Mountolive
Hardback) | |
Preceded by | Balthazar |
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Followed by | Clea |
Mountolive, published in 1958, is the third volume in The Alexandria Quartet series by British author Lawrence Durrell. Set in Alexandria, Egypt, around World War II, the four novels tell essentially the same story from different points of view and come to a conclusion in Clea. Mountolive is the only third person narrative in the series, and it is also the most overtly political.
According to biographer Ian MacNiven, Lawrence Durrell regarded Mountolive as the clou, the nail holding together the entire structure of the Quartet. And Durrell gave to David Mountolive, his English ambassador, details from his own life: "Mountolive had been born in India, had left it at age eleven, had had an affair with a Yugoslav dancer. Mountolive had not seen his father again after leaving India, and this Larry joined to his own myth of abandonment, a myth he came absolutely to believe, that he had not seen his father after coming to England."[1]
Plot and characterization
The novel's tensions begin with young David Mountolive on the Hosnani estate, where he has begun an affair with Leila Hosnani, mother of Nessim and Narouz. This leads to a recollection of Mountolive's maturation and career as a diplomat, a career which in time returns him to Egypt, leading up to the present day of the novel series, at which point Mountolive recontextualizes the materials that appeared previously in
The novel ends with the Copt wake for Narouz. The Pasha has disingenuously pretended to believe he is the Hosnani in the incriminating papers so he can continue to receive bribes from Nessim. Mountolive, meanwhile prepares to turn his back on Egypt, totally disillusioned.
Responses
Durrell had sent out proofs and carbons of Mountolive to a few people whose opinions he valued.
Footnotes
- ^ Ian MacNiven, Lawrence Durrell, A Biography, Faber 1998, p.466-468
- ^ Manzalaoui, Mahmoud (1962). "Curate's Egg: An Alexandrian Opinion of Durrell's Quartet." Etudes Anglaises 15.3. pp. 248-260.
- ^ Haag, Michael (2004). Alexandria: City of Memory. Yale University Press. 0300104154.
- ^ Lawrence Durrell, a Biography - Ian MacNiven, p.488, 490
External links
- The International Lawrence Durrell Society Official website of ILDS