Sappho

by Lawrence Durrell, Roger Giroux (Translator)

Cette pièce riche et complexe, aux rebondissements nombreux et pittoresques, met en scène la célèbre poétesse, Sappho, hantée par l'approche de la vieillesse. Son amant, le général Pittakos, ayant remporté une victoire sur Athènes, se fait proclamer tyran et révèle son ambition de fonder un vaste empire dont Lesbos serait la tête. Après une succession de coups de théâtre, Sappho, exilée à Corinthe fomentera une coalition contre l'empire de Pittakos, et le poursuivra d'une haine implacable jusque dans l'ile de Phaon, son frère jumeau, où il est allé chercher refuge. Ce drame est dominé par le thème lancinant de la ville engloutie, et le personnage de Sappho est une des créatures les plus émouvantes de Durrell. La version anglaise de cette pièce est en vers, mais il a semblé préférable à l'auteur comme au traducteur d'en donner une traduction en prose au lecteur français.

Genres: Plays

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Lawrence George Durrell was a critically hailed and beloved novelist, poet, humorist, and travel writer best known for The Alexandria Quartet novels, which were ranked by the Modern Library as among the greatest works of English literature in the twentieth century. A passionate and dedicated writer from an early age, Durrell’s prolific career also included the groundbreaking Avignon Quintet, whose first novel, Monsieur (1974), won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and whose third novel, Constance (1982), was nominated for the Booker Prize. He also penned the celebrated travel memoir Bitter Lemons of Cyprus (1957), which won the Duff Cooper Prize. Durrell corresponded with author Henry Miller for forty-five years, and Miller influenced much of his early work, including a provocative and controversial novel, The Black Book (1938). Durrell died in France in 1990.

The time Lawrence spent with his family, mother Louisa, siblings Leslie, Margaret Durrell, and Gerald Durrell, on the island of Corfu were the subject of Gerald's memoirs and have been filmed numerous times for TV.

Reviews

[Poppie Gibson · Rating 2 out of 5]

note to self: just because it has sappho as the title doesn’t mean you’re going to love it.