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Through the Dark Labyrinth: A Biography of Lawrence Durrell
Widely acknowledged now as one of the great authors of the twentieth century, Lawrence Durrell has legions of fans worldwide and was shortlisted for a Nobel prize in 1962. A prolific novelist, travel writer and poet, he is best remembered today for the magical Alexandria Quartet, one of the great evocations of a city in literature Born in 1912 in India, and schooled under the shadow of Mount Everest until the family moved to London when he was thirteen, Durrell never felt at home in Britain, referring to it ever after as “pudding island”. His academic career was unsuccessful. He failed his entrance exam to Cambridge several times and migrated to Europe as soon as he was able, settling in Corfu with his first wife Nancy Myers. Durrell spent his most productive years in Greece and Cyprus, where he wrote Bitter Lemons, nominated for the Duff Cooper prize in 1957. To support his wife and first daughter Penelope he found work with the British Council, but by the outbreak of the second world war his marriage had foundered. Durrell was posted to Egypt and it was here that he met Eve Cohen, who became the inspiration for Justine, the tortured femme fatale of the first volume of the Alexandria Quartet. In this unauthorised study Gordon Bowker is able to take an objective view of this difficult, but hugely talented, man. He has interviewed numerous friends and associates and gives a comprehensive account of the great writer’s rich and immensely varied life, and his friendships with literary luminaries of the time, in particular American writer Henry Miller. Married four times, Lawrence Durrell lost two daughters, through separation and suicide. Posthumous charges of incest cast a shadow over his memory, but nothing can detract from the scope and brilliance of his achievement. Praise for Gordon Bowker 'Bowker is a shrewd judge of character and has substantial storytelling flair. He effortlessly weaves biography and criticism together into a discerning whole….A noteworthy success that meets the highest standard of literary biography.' - Kirkus ‘ it is faithful to the work of its subject, and endorses his eminent place in literature; and it manages to make Durrell the man greater than his unkind and unloving heart.’ – Sunday Independent ‘Mr Durrell is more than a novelist, he is a writer; I think that in Justine he has found a form, a blend of imagination and memory, of analysis and dream,poetry and prose, which enables him, in the sun of Alexandria and the shade of Kavafy, to come into his own…’ – Cyril Connelly - The Sunday Times Gordon Bowker was born in Birmingham, where he attended King Edward's Grammar School, Camp Hill. He went on to study at university in both Nottingham and London before teaching sociology at Goldsmith's College, London, from 1966 to 1991. He spent six years teaching courses in biography, and also worked as a reviewer and critic for several newspapers. His works include ‘Pursued by A Biography of Malcolm Lowry’, as well as biographies of George Orwell and James Joyce.
568 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 2, 2011
i nice primer on durrell's life, but i couldn't shake the feeling that the author was trying to 'hurry up and finish' the bio. i think macniven's bio is gonna be much better (but of course we don't have it here at the good old phoenix public library, so i'm gonna have to part with 20-30 dollars and purchase a copy from the cloud). macniven edited the durrell/miller letters 1935-1980 which i'm also reading and is quite good if you can get past the mutual mental masturbation which durrell and miller engage in ('you're a genius", "no, you're a genius", "no, we're both geniuses and the public just hasn't caught up", "anais is a genius, i mean - for a women". now they both were influential and (misogynistic) great writers but the ego stroking gets a bit tiresome.) anyway there's enough surface detail in this bio to make it interesting enough, but if you're just interested in durrell because of the alexandria quartet, i'd read alexander haag's 'alexandria: city of memory', which is a bio of durrell, cafavy and forster during their time in the city. haag's book investigates durrell in relation to the quartet as well as being much better researched. for example, bowker says that durrell made up the place 'ascona', but a simple google search will tell you it's a municipality in switzerland; now whether or not durrell was actually there, he may have made up, but do a little due diligence man. this slip made me doubt some other things as well, but i'm not here to bash books, just talk about the ones i love. the alexandria quartet being one and also the reason i've read handfuls of books on a city i'd never gave a thought to before cracking open 'justine', alors, thus is literature!
November 13, 2020
I found this to be a great "intro" to understanding the style and ideas of L.D.
Strangely, I had hard times going through his "Greek years", that got me interested in this author in the first place, but once the story was moved to Alexandria, I could not let the book down. Until the chapter where his second wife dies. I just felt so sad for him, it took me a few weeks to get back to reading.
Overall, this book is for those who are looking to understand and read Durrell's work the right way.
If you are looking for an exciting life story, then this might not be for you. There's too many details writing, people he knew, family etc.
Strangely, I had hard times going through his "Greek years", that got me interested in this author in the first place, but once the story was moved to Alexandria, I could not let the book down. Until the chapter where his second wife dies. I just felt so sad for him, it took me a few weeks to get back to reading.
Overall, this book is for those who are looking to understand and read Durrell's work the right way.
If you are looking for an exciting life story, then this might not be for you. There's too many details writing, people he knew, family etc.
March 22, 2022
UPDATE: Here's a link to my essay on The Alexandria Quartet:
http://www.edrants.com/the-alexandria...
A far superior biography on Durrell's life to the MacNiven one, and conducted without MacNiven's unmitigated access to Durrell's papers. Bowker glosses over Durrell's post-ALEXANDRIA life and tries to sustain momentum through some tawdry gossip. But overall this is a solid biography that knows how to synthesize a wide mass of material. We get a portrait of Larry as a jazz pianist and a poet, although I would have liked to know more about his days working for intelligence. Even so, Bowker has a keen eye (as always) for the details that often go into an author's work. And I came away amazed at Durrell's astonishing productivity at such a high level -- even when he slipped with drink and an unruly temper.
http://www.edrants.com/the-alexandria...
A far superior biography on Durrell's life to the MacNiven one, and conducted without MacNiven's unmitigated access to Durrell's papers. Bowker glosses over Durrell's post-ALEXANDRIA life and tries to sustain momentum through some tawdry gossip. But overall this is a solid biography that knows how to synthesize a wide mass of material. We get a portrait of Larry as a jazz pianist and a poet, although I would have liked to know more about his days working for intelligence. Even so, Bowker has a keen eye (as always) for the details that often go into an author's work. And I came away amazed at Durrell's astonishing productivity at such a high level -- even when he slipped with drink and an unruly temper.
March 27, 2022
A fascinating account of a difficult man
Lawrence Durrell was by intention and circumstance an outlier and a maverick. It is interesting to read his biography in conjunction with his better known brother Gerald, for a fascinating picture of a multi-talented family. The many contradictions of his life make for a complex story, but Gordon Bowker does a good job of untangling the many threads and illuminating the counterpoint between a writer and his work.
Lawrence Durrell was by intention and circumstance an outlier and a maverick. It is interesting to read his biography in conjunction with his better known brother Gerald, for a fascinating picture of a multi-talented family. The many contradictions of his life make for a complex story, but Gordon Bowker does a good job of untangling the many threads and illuminating the counterpoint between a writer and his work.
February 26, 2013
Different.
July 15, 2017
Well like most Americans I had never heard of Lawrence Durrell until PBS aired the "The Durrell's in Corfu". It was a quirky six-part series that didn't get interesting until the end, although the actors playing the parts seemed perfect for their roles. By the 2nd time I watched it, I had discovered that my favorite author Robert D. Kaplan had read Durrell and then Google told me how he was such a great British author that perhaps I should check him out. When I went searching his books, they all sounded not like something I would go for so I opted for the biography first. It looks from the photos like Larry in real life looked more like the guy who played Leslie in the PBS show. The parts of the Durrell family in Corfu that I disliked turned out to be the most truthful---crazy family and not so wonderful mother. No where in the PBS thing is the Anglo-Indian connection mentioned but I suppose the Brits already knew that about him. His brother Gerry who was more likable on the PBS show probably was more likable in real life too. Larry went through 4 wives but after reading 3/4 of the book I couldn't even remember wife #2. At the same time I was reading this book I was reading the letters between Patrick Leigh Fermor and Deborah Devonshire and sometimes got the 2 mixed up (Durrell lived in southern France and Fermor in Greece most of their later years but Fermor again is the more likable guy). I do have the Alexandria Quartet and will eventually give it a try but suspect it probably isn't my thing.
August 31, 2022
If you've ever walked into the hall of mirrors in Durrell's Alexandria Quartet (Justine, Balthazar, Mount Olive and Clea) and wondered about the brilliant mind that created this magical (magickal?) series you owe it to yourself to read this biography. Endless fascinating, not always pretty, Durrells genius is beautifully rendered in Bowker's work.
February 3, 2018
Extremely interesting and great read!
April 23, 2019
Have to admit that have only read a few poems by Lawrence Durrell, and none of his novels. Found this biography totally enthralling. I am really not qualified to work out Durrell's place in the overall pantheon of 20th English literature, but once got to the the end of the book, I bought two of his novels.
Lawrence Durrell comes over as a literary outsider. Born in India in 1912 but was sent to England to be educated. In the 1930s he became a published writer but began wandering, living in different countries, France, Greece, Cyprus. He was in Egypt during World War 2, which inspired him to write his famous Alexandria Quartet series at the end of the 1950's.
From what I can gather from the biography , his fiction developed a reputation for being literary, and dealing with complex themes such as sexuality, including deviance with more than a hint of sadism. Mysticism was important to him , veering more towards Buddhism and Taoism also Gnosticism., with a strong antipathy towards Christianity. He forged a close friendship with Henry Miller which lasted decades. One gets the impression that he was a decade or two of his time, would have been great to hear how Lawrence Durrell viewed Robert Graves or Herman Hesse.
The writer explores Durrell's issues with alcohol , his violence towards women, the 'mindgames' that he played with his daughter Sappho, who took her own life in her 30's . However, he doesn't seem to support the claim that Lawrence Durrell's relationship with Sappho ever became incest .
I really have no idea how those who really know his life and work rate this book. One drawback is that Lawrence Durrell's estate would not grant permission to quote from his work, which meant that only a limited number of short quotes could be used.
But where the biography succeeds is that has certainly motivated me to want to explore the work of Lawrence Durrell.
Lawrence Durrell comes over as a literary outsider. Born in India in 1912 but was sent to England to be educated. In the 1930s he became a published writer but began wandering, living in different countries, France, Greece, Cyprus. He was in Egypt during World War 2, which inspired him to write his famous Alexandria Quartet series at the end of the 1950's.
From what I can gather from the biography , his fiction developed a reputation for being literary, and dealing with complex themes such as sexuality, including deviance with more than a hint of sadism. Mysticism was important to him , veering more towards Buddhism and Taoism also Gnosticism., with a strong antipathy towards Christianity. He forged a close friendship with Henry Miller which lasted decades. One gets the impression that he was a decade or two of his time, would have been great to hear how Lawrence Durrell viewed Robert Graves or Herman Hesse.
The writer explores Durrell's issues with alcohol , his violence towards women, the 'mindgames' that he played with his daughter Sappho, who took her own life in her 30's . However, he doesn't seem to support the claim that Lawrence Durrell's relationship with Sappho ever became incest .
I really have no idea how those who really know his life and work rate this book. One drawback is that Lawrence Durrell's estate would not grant permission to quote from his work, which meant that only a limited number of short quotes could be used.
But where the biography succeeds is that has certainly motivated me to want to explore the work of Lawrence Durrell.
April 27, 2020
Estos días he terminado de leer Through The Dark Labyrinth, la biografía de Lawrence Durrell que tenía pendiente, reposando en la mesita de la cama, desde hace ya dos años. El libro, escrito por Gordon Bowker, autor que desconocía pero que arrastra algo de fama desde su obra sobre Malcolm Lowry, carece de edición española, de versión digital e incluso parece que hace décadas que no se reedita, lo cual es una pena pues es sumamente atractivo para cualquiera interesado en el autor de El Cuarteto de Alejandría o Las Islas Griegas.
Yo lo compré a través de Amazon, de segunda mano, con la sorpresa de que el ejemplar procedía de una biblioteca pública (creo recordar que de una localidad de Virginia), con su tejuelo y todo, pulcramente forrado e impecable. Quiero pensar que procedía de un expurgo y no había sido obtenido por otros medios ciertamente censurables. Pero la duda de por qué una biblioteca expurgaría un libro tan poco común todavía me ronda. En cualquier caso, si se diera la poco probable coincidencia de que alguien de dicha biblioteca leyese esto (y me dijera exactamente el nombre de la misma como prueba, que por eso me guardo), con mucho gusto se lo devolvería ahora que lo he terminado.
Más: http://guillermocarvajal.net/cultura/...
Yo lo compré a través de Amazon, de segunda mano, con la sorpresa de que el ejemplar procedía de una biblioteca pública (creo recordar que de una localidad de Virginia), con su tejuelo y todo, pulcramente forrado e impecable. Quiero pensar que procedía de un expurgo y no había sido obtenido por otros medios ciertamente censurables. Pero la duda de por qué una biblioteca expurgaría un libro tan poco común todavía me ronda. En cualquier caso, si se diera la poco probable coincidencia de que alguien de dicha biblioteca leyese esto (y me dijera exactamente el nombre de la misma como prueba, que por eso me guardo), con mucho gusto se lo devolvería ahora que lo he terminado.
Más: http://guillermocarvajal.net/cultura/...
January 11, 2016
Lawrence Durrell worshipped landscapes almost as much as he worshipped the un-ensouled female body. When the British-born Durrell was six years old, his family moved to India so his father could work on the British-Indian railroad projects. The family lived in Kurseong, on the India-Tibet border, but Durrell was sent to the Jesuit College of St. Joseph's at North Point. From his dorm window, he could see the snow-capped Himalayas and, on clear days, even Mount Everest itself. Durrell learned to rely upon majesty and wonder in his physical surroundings, so much so that he would spend his life turning and returning to the geographic Edens which inspired and satisfied his hunger for beauty. More....
May 13, 2016
I'm quite disappointed by this biography.
The beginning, with Lawrence Durrell's youth in India, then in England and Corfu was interesting. The chapters about the writting of The Alexandria Quartet are also good.
But the others parts are tedious and quite repetitive. I don't think anyone is interested by a so close account of Durrel's love and sex life.
And do I care about the sexual life of his friend Henry Miller? No.
The writer, Gordon Bowker, seems to have written this book just in order to blackened Lawrence Durrell 's reputation, whick is quite weird.
I'll try to read another biography of Lawrence Durrell.
The beginning, with Lawrence Durrell's youth in India, then in England and Corfu was interesting. The chapters about the writting of The Alexandria Quartet are also good.
But the others parts are tedious and quite repetitive. I don't think anyone is interested by a so close account of Durrel's love and sex life.
And do I care about the sexual life of his friend Henry Miller? No.
The writer, Gordon Bowker, seems to have written this book just in order to blackened Lawrence Durrell 's reputation, whick is quite weird.
I'll try to read another biography of Lawrence Durrell.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews