? This product is also available - Justine. And if you need something ironic-postmodern, with tarot symbols, which makes you recall Fowles or Calvino (in fact, both Fowles and Calvino were later) - then please, “Balthazar”. A novel created as a palimpsest: notes by Darley, the narrator, protagonist, comments by his friend Balthazar, diaries of his beloved Justine and her husband Nessim, novel by her first husband Arnoti, notebooks of the writer Persuordin ... Opinions on what is happening intersect, close, differ, deny each other friend, so that the reader finally loses the idea of truth - or at least the possibility of its existence. The carnival element, the theater of shadows, in which people are only actors, masks, archetypes, painted decals, who themselves do not know who they really are. [one]
This novel, in my opinion, is the only work about Egypt of the 20th century. Egypt is already a fragment of the colonial empire, and the collapse of colonialism there is just captured, as in the photograph. In my opinion, this is the only work in which this moment is most accurately expressed. There is practically nothing else about the spirit of Alexandria as such. As far as I know, it already weathered there a long time ago, about 40 years ago. [2]
Content
- 1 plot
- 1.1 The first book. Justine
- 1.2 The second book. Balthazar
- 1.3 Book Three. Mountolive
- 1.4 Book Four. Clea
- 2 Screen version
- 3 notes
Story
Book one. Justine
Alexandria , the end of the 1930s . King Farouk rules Egypt , relying on the omnipotent Minister of the Interior, the cruel and self-serving Memlik Pasha. British troops were stationed in Egypt; the country was subordinated to the influence of England . In the life of Alexandria, the European diaspora plays a prominent role; its representatives are closely associated with the influential stratum of Copts .
The young writer Darley comes to Alexandria from the UK, works as a school teacher and leads a bohemian life. Once during a drunken party, he helps bring the Greek Melissa, the dancer and the courtesan to life. Melissa turns out to be a sweet girl, capable of sincere and tender feelings; love arises between them. However, Darley soon met with the eccentric seducer Justine, the wife of the millionaire Nessim Hoznani, one of the leaders of the Egyptian Copts. Justine is known throughout the city for her many love affairs. The turbulent romance between Darley and Justine does not strangely interfere with Nessim’s friendship with Darley, who gradually begins to fear revenge from her deceived husband, but is unable to overcome the attraction to Justine. Darley learns about the secrets that have plagued Justine throughout her life - memories of a childhood rape and a lost child, kidnapped and sold in a children's brothel , her many visits to psychiatrists and a strange secret mystical society.
Alexandria appears in the novel as the city that Darley sees it - luxurious, sophisticated, vicious, cosmopolitan. Gradually, a whole gallery of characters from secular society line up in front of the reader: a French diplomat, a hangman and a schemer Pombal, a Kabbalist doctor Balthazar, a perceptive and mocking writer Persuordin, an old-fashioned romantic doctor Amaril, a pathological libertine Kapodistria, an independent and judicious artist Clea, professional gigolo Tigolo and other representatives of the European colony. The world of the Alexandria Quartet is a world of Europeans and Christian Copts; there are very few heroes belonging to the Muslim majority. Numerous love affairs, scandals, gossip, and then espionage, which Darley is involved in, are intertwined in the most bizarre way.
Love for Justine gradually fills Darley's whole life, because of her, he leaves Melissa, loses his job, plunges into his feelings, realizing that Justine is not at all inclined to respond to his love with the same feelings. Suddenly, Nessim invites Darley to a big duck hunt at his estate. Darley fears the possibility of getting a bullet, but accepts the invitation. But instead of hunting, Kapodistria does not return, who turned out to be the culprit of the Justin rape. Immediately after that, Justine leaves for Palestine. Nessim, meanwhile, makes a connection with Melissa, she gives birth to a girl from him and soon dies of tuberculosis. Frustrated in everything, Darley picks up Melissa’s child and leaves for Crete, where he writes a book about his relationship with Justine.
The second book. Balthazar
Having received the manuscript of his book from Darley, Balthazar brings him a voluminous commentary on the island, from which Darley learns the background of many events that appear before him in a completely different light. Darley understands that for Justine, their relationship was an insignificant episode in a series of endless sexual relationships with men, and sometimes women, and that her affair with Darley served as a cover for intimate meetings with Perswarden. Justine had a passion for this man, reaching the point of slavish admiration - probably because Persuordin was the only man who openly mocked her reputation as a fatal woman and ridiculed even her complexes related to her rape and kidnapping of a child. Persuordin suspected that for Justine, these events gradually became only an excuse to create an aura of mysterious nature around him, and did not hesitate to tell her about it. When Persuordin unexpectedly committed suicide, Justine survived his death as the worst loss.
Meanwhile, it begins to emerge that the anti-British conspiracy in which Nessim and Justine Hoznani were suspected turned out to be real. The British have long received information that in Egypt, not so much Muslims are opposed to them, as Coptic Christians, who are supported by the Jewish and Armenian diasporas. In the second book, Nessim’s brother, Navruz, and their mother Leila, a smart and educated woman, but subject to strange clouding of reason, first appear. The brothers are very friendly with each other, they share efforts to manage the wealth of Khoznani: Nessim is responsible for finances, Navruz is responsible for land ownership. The physical ugliness of Navruz (cleft lip) turned him away from high society; in Alexandria, only one person is dear to him - the beautiful artist Clea, with whom he has been in love for a long time and hopelessly.
Leyla Khoznani was a beauty in her youth and longed for a free life, managed to get an education, dreamed of leaving for Europe after her husband’s death, but on the eve of her departure she fell ill with smallpox, lost her beauty, and with it her hope to escape from seclusion. Leila voluntarily put on the veil and remained in the estate, which turned into a refuge for her. The only window into the civilized world was for Leyla letters: when she was forty years old, the young British diplomat Mountoliv, who lived for several weeks as a guest in the house of Khoznani, became her lover. After parting, they began to correspond, and for both of them this intellectual connection began to mean much more than a love affair, from which only obscure memories gradually remained.
Nowruz hates Justine, believing that his brother dishonored himself with such a marriage, and once tries to kill her during a masquerade, but by mistake kills de Brunel. Nowruz is in Clea’s house, confesses to the murder and love for her; Clea listens to him in disgust and hurries to expose him. After this, Navruz begins to seek solace in religion, gradually acquires the reputation of a preacher among local Copts, which ultimately jeopardizes the secret plans of the conspirators.
The third book. Mountolive
At the beginning of the third book, action is temporarily delayed twenty years ago when Mountolive first appeared in Egypt and met with Leila on the estate of Khozhani. A young diplomat who is fluent in Arabic and considers himself an expert in Egypt, over and over again makes sure that the local life is full of surprises. From conversations with Leila, her sons, and her crippled husband, Mountolive learns how influential Christian Copts have been during the centuries of dominance of Arabs and Turks; the appearance of the English shattered a steady balance.
Mountolive's memories serve to explain the seemingly unjustified Copts conspiracy against England. Now Nessim and his associates are supplying weapons to Palestine for Jews planning to overthrow British power there and seize dominance in the country. The conspirators argue: the rise of Islamic radicalism is inevitable, the British will sooner or later leave and the Copts in Egypt will become a persecuted minority; in order to prevent this, it is necessary to create a counterbalance to Muslims in the Middle East in the form of the state of Israel, no matter how the British oppose it.
Having been appointed ambassador to Egypt after a long break, Mountolive almost immediately faces a difficult choice: giving the British intelligence information about the conspiracy the course means the almost inevitable death of Nessim, the son of a woman who was not only Mountoliv’s mistress, but over the years of correspondence the closest friend, his mentor in the knowledge of the world. At the same time, Navruz, inspired by his popularity among the people, begins to claim the role of leader and openly challenges his older brother. Little by little, a dilemma arises before Nessim: either give the accomplices consent to liquidate Navruz and lay the blame on him for delivering weapons, or lose everything and possibly die. Justine very gently, unobtrusively pushes her husband to make the first decision.
Mountolive meets Lisa, the sister of Persuordin, a blind girl of extraordinary beauty. It turns out that Persuordin’s suicide is connected with the discovery of Nessim’s conspiracy, and his sister is more and more like the new ambassador. Both Mountolive and Nessim make their choice in favor of duty, not feelings. Leila, in fear for her son, calls the ambassador for a secret meeting, begging him to save Nessim, but only cruelly disappoints Mountoliva, who, instead of a wise interlocutor, sees in her an old vulgar Arab matron. Mountoliv notifies the Egyptian authorities. Nessim brings Memlik Pasha a large bribe, at the same time gives his consent to the physical elimination of his brother. The killer who was sent to the estate fired a dozen bullets at Navruz; he manages to blind the attacker who drowns in the lake with blows of a whip. Nowruz does not reproach his brother, although he understands that Nessim was involved in the attempt; before his death, he wants only one thing - to see Clea. The girl reluctantly agrees to come, but (by chance or not) is delayed along the way, and Nowruz dies after a long agony, mourned by the common people.
Book Four. Clea
The events of the fourth book fall at the height of hostilities in North Africa during the Second World War. Darley at the request of Nessim returns from Crete to Alexandria and brings with him a girl who quickly finds a common language with her father. After uncovering the conspiracy [ what? ] Nessim and Justine live under house arrest, having lost most of their money, but do not lose hope of getting out of the country. Leila, who left for Kenya, dies there, broken by the death of Navruz and the severance of relations with Mountolive. Justine, once isolated, loses his charm and divides his leisure between depression and drugs. Darley feels almost complete indifference to her and hurries to get rid of her society.
Alexandria became a front-line city, German aircraft bomb the port, the streets are full of soldiers. Darley gets a job at the British Embassy and finally gets close to Clea, with whom he has long had a difficult relationship. The whole year goes on serene, full of joy and understanding, love; the danger of air raids only fuels their feelings.
Darley learns new details about the relationship between Persuordin and Justine. He gets acquainted with Lisa, who tells him the details from the life of his brother. Having lost their parents, Persuordin and his blind sister grew up together in an abandoned house in Ireland and entered into a relationship in their youth; they loved only each other. But when Lisa gave birth to a blind girl, who soon died, Persuordden became overcome by guilt: he wanted Lisa to meet her man and marry. In the end, Mountolive marries Liza and receives an appointment as ambassador to Paris, just freed from occupation.
Relations between Darley and Clea are gradually clouded. Clea's prediction that once made the eccentric British sailor Scobey is especially hard on Clea; he talked about the death of Navruz and added that the dead man’s love would triumph and he would take his beloved to him. Clea becomes unpredictable and inadequate, quarrels with Darley, increasingly avoids him, and finally almost completely breaks him. Darley is relieved to learn that he is sent on a business trip to Crete, but Clea calls him goodbye to swim in the sea with Balthazar. When they dive in turn at a sunken ship, Balthazar accidentally fires a harpoon gun that once belonged to Navruz. The harpoon punches Clea with her right hand, nailing it under water to the side of the ship, and in order to save her beloved, Darley is forced to cut off her brush.
Having finished work in Crete, Darley decides to leave Alexandria forever and go to Europe. Darley and Clea write letters to each other at the same time, from which it follows that their plans are the same. Clea recovered from her depression and gained the ability to paint with an artificial hand. She tells Darley about Justine, who managed to break free, seducing the terrible Memlik Pasha, and now she is going to Switzerland with Nessim. Clea reports that she finally feels like a real artist; Darley - that he probably still manages to become a writer. In letters, they invite each other for a date in Paris.
Screen version
In 1969, Americans George Cukor and Joseph Streak made the two-hour film Justine based on the novel. Despite the “starry" cast ( Anouk Eme , Dirk Bogard , Philippe Noire , Michael York , Anna Karina , John Vernon , etc.), the film turned out to be unprofitable and was generally skeptical about critics. Lawrence Darrell himself was also dissatisfied with the film adaptation and the fact that he was not involved in the work on the script.
As the name of the film suggests, Justine and her relationship with Darley are at the center of the plot, while many of the book's characters are reduced to episodic roles, and Clea, Balthazar, Leila, Amaril and some other characters do not appear in the picture at all. As a result, Justine was the only attempt to bring the Alexandria Quartet to the screen.