[ilds] Durrell's Derring-do

[James Gifford]

Nicely said, Charles.  I'm still trying to riddle my way through Old D's 
politics of the unpolitical, if I can use that phrase.  Something, 
however, seemed to change around 1956, and I'm not entirely sure of it. 
  Prior to that point, I'm surprised to see how fiercely he avoids the 
political, as if it is the source of the personal problems...

But, I remain puzzled.

Best,
J

slighcl wrote:
> On 5/23/2008 4:26 AM, James Gifford wrote:
>>  My only problem would be the archly unromantic 
>> images of war from /Clea/ and the general turn away from the state or 
>> it's impositions in such works as /Prospero's Cell/, /Revolt of 
>> Aphrodite/, /Panic Spring/, and so forth.
>>   
>> I suppose that in general I've been increasingly looking to Durrell's 
>> anarchic life of the village against the over-determined life in the 
>> city, and I'd have to associate the soldiers with the city, though 
>> "daring-do" and messages by moonlight might come in other forms!  
> 
> 
> Jamie:
> 
> My understanding of Durrell the writer and Durrell the man is that he 
> was a Party of One and that he was deeply suspicious of most political 
> causes and noble enterprises.  I would be terrifically surprised to find 
> Durrell "joining up" for any other cause than the self-preservation and 
> survival of the human being named Lawrence Durrell.  Durrell took 
> positions as a public information officer and a press officer because 
> those positions paid the bills, not because he found a sudden 
> confirmation of his patriotic spirit.  And I do not think that Durrell's 
> mistrust and skepticism and self-preserving instincts are negative 
> qualities.  They are just not the qualities of a Loyalist, a Resistance 
> member, or a soldier. 
> 
> I think that Durrell certainly could respect and admire remarkable 
> /individuals /and the bravery of their particular exploits--Paddy Fermor 
> comes to mind, obviously--but I would guess that Durrell would also 
> instinctively mistrust and doubt the worth of the larger 
> cause--liberating Crete, colonizing Palestine, &c.  In sum, the World 
> being what it is, and human life being short and harsh and 
> unpredictable, why delude and disappoint?--an Epicurean stance again, I 
> think.
> 
> You offer some important moments from the writing.  I am also thinking 
> of the end of /Prospero's Cell/.   The loss of Corfu is profoundly felt 
> because it is /personally /felt.  The epilogue in Alex seems to capture 
> Durrell's world view and politics in the 1940s and 1950s quite nicely.
> 
> But hats off to the biographical theorizing about Larry the Spy:  I am 
> still looking forward to surprising revelations that overturn all of my 
> old assumptions.  If Jan Morris is there with you on Corfu right now, 
> ask her for her sense of where Durrell stood.  I would be delighted to 
> hear a verdict from someone who actually worked for British Intelligence 
> in WWII, back when she was known as James Morris.
> 
> Charles
> 
> -- 
> **********************
> Charles L. Sligh
> Department of English
> Wake Forest University
> slighcl at wfu.edu
> **********************
> 
> 
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