From skybluepress at skybluepress.com Tue Aug 12 13:42:44 2008 From: skybluepress at skybluepress.com (Sky Blue Press) Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:42:44 -0400 Subject: [ilds] REVIEWS SOUGHT Message-ID: <012e01c8fcbb$f9abd110$6501a8c0@DHKQ1971> For our next issue of 'A Cafe in Space: The Anais Nin Literary Journal' we are seeking reviews for the following two books, which may be of interest to you: 1) 'Pied Piper of Lovers' (Durrell), his first novel, reissued this year by ELS Editions. 2) 'Panic Spring' (Norden aka Durrell), a 1937 novel, also reissued this year by ELS Editions. December is the deadline. Anyone interested please contact Paul Herron (skybluepress at skybluepress.com). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20080812/f289f534/attachment.html From ilyas.khan at crosby.com Sat Aug 16 22:57:33 2008 From: ilyas.khan at crosby.com (Ilyas) Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:57:33 +0800 Subject: [ilds] Durrell and The Master In-Reply-To: Message-ID: James asked me what, if any, was the overlap between Henry James and LD. I had taken James? travel writing in France (complete with Pennell?s sketches) along with me on a recent trip to Avignon (though we stayed in the delightfully named nearby village of ?Crillon Le Brave?). I told James that I did not think there was an overlap, save for the somewhat downbeat view of the ruins of the Papal Palace that both writers developed. In the case of James he is downright snooty to the point of being dismissive about the main enclave. Having thought about it a bit more (thanks again to James for asking the right question), I think there is an overlap, albeit not in the writing. I found myself captivated, by both books, with trying to anticipate the mood of the writer. For anyone who has invested the time and effort in the Avignon Q. its obvious that there are many different LD?s writing. The quality, tone, texture and even story line changes, depending upon which LD turns up for that particular part of the book. I know that reviewers and critics have torn out their hair, metaphorically speaking, at the huge swings in ?quality? of writing in the quintet. And I have to agree with those reviewers and critics. There are some fabulous parts, and then bits which are just plain clumsy. Pedestrian. Where it feels as if LD is putting in time just for the sake of getting on with the book. Jame?s writing is more consistent, but his moods do show through. The Master in good form fairly sparkles across the years. In a bad mood, the writing, verging on turgid, gets bogged down and you wonder if the result was actually worth the effort. I even wondered if a good modern day editor might have suggested dropping a few of the towns and sights that get weighed down by James? sour moods. I was down in the Avignon area for a while with these two travelling companions, and whilst I cant say that ?being there? helped me understand the quintet any better, I must say that I enjoyed (indeed revelled) in Monsieur and found new wonder in Constance (now my favourite book of the quintet). -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20080817/458cef7d/attachment.html