Product Description

Many readers know Lawrence Durrell as the famed author of the lush and sensuous Alexandria Quartet. However, this wonderful book contains the best of Durrell's incomparable travel writing. It is collected here for the first time in a single volume and offers a chance to rediscover the author as one of the great travel writers of the twentieth century. Durrell's passionate, evocative writing about his travels-in particular the Greek islands-is a timeless exploration of how landscapes shape our experience. This collection also re-creates a world where a struggling author or artist could buy a cliff-side house on Corfu for a pittance and begin to invent himself as a man of letters while falling in love with an alien but endlessly entertaining culture. The Lawrence Durrell Travel Reader combines the merits of great escape reading and serious literature and will interest fans of Durrell, fans of Greek islands, and lovers of travel writing.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #635331 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 375 pages

From Booklist
Durrell, a twentieth-century British writer admired by discriminating readers, was the author of the Alexandria Quartet, a novel cycle named for the alluring and mysterious Egyptian city in which it was set. He also traveled avidly and consequently established a reputation as a brilliant travel writer. Evidence is made concrete in this anthology, in which excerpts from Durrell's book-length travelogues are gathered with short pieces published independently. His particular love for the islands of the Mediterranean shines from its pages, and such passion impels travel literature to its fullest purpose: to stir the reader's imagination and longing. Durrell's fundamental philosophy about travel is declared, and the tone for this entire anthology is set, by the first piece, "Landscape and Character," a 1960 essay originally published in the New York Times Magazine--his sentiment codified as "human beings are expressions of their landscape, but in order to touch the secret springs of a national essence you need a few moments of quiet with yourself." Quiet time with this book is its own great reward. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Compared to most travel writing, should be 6 stars
The Lawrence Durrell Reader is a compendium of his best travel writing. All the entries concern the Mediterranean World and particularly its islands--Corfu, Rhodes, Cyprus and Sicily, with Provence and Delphi thrown in for continental balance. The collection celebrates what Durrell liked to call "Spirit of Place." It may seem occasionally dated as we move into the final decadance of condominium development. It may seem nostalgic in an age where beachfront hotels supply "animation" for its patrons. But from the exuberance of Prospero's Cell to the sadness of Bitter Lemons, Durrell will tell you everything you need to know about the places he looked for in himself.


Less Than a Shadow

boring
I thought about title for my review and could not think anything else but "boring".
Barely could read 1/3 of it. I really love his younger brother's( Gerald Durrell) books that's why I bought this one to see what kind of a writer Lowrence is.
If it's a guidebook it isn't much usefull because it was written long time ago!