[ilds] South Wind

[Denise Tart & David Green]

I am aware that Douglas's style was conversational whereas Durrell was more descriptive. The characters in South Wind seem utterly irrelevant beyond the realisation that 

 the book must contain a few in order for dialogue to take place. Douglas's voice speaks through all. Towards plot it is rightly said that there is little more than a gesture, 



Frazer, I too am reading through Soth Wind at a leisurely pace and while enjoying the often humorous dialogue, eccentric characters and general journey into a lost world, it would be a world weary reader indeed who did ask why the author had not invested a little more in the way of plot, character development and even the odd moment of epiphany - unless you count the Norwegian professor's discovery that Trinidad was like a tangle of parallelograms. It is essentially a vehicle to Douglas to describe a world he loves, invest it with unconvential characters and use their dialoque to take a swipe at post victorian puritanism while maintaining british silliness abroad - both worthy things. I would, however enjoy it more if it was driven along by a little more than just the south wind. As to whether LD  knew of Douglas' work before writing Prospero's Cell I think it likely. Both Old Calabria and South Wind were published well before Durrell's time on Corfu and in Alexandria where that book was completed. LD acknowledged Douglas as an influence but claimed not to have met him, although he did know Elizabeth David, who was a close friend of Norman's.



David



16 William Street
Marrickville NSW  2204
+61 2 9564 6165
0412 707 625
dtart at bigpond.net.au
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