Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Plume (1961), Edition: 1st, MM Paperback, bxd, 250 pages
Description
�The politics of love, the intrigues of desire, good and evil, virtue and caprice, love and murder, moved obscurely in the dark corners of Alexandria�s streets and squares, brothels and drawing-rooms � moved like a great congress of eels in the slime of plot and counter-plot.� In Balthazar, the second volume in Durrell�s Alexandria Quartet, the story and the characters come more clearly into focus. Darley, the reflective Englishman, receives from Balthazar, the pathologist, a mass of notes which attempt to explain what really happened between the tempestuous Justine, her husband Nessim, Clea the artist, and Pursewarden the writer; new figures emerge and play key roles. Balthazar, in his �Interlinear�, explains and warns.
User reviews
LibraryThing member thorold
Balthazar is the second member of the Alexandria Quartet, "not a sequel, but a sibling" to Justine, as Durrell insists. The frame story is essentially that the narrator of Justine, still sitting on his Greek island with the child, has sent his manuscript to Dr Balthazar, and Balthazar has now
The technique is thus reminiscent of the "unreliable narrator" technique famously associated with The good soldier, but with the additional twist that Justine was a complete, self-contained novel in its own right: a reader who wasn't aware of the existence of the second book would have no reason to doubt the narrative authority of the first. Of course, now that we have been told that the narrator could be wrong once, we may reasonably enough wonder if we are getting the full story in Balthazar - especially since Durrell's introductory note makes it clear that we are going to get this story at least once more...
Balthazar is similar in style and structure to Justine - a relatively disjointed series of scenes shifting us backwards and forwards in time; descriptions that range from delightful pin-point economy to full-scale, all-guns-blazing, thick, creamy purple soup. At its worst, it is as though Durrell had decided to write a dictionary of quotations, supplying all the material himself; at best it is wonderful.
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brought it back covered in notes and comments supplying additional information about the events described that the narrator was not aware of. We are taken through the story of Justine once again, as the narrator takes on board the additional information, which throws an entirely new light on the motivations and actions of the other characters. The technique is thus reminiscent of the "unreliable narrator" technique famously associated with The good soldier, but with the additional twist that Justine was a complete, self-contained novel in its own right: a reader who wasn't aware of the existence of the second book would have no reason to doubt the narrative authority of the first. Of course, now that we have been told that the narrator could be wrong once, we may reasonably enough wonder if we are getting the full story in Balthazar - especially since Durrell's introductory note makes it clear that we are going to get this story at least once more...
Balthazar is similar in style and structure to Justine - a relatively disjointed series of scenes shifting us backwards and forwards in time; descriptions that range from delightful pin-point economy to full-scale, all-guns-blazing, thick, creamy purple soup. At its worst, it is as though Durrell had decided to write a dictionary of quotations, supplying all the material himself; at best it is wonderful.
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LibraryThing member GarySeverance
Balthazar is the second volume of Durrell's Alexandria Quartet. In the first book, Justine, the narrator Darley, an Irish expatriate living and teahing in Alexandria, described his fascination with the ancient Egyptian city and his immersion into the complex social life of the Alexandrians. As a
The second volume is the Darley's review of an interlinear sent to him by Balthazar a psychiatrist acquaintence who presents another more informed view of the situation described in Justine. Key information not earlier available is supplied and the historical accuracy of events are supplemented by another layer of experience and interpretation. The personalities of the characters are shown to be less fixed and more determined by planned and chance events and locations than the narrator presented in volume one of the quartet.
When there is limited information and insight, a point of view relies on Darley's projections of his own personality and life history necessarily limiting the understanding of a city, its citizens, and the artistic conception of the characters. Balthazar is a psychiatrist who focuses on realistic interpretations of emotions related to character interactions rather than presenting psychoanalytic jargon to obfuscate psychological history. Darley gains startling insight from the writing of Balthazar, his perspective broadens and deepens, and he adds the relativity of time as a factor in his understanding of emotions, especially love and betrayal.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and look forward to the next layer of the story, Mountolive, the third dimension of this evolving work of art. The analysis will continue in the third volume from the point of view of Mountolive, a British Ambassador.
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writer, he wants to capture the essence of the city. The second volume is the Darley's review of an interlinear sent to him by Balthazar a psychiatrist acquaintence who presents another more informed view of the situation described in Justine. Key information not earlier available is supplied and the historical accuracy of events are supplemented by another layer of experience and interpretation. The personalities of the characters are shown to be less fixed and more determined by planned and chance events and locations than the narrator presented in volume one of the quartet.
When there is limited information and insight, a point of view relies on Darley's projections of his own personality and life history necessarily limiting the understanding of a city, its citizens, and the artistic conception of the characters. Balthazar is a psychiatrist who focuses on realistic interpretations of emotions related to character interactions rather than presenting psychoanalytic jargon to obfuscate psychological history. Darley gains startling insight from the writing of Balthazar, his perspective broadens and deepens, and he adds the relativity of time as a factor in his understanding of emotions, especially love and betrayal.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and look forward to the next layer of the story, Mountolive, the third dimension of this evolving work of art. The analysis will continue in the third volume from the point of view of Mountolive, a British Ambassador.
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LibraryThing member Stevil2001
The follow-ups to Justine claim not to move through time, but space. Though the "frame" of this novel occurs after that of Justine, it actually covers the same period of time-- in fact, it probably even starts earlier. The conceit is that one of the other characters involved in the events these
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books depict, the eponymous Balthazar, has read the story we know as Justine, and he's given the still-anonymous narrator a set of notes explaining what really happened. The narrator then writes this up into a new story, adding in some information of his own that he'd previously thought irrelevant, but is now significant in light of what Balthazar told him. It's an interesting conceit, and the new revelations certainly do create a whole new perspective on the events of Justine... but I found myself somewhat unmoved. I might be interested in what's going on... but I'm not involved. Still, I enjoyed it. The main question of the novel is once again one of love and identity and character. Can we ever really know anyone? The conclusion of the narrator at the end of this book would seem to be "no"-- so much of what he thought he knew of Justine, of Melissa, of Balthazar, of Nessim has turned out to be wrong. Which raises the question: how sure can we be of what Balthazar says he knows? I suspect I'll find out in the next volume. Show Less
LibraryThing member JBreedlove
The second novel of Durrell's Alexadria Quartet. Like the first book there wasn't much of a plot. What makes this readable are the superb writing and the unique time and place. Pre-WWII French/British run Alexandria Egypt. Durrell's insight's and languid writing make the book readable. Certainly
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not the best I've ever read but I will read the third book, Clea, one of these days. Show Less
LibraryThing member Narboink
The second novel in Durrell's Alexandria Quartet, "Balthazar" is very much in the same vein as its predecessor, "Justine": rollicking eloquence, elusive plot, and characters viewed dimly through layers of mystery. The writing is excellent and rich with emotion. Sometimes, however, the deliberately
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enigmatic nature of the story results in confusion; I simply didn't always know what was going on or which characters were being discussed. For such a short novel it can be a bit of a slog, especially if impatience is even an occasional vice of the reader. Almost a year passed between my reading of these first two novels, and I suspect that my comprehension level would have been markedly better if I had picked up the second novel sooner. Show Less
LibraryThing member mbmackay
Second book of the Alexandria quartet.
Experimental fiction that was reportedly a commercial and critical success when first published, it has not aged well. Some of the stylistic quirks, such as heavily quoting the words of a fictional author in the story, just seem odd, while others are just self
Experimental fiction that was reportedly a commercial and critical success when first published, it has not aged well. Some of the stylistic quirks, such as heavily quoting the words of a fictional author in the story, just seem odd, while others are just self
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indulgent, such as the repeated returns to quote Scobie the gay former seaman and now police officer. Still the series is impressive in the capacity to represent the same events from the perspective of different story tellers at different times, and the while thing, in my view, is not great, but a good near miss. Read June - July 2010. Show Less
LibraryThing member Rocky_Wing
again the poetry remains. what amazes me about this work is that durrell was able to continue those same themes over from justine yet still keep them vibrant and fresh. i was wondering what else could be added to justine, what other piece (let alone 250 pages of pieces) could add another dimension
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to such a perfect novel. all apprehensions were quickly undone as i read the first few chapters. i felt just as blown away by the revelations as the "i" was. i felt his pain in a very real way. some of the quotes in this work have been bouncing around in my brain and have worked their way out into conversation. specifically "we live by selected fictions" and "we live in the shallows of one another's personalities." these and several others like them are shaping the way i see the world. bravo!!! Show Less
LibraryThing member kant1066
The abridged version of events will be difficult to understand without a summary knowledge of what happened in “Justine,” so please read my review of that novel, the “sibling companion” of “Balthazar,” for a fuller appreciation of both. This review also gives away plot spoilers for
“Balthazar” continues the narrative started in the first volume of the Alexandria Quartet, “Justine.” This time, we read of many of the events recounted in “Justine” from another perspective, that of the psychiatrist Balthazar, who unceremoniously disrupts and complicates our understanding of the events in “Justine.” A few years after the events, the narrator, whose name we finally learn is Darley, has moved to an island with the child that Melissa has had with Nessim. Here, Balthazar drops off what he refers to as his “interlinear,” (a literary recounting of previous events from his point of view) that Darley spends much of the novel reading and meditating upon. His account completely undermines Darley’s understanding, telling him that Justine was really in love with the novelist Pursewarden, and just used him as a decoy to cheat on her husband. And we read about Scobie, a mutual friend of almost everyone in the book, including Clea, Justine, Melissa, and Darley, who is killed while in drag, possibly trying to pick up sailor for a trick.
In “Balthazar,” Durrell draws the reader to the meta-fictional aspects of the story in at least two ways. His account completely reconfigures Darley’s understanding of events in the previous volume, telling him that Justine was really in love with the novelist Pursewarden, and just used him as a decoy to cheat on her husband. In this sense, Balthazar’s “interlinear” almost serves to turn the entire narrative into a series of suspect, but all equally likely, Rashomon-like perspectival takes, without any single one being allowed to be account for the entire truth. Durrell also uses Pursewarden as a kind of a novelist-cipher to shed light on the plight of the novelist – or, more broadly, the artist’s – task. This ambiguity, which can at times seem heavy-handed, seems to mirror much of what Durrell is really saying about love, and especially erotic relationships in general: that they are a series of shadows, lies, deceptions, and figments of our own fragile imaginations. As with the first volume, the language is stunning, so just as in the first review, I’d like to end with a bit of what I’m talking about – those wonderful ambiguities and mysteries which so wholly constitute Alexandria and its residents for Durrell:
“I feel I want to sound a note of … affirmation – though not in the specific terms of a philosophy or religion. It should have the curvature of an embrace, the wordlessness of a lover’s code. It should convey some feeling that the world we live in is founded in something too simple to be over-described as cosmic law – but as easy to grasp as, say, an act of tenderness, simple tenderness in the primal relation between animal and plant, rain and soil, seed and trees, man and God. A relationship so delicate that it is all too easily broken by the inquiring mind and conscience in the French sense which of course has its own rights and its own field of deployment. I’d like to think of my work simply as a cradle in which philosophy could rock itself to sleep, thumb in mouth. What do you say to this? After all, this is not simply what we most need in the world, but really what describes the state of pure process in it. Keep silent awhile you feel a comprehension of this act of tenderness – not power or glory: and certainly not Mercy, that vulgarity of the Jewish mind which can only imagine man as crouching under the whip. No, for the sort of tenderness I mean is utterly merciless!” (p. 238).
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both.“Balthazar” continues the narrative started in the first volume of the Alexandria Quartet, “Justine.” This time, we read of many of the events recounted in “Justine” from another perspective, that of the psychiatrist Balthazar, who unceremoniously disrupts and complicates our understanding of the events in “Justine.” A few years after the events, the narrator, whose name we finally learn is Darley, has moved to an island with the child that Melissa has had with Nessim. Here, Balthazar drops off what he refers to as his “interlinear,” (a literary recounting of previous events from his point of view) that Darley spends much of the novel reading and meditating upon. His account completely undermines Darley’s understanding, telling him that Justine was really in love with the novelist Pursewarden, and just used him as a decoy to cheat on her husband. And we read about Scobie, a mutual friend of almost everyone in the book, including Clea, Justine, Melissa, and Darley, who is killed while in drag, possibly trying to pick up sailor for a trick.
In “Balthazar,” Durrell draws the reader to the meta-fictional aspects of the story in at least two ways. His account completely reconfigures Darley’s understanding of events in the previous volume, telling him that Justine was really in love with the novelist Pursewarden, and just used him as a decoy to cheat on her husband. In this sense, Balthazar’s “interlinear” almost serves to turn the entire narrative into a series of suspect, but all equally likely, Rashomon-like perspectival takes, without any single one being allowed to be account for the entire truth. Durrell also uses Pursewarden as a kind of a novelist-cipher to shed light on the plight of the novelist – or, more broadly, the artist’s – task. This ambiguity, which can at times seem heavy-handed, seems to mirror much of what Durrell is really saying about love, and especially erotic relationships in general: that they are a series of shadows, lies, deceptions, and figments of our own fragile imaginations. As with the first volume, the language is stunning, so just as in the first review, I’d like to end with a bit of what I’m talking about – those wonderful ambiguities and mysteries which so wholly constitute Alexandria and its residents for Durrell:
“I feel I want to sound a note of … affirmation – though not in the specific terms of a philosophy or religion. It should have the curvature of an embrace, the wordlessness of a lover’s code. It should convey some feeling that the world we live in is founded in something too simple to be over-described as cosmic law – but as easy to grasp as, say, an act of tenderness, simple tenderness in the primal relation between animal and plant, rain and soil, seed and trees, man and God. A relationship so delicate that it is all too easily broken by the inquiring mind and conscience in the French sense which of course has its own rights and its own field of deployment. I’d like to think of my work simply as a cradle in which philosophy could rock itself to sleep, thumb in mouth. What do you say to this? After all, this is not simply what we most need in the world, but really what describes the state of pure process in it. Keep silent awhile you feel a comprehension of this act of tenderness – not power or glory: and certainly not Mercy, that vulgarity of the Jewish mind which can only imagine man as crouching under the whip. No, for the sort of tenderness I mean is utterly merciless!” (p. 238).
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LibraryThing member dbsovereign
See the review for Justine.
LibraryThing member jonfaith
I am just a refugee from the long slow toothache of English life. It is terrible to love life so much you can hardly breathe!
A fattened, more comprehensive and weezing approach will occur when I finish the Quartet.
A fattened, more comprehensive and weezing approach will occur when I finish the Quartet.
LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
The Alexandria quartet is a wonderful short course in the ways in which a writer can play with all the conventions of the narrative art. "Balthazar" was my second encounter with the set, and really showed me that I was going to see a lot of different angles on the same set of incidents and that
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Durrell was a master of the tale, in the same way that Picasso was a master of the pictorial. Even on rereads, I can happily let myself be swept away by that year in Alexandria. "Balthazar' is the voice of reason applied to the devouring dream of "Justine". Yet it is not a put-down, but a revelation of the context in which Darnley and Justine played out their affair. It is essential to the whole structure of the quartet, and, the first of the three steps back one is obliged to give any pictorial masterpiece, and essential to the three steps of return to it. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cecrow
It would be unrewarding to read this book without first reading 'Justine', the preceding novel of the quartet. This second book introduces the same narrator, revisiting the ground he's already covered thanks to new information that Balthazar provides him. This time he is less caught up in his own
While Balthazar's revelations lend new shading to Darley's understanding of all that he related in the first book, they do not add a new perspective to them for the reader so much as overlay them with additional scenes, content and themes. Durrell drives deeper in the subject of love, far less focused on Justine specifically. It is almost a malevolent force in this work, so easily manipulated yet so easily manipulating, creating victims of both those who love and those who are loved. Or that might just be Darley's unacknowledged bitterness talking.
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perspective, instead exploring what these new facts suggest about what moved through others' minds. Secondary characters come to occupy the foreground, especially Pursewarden and Clea. We meet Nessim's brother and mother, and are introduced to Mountolive whom I'm trusting will figure large in the third volume. Some of the first book's events acquire a new significance, such as Justine's missing child and Pursewarden's suicide, and additional events not mentioned before are now worth Darley's relating. While Balthazar's revelations lend new shading to Darley's understanding of all that he related in the first book, they do not add a new perspective to them for the reader so much as overlay them with additional scenes, content and themes. Durrell drives deeper in the subject of love, far less focused on Justine specifically. It is almost a malevolent force in this work, so easily manipulated yet so easily manipulating, creating victims of both those who love and those who are loved. Or that might just be Darley's unacknowledged bitterness talking.
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LibraryThing member Castlelass
This is the second book in the Alexandria Quartet. The four books tell the same story from different perspectives. It is about love, relationships, and jealousy. In the first book, we focused on the unnamed narrator’s overwhelming love for Justine. In this book we find out what he believed is not
We spend a lot of time with the reminiscences of the narrator, and we learn his name. We find out more about Justine and her various relationships. The major set piece of this book is an intriguing description of Carnaval. There is a murder, and a mystery, all wrapped up in a wide variety of philosophical musings.
This is not a standalone. Justine must be read first for it to make any sense. I appreciate the creativity but it’s not going to be for everyone. The reader will need a great deal of patience with flowery language and a nonlinear storyline. As in Justine, toward the end of the book we find a thin thread of a plot, but there is nothing that feels like a conclusion. It just … ends. I liked this one more than Justine and will continue to read the quartet. I am planning to take my time, since I can only digest these books in small portions. Next up is Mountolive.
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true. We spend a lot of time with the reminiscences of the narrator, and we learn his name. We find out more about Justine and her various relationships. The major set piece of this book is an intriguing description of Carnaval. There is a murder, and a mystery, all wrapped up in a wide variety of philosophical musings.
This is not a standalone. Justine must be read first for it to make any sense. I appreciate the creativity but it’s not going to be for everyone. The reader will need a great deal of patience with flowery language and a nonlinear storyline. As in Justine, toward the end of the book we find a thin thread of a plot, but there is nothing that feels like a conclusion. It just … ends. I liked this one more than Justine and will continue to read the quartet. I am planning to take my time, since I can only digest these books in small portions. Next up is Mountolive.
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LibraryThing member Gypsy_Boy
Durrell is preoccupied with what it means to love someone, how people change over time and, finally, how “truth” depends upon one’s perspective—which, of course, changes over time but and depends on one’s “position” as well. Small matters these! Thus, where Justine—the first of four
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books—tells a relatively straightforward story about a group of friends and acquaintances, Balthazar is much more a meditation on these questions. Much of Balthazar is taken up with the “Interlinear,” a copy of Durrell’s manuscript (or, more precisely, the character who represents Durrell) of what would become Justine as heavily annotated by Balthazar, another character. The annotations and explanations he added to the manuscript substantially revise the narrator’s understanding and interpretation of what happened in Justine and also provides much new information. All of this enormously complicates what we thought we “knew” after reading Justine. New relationships are created where we (and the narrator) had seen nothing (or misunderstood it) before; things we believed were true or accurate are now seen to be far more nuanced, at the very least. Indeed, much of Balthazar illustrates Durrell’s notion that point of view and change are everything. This second volume of the “Alexandria Quartet” is far more meditative, more contemplative. I found the writing occasionally as brilliant as in Justine, but less often so. Still, an extraordinary accomplishment. Show Less
LibraryThing member ritaer
Narrator receives MS of Justine annotated by Balthazar who reveals that Justine was really in love with Pursewarden. More on death of Scobie and murder of Toto.
Subjects
Awards
Meilleur livre étranger (1959)
Language
Original publication date
1958
Physical description
1 p.; 7.2 inches
ISBN
0525470816 / 9780525470816
Local notes
indexed 4453/110
series: #02 alexandria
series: #02 alexandria