[ilds] In the footsteps of LD

[Bruce Redwine]

David,

As Lea's excellent photos show, the Greeks on Cyprus clearly value Durrell's contribution to the history of the island.  So the plaque commemorating the house where he stayed in Bellapaix.  So too a similar remembrance on Corfu at Kalami.  I wonder if Villa Cleobolus on Rhodes has a similar plaque.  The situation in Alexandria is far more uncertain.  The Egyptian government is reluctant to make the Ambron Villa a historical landmark — or so was the situation in 2007 at the Durrell Celebration in Alex.  Dr. Mohamed Awad was trying to preserve the site.  Dunno what success he's had.  Your comment about the semi-literate factory worker is interesting.  Durrell's name is known, if not much about him.  LD left his mark on the literary consciousness of the eastern Mediterranean — in my view, somewhat like a modern Alexander, whose conquests have turned into myth and oral history.


Bruce



On Jan 22, 2011, at 2:12 PM, Denise Tart & David Green wrote:

> Even in 1985, when I went to Corfu and when both Larry and Gerry were alive, there was Durrell tourism which as no doubt grown since. The recently posted photos from Cyprus suggest something of a Durrell trail. I guess to gets tourists into tavernas and buses and hotels and so on. Larry of course was appalled by what had happened to the Grecian islands after the war, the rampant development and spread of fish and chips and Watney's Red Barrel beer. If Larry got a lot out Greece, then Greece got a lot out of him - indeed I am even acquainted with a Greek factory worker who had heard of the Durrells - but he had not read any of the books due to semi illiteracy.
>  
> David
>  
>  
> 
> From: Bruce Redwine
> Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2011 4:31 AM
> To: Denise Tart & David Green ; ilds at lists.uvic.ca
> Cc: Bruce Redwine
> Subject: Re: [ilds] In the footsteps of LD
> 
> David,
> 
> Yes.  Durrell's house on Cyprus is not as I imagined.  Like a childhood memory, I made it bigger.  I also visualized an isolated place, on the edge of town, as you describe, or near a promontory.  Perhaps Bellapaix has grown since the 1950s.  Greek islands are extraordinarily beautiful, but would Corfu, Rhodes, or Cyprus be as popular were it not for Durrell's books?  I think not.
> 
> 
> Bruce
> 
> 
> 
> On Jan 21, 2011, at 7:42 PM, Denise Tart & David Green wrote:
> 
>> yes. loved the photos. from reading Bitter Lemons I always imaged Larry's 
>> house to be in a wilder more on the edge of town type landscape with more 
>> vegetation. could be an Australian thing; this country being a barely tamed 
>> wilderness even in the cities.
>> 
>> The way writers write about places often contains their inner souls or 
>> extravagant imaginations which cannot always be picked up when you visit the 
>> place - the only exception to this, in my case, was Dylan Thomas's Boat 
>> House at Laugharne; exactly as I imagined it from his poems and stories - as 
>> sad and grand and as Thomasy as you could wish. But the Thomas's writing is 
>> shy and introverted whereas LD's is big colours and extroverted; octopus in 
>> red sauce and citrus tones and naked nymphs in modern guise.
>> 
>> My brother and I had excellent trout and leeks for lunch at Brown's Hotel, 
>> washed down by several pints of brown Welsh beer. We then did the Poem in 
>> October walk.
>> 
>> DG
>> 
>> --------------------------------------------------
>> From: "James Gifford" <james.d.gifford at gmail.com>
>> Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2011 9:16 AM
>> To: "ILDS Listserv" <ilds at lists.uvic.ca>
>> Subject: [ilds] In the footsteps of LD
>> 
>>> Hello all,
>>> 
>>> Many of you may remember Lea Stogdale from the ILDS conference in
>>> Victoria.  She's continued her travels and invite people to take a look
>>> (here's the link to her LD photos on Cyprus):
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Lea
>>> Lea Stogdale
>>> 
> 

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