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A review by thomasgoddard
Clea by Lawrence Durrell
5.0
Redemption. In every sense. Clea is a supreme conclusion to the quartet and yet... It has that quality of remaining open. Life goes on. As I suppose it must do, even for characters.
'A light marine fucus of brilliant yellow and green had bearded them -- shallow curtains of weed which swung lightly in the tide, parting and closing, as if to reveal their secrets suggestively and then cover them again.'
I have my own ideas of where they ended up. That's the magic of the quartet for me. It pulls you down a rabbit hole and then it spits you out. Blinking against the stark light of day. It ends just as the characters are truly starting to live in the present. After all they have been through.
Bound up in each others lives, they suffocated each other with their desires and their designs on and demands of each other. Finally resurfacing, they can at last breathe and then it is done. The story is told. Maturity is reached. But they live on.
'... we know that the history of literature is the history of laughter and pain.'
I couldn't recommend these novels more. I think I've matured enough to love Clea as much as Justine.
'A light marine fucus of brilliant yellow and green had bearded them -- shallow curtains of weed which swung lightly in the tide, parting and closing, as if to reveal their secrets suggestively and then cover them again.'
I have my own ideas of where they ended up. That's the magic of the quartet for me. It pulls you down a rabbit hole and then it spits you out. Blinking against the stark light of day. It ends just as the characters are truly starting to live in the present. After all they have been through.
Bound up in each others lives, they suffocated each other with their desires and their designs on and demands of each other. Finally resurfacing, they can at last breathe and then it is done. The story is told. Maturity is reached. But they live on.
'... we know that the history of literature is the history of laughter and pain.'
I couldn't recommend these novels more. I think I've matured enough to love Clea as much as Justine.