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A review by lookhome
The Black Book by Lawrence Durrell
3.0
Durrell's Black Book is beautifully written with moments of truly inspired, poetic meditations on life, love, death and art.
There are important, time tested themes here and a memorable array of characters not unlike his later Novel Justine.
However, where Justine provides a story and structure worth dissecting, the narrative here is disjointed, distant and dull.
This reads more like a philosophical call to terms than a novel and while there's nothing wrong with a well placed or well meaning philosophical call to arms, it seem, in his youth, Durrell couldn't really decide what to do, or slapped on a narrative to try and express certain points of view.
He nearly admits as much throughout the novel.
This is a good concept and a decent first novel and it is filled with great lines and capital T truths, it simply isn't a very good story.
There are important, time tested themes here and a memorable array of characters not unlike his later Novel Justine.
However, where Justine provides a story and structure worth dissecting, the narrative here is disjointed, distant and dull.
This reads more like a philosophical call to terms than a novel and while there's nothing wrong with a well placed or well meaning philosophical call to arms, it seem, in his youth, Durrell couldn't really decide what to do, or slapped on a narrative to try and express certain points of view.
He nearly admits as much throughout the novel.
This is a good concept and a decent first novel and it is filled with great lines and capital T truths, it simply isn't a very good story.