Alexandria: A History and a Guide; and Pharos and Pharillon

by E.M. Forster, Miriam Farris Allott (Editor)

The aim of the Abinger Editions is to provide a new, properly edited library of the literary works of E.M. Forster that does justice to his literary genius. The latest in the series is Alexandria, written while Forster was in Egypt during the First World War. This edition collates and compares all the existing editions of the work to provide the definitive version of the text. It also contains the subsequent work by Forster, Pharos and Pharillon.

Genres: Travel, History, Egypt, Alexandria, Nonfiction

448 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Edward Morgan Forster, generally published as E.M. Forster, was an English novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society. His humanistic impulse toward understanding and sympathy may be aptly summed up in the epigraph to his 1910 novel Howards End: "Only connect".

He had five novels published in his lifetime, achieving his greatest success with A Passage to India (1924) which takes as its subject the relationship between East and West, seen through the lens of India in the later days of the British Raj.

Forster's views as a secular humanist are at the heart of his work, which often depicts the pursuit of personal connections in spite of the restrictions of contemporary society. He is noted for his use of symbolism as a technique in his novels, and he has been criticised for his attachment to mysticism. His other works include Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), The Longest Journey (1907), A Room with a View (1908) and Maurice (1971), his posthumously published novel which tells of the coming of age of an explicitly gay male character.

Reviews

[Keith Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Called the best guidebook ever written, Forster's homage to Alexandria is at once informative, evocative, and nostalgic. The first half of the book is a series of vignettes on various moments and characters in the city's history. Forster immersed himself in the literature of ancient Alexandria and Greece, and it is this intimate acquaintance with the thought of the old city that gives the historical section its depth. Using a style that, though terse, always has time for a story or interesting quote, he covers the ancient library and mouseion, the Alexandrian contributions to science, the Christian and Arab periods. In the celebrated section "The Spiritual City," he outlines the religious heritage of Alexandria, demonstrating how Christianity as we know it today was largely formed in this city. Durrell drew heavily on this section for the gnostic theme that runs through the Quartet. The historical section concludes with a translation of Cavafy's "The God Abandons Antony," the first Cavafy poem to appear in print in English, and Forster considered the primary achievement of his guidebook to be the introduction of Cavafy to the English-speaking world.[return:]Each historical section is linked to sections in the guide, and Forster claimed that "the 'sights' of Alexandria are in themselves not interesting, but they fascinate when we approach them through the past." Forster spent much time on trams in Alexandria, and the great love of his life, Mohammed el Adl, was a tram conductor on the Bacos route. It is fitting, then, that the tramlines should provide the web holding the guidebook together. Forster takes us through the city by tram, pointing out interesting buildings and sites to left and right. The guide also contains maps of the ancient and modern city, and plans of the Greco-Roman Museum and the Wadi Natrun monasteries.[return:]The book had a difficult birth: Forster's Alexandrian publisher suffered a fire in which they thought the books had been burned. After recouping insurance compensation, they discovered that they had in fact survived. They then decided to burn the books deliberately. In 1935, members of the Royal Archaeological Society of Alexandria decided to reprint the book. Forster put some work into revisions, but this second edition did not sell well, and it was only after the book was published in the US that it achieved moderate sales.

More than any other guidebook, Forster's comes across as a labor of love. Lawrence Durrell wrote of the guidebook that Forster "must have been deeply happy, perhaps deeply in love . . . Paradoxically, if that is the word, the book is also saturated with the feeling of loneliness, that of a cultivated man talking to himself, walking by himself."

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a great guide through not only alexandria, but her literary progeny: the alexandria quartet. even though i'm still on 'justine', this book has helped me formulate a mental map of the wondrous city, allowing me to follow along with nessim and balthazar and co. as they walk, talk, and fuck their way around the city. from turkish town and tatwig street, to rue fuad and nebi daniel, the book offers not only a spacial orientation but also a temporal one. starting from alexander the great walking through the empty desert and imagining a great city (which his architects then built), to cleopatra and her roman love affairs, through the arab conquest and subsequent retraction of the city, to her rebirth under muhamed ali (not the boxer) into a protean wonderworld. the city really is an international marvel: with egyptian, greek, jewish, and roman traditions. forster helps bring to life the glamour and intrigue that early 20th cent. alexandria held. this book was durrell's bible when he lived there as a young man before ww2 and many of its themes and ideas reappear in his first volume of the alexandria quartet. but even as a free standing document, not used to enhance another world class work of lierature, the book stands on its own as a stunning portrait of a city that continually reinvented herself to stay relavent through empire after empire, spawning new religions and new ideologies, as well as giving us an intellectual heritage of libraries AND museums. so the next time you visit the louvre or walk into your local library, think of alexandria and all she's done for you.

[Yasmine Selim · Rating 2 out of 5]

الجزء الأول من الكتاب شيق للغاية، أما الجزء الثاني الخاص بدليل الإسكندرية شعرت معه بالملل

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The five stars are more for the history than the guide, which although excellent, feels a little less useful a century later. But the history is wonderful. Not only tremendously capacious but also short, accessible, authoritative, and extremely well-written. His command of vast amounts of historical, philosophical, and theological material, whether real or apparent, is deeply impressive, with turns of phrase on every page worth quoting in full.

[Jing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Depending on your preference, you may find the first half (the history) or the second half (the contemporary walking guide) more interesting--I liked the first half better, although there were lots of very lovely gems in the second half too. Of course, I love E.M. Forster and was entirely predisposed to love this book already.

[Ucing Ayong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those who think Cleopatra was Black need to read this.

[Sharon Zink · Rating 1 out of 5]

I recognize good writing when I see it, but this book did not make any sense to me.

[شريف البدالى · Rating 4 out of 5]

الاسكندرية الكزموبلوتينية كما لما تراها من قبل