From james.d.gifford at gmail.com Mon Apr 4 19:05:13 2016 From: james.d.gifford at gmail.com (James Gifford) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2016 19:05:13 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Bitter Lemons and Academe In-Reply-To: References: <5F0782BD-89E7-40B4-A2E5-A1BD9B97D433@earthlink.net> Message-ID: <57031D59.9070202@gmail.com> Hi Bruce, > Postcolonialism in the academy has some pernicious consequences. In a > recent article on Joseph Conrad in /PMLA,/ the premier journal of > American literary studies, we find this first sentence: ?Critics tend > to agree that Joseph Conrad?s novels engage in a critique of > imperialism, but, given the novels? pervasive racism the nature of that > critique persist as a source of debate in postcolonial studies? (Regina > Martin, ?Absentee Capitalism and the Politics of Conrad?s Imperial > Novels,? /PMLA 130.3/ [2015]: 584). ?Critics? do /not/ tend to agree > on Conrad?s ?racism? (read an eminent critic like Ian Watt on Conrad and > the authoritative/ Oxford Reader?s Companion to Conrad)/ but Martin > would have it so. I'm not a Conrad scholar, but I can probably trouble this a bit -- we hosted the Conrad Society's conference here at FDU-Vancouver just after the last On Miracle Ground. One side would certainly defend Conrad from the charge, but there's also a famous lecture (later paper) by Chinua Achebe on Conrad in which he offers the biting comment "Conrad was a bloody racist." He goes on to give a more nuanced outline of the sentiment, but the laconic form makes the point. As an instance of how that plays out, the outstanding Conrad scholar John Stape taught for us here in Vancouver and brought the conference here, and my Campus Provost was friends with Achebe -- when they talked, it was from two very different perspectives... By granting the critique of imperialism along with the racism, I'd suspect Martin was trying to speak in a way that would reach both of those crowds (more a way of getting the two major readerships to feel okay than necessarily the central gesture). I'd have to go to the article and read to say more! That said, a comparable comment on Durrell from a global figure like Achebe but born in the mid-1970s would be rather helpful (a comparable age gap for us today from Conrad & Achebe). After all, people tend to actually read the polemics -- it's the same reason bad reviews are better than tepid reviews: the stirring of curiosity is always a help. > As to Durrell?s /Bitter Lemons,/ calling the book a ?whitewash? of > British policy is far, far too simplistic and another misreading of a > complicated text written by an author who was deeply conflicted and > troubled. As you know, I tend to read Durrell as often ironic, and many don't agree with me -- I've said on the listserv in the past that I look to the opening of /Bitter Lemons/ in exactly the same way as I look to the opening of /Justine/ in the same year. It speaks in the contradictions but not in what's said, much like the closing interpretation of silence. Justine opens with Freud & Sade, but I think it's Freud *vs.* Sade, and the cut or unspoken portions are the most important. Likewise, /Bitter Lemons/ opens with its claim "this is not a political book" but follows up an epigram that makes the irony pretty overt: "A race advancing on the East must start with Cyprus" followed by grand conflicts between nations and imperialism then a closing reference to how important the Suez Canal makes Cyprus. It's always struck me as something like "of course I could not write this book if it were a political book, so it isn't -- by the way, I'm lying." Durrell's anonymous writings on Cyprus make it clear he was thinking of the Cold War, not some "genuine" claim Britain had. Only three years later he would write that humanity lives "under sentence of death and simply living from reprieve to reprieve." It's unsurprising for the period -- in fact, what is surprising is that an author would turn to the kind of lush writing we find in the Quartet at that precise moment. If we read /Bitter Lemons/ beside 1957 in literature, some other trends might stand out: Fleming's /From Russia, with Love/, Kerouac's /On the Road/, Pasternak's /Doctor Zhivago/, Rand's /Atlas Shrugged/, Wyndham's /The Midwich Cuckoos/, etc... Durrell certainly stands distinct from his contemporaries, but the Cold War mentality seems ready to hand! I think we'd be wise to see it as ready to hand in /Bitter Lemons/ as well, even if it's mumbled. All best, James From james.d.gifford at gmail.com Mon Apr 4 19:06:16 2016 From: james.d.gifford at gmail.com (James Gifford) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2016 19:06:16 -0700 Subject: [ilds] The Durrells Message-ID: <57031D98.3080508@gmail.com> Hello all, I'm curious if anyone has feedback on the ITV production of "The Durrells" that aired last night. It's certainly catching some media attention elsewhere. All best, James From delospeter at hotmail.com Mon Apr 4 21:34:03 2016 From: delospeter at hotmail.com (PETER BALDWIN) Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2016 05:34:03 +0100 Subject: [ilds] The Durrells In-Reply-To: <57031D98.3080508@gmail.com> References: <57031D98.3080508@gmail.com> Message-ID: Passable as entertainment, James, if your knowledge of the family goes no further than 'My Family......' But biographically very inaccurate. Don't waste your money on pre-ordering the DVD if there is one. Peter Sent from my iPhone > On 5 Apr 2016, at 03:07, James Gifford wrote: > > Hello all, > > I'm curious if anyone has feedback on the ITV production of "The Durrells" that aired last night. It's certainly catching some media attention elsewhere. > > All best, > James > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds From james.d.gifford at gmail.com Mon Apr 4 22:26:53 2016 From: james.d.gifford at gmail.com (James Gifford) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2016 22:26:53 -0700 Subject: [ilds] The Durrells In-Reply-To: References: <57031D98.3080508@gmail.com> Message-ID: <57034C9D.1080401@gmail.com> Hi Peter, Good to know! I was thinking more along the lines of, "is this worth watching online or am I better off with Netflix..." That said, I hope it does well -- there seems to be talk of more than one series, and that would be a good thing, whether it's accurate or not. It would at least make the estates happy. Cheers, James On 2016-04-04 9:34 PM, PETER BALDWIN wrote: > Passable as entertainment, James, if your knowledge of the family goes no further than 'My Family......' But biographically very inaccurate. Don't waste your money on pre-ordering the DVD if there is one. > > Peter > > Sent from my iPhone > >> On 5 Apr 2016, at 03:07, James Gifford wrote: >> >> Hello all, >> >> I'm curious if anyone has feedback on the ITV production of "The Durrells" that aired last night. It's certainly catching some media attention elsewhere. >> >> All best, >> James >> _______________________________________________ >> ILDS mailing list >> ILDS at lists.uvic.ca >> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds From delospeter at hotmail.com Mon Apr 4 22:39:19 2016 From: delospeter at hotmail.com (PETER BALDWIN) Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2016 06:39:19 +0100 Subject: [ilds] The Durrells In-Reply-To: <57034C9D.1080401@gmail.com> References: <57031D98.3080508@gmail.com> <57034C9D.1080401@gmail.com> Message-ID: The focus is on a stressed mother, Louisa, struggling with four unruly 'children' That GD found fascination with wildlife on Corfu through the mentoring of Theo hardly gets a look in. The whole compares very badly for the fan of the D family against books (given how key the Greek experience was to both brothers) and previous adaptions Pleased to see the shrine of St A used for some scenes - thankfully not identified as such Contrast BBC in 1990's (?) when the wildlife filming reflected G's fascination with animals As you say, if it brings cash to G's estate ie for the Jersey Zoo that's some good No sponsorships trails for Panic Spring for the series! Peter Peterhttp://www.thevictoriabarntgreen.co.uk/ Sent from my iPhone > On 5 Apr 2016, at 06:28, James Gifford wrote: > > Hi Peter, > > Good to know! I was thinking more along the lines of, "is this worth watching online or am I better off with Netflix..." That said, I hope it does well -- there seems to be talk of more than one series, and that would be a good thing, whether it's accurate or not. It would at least make the estates happy. > > Cheers, > James > >> On 2016-04-04 9:34 PM, PETER BALDWIN wrote: >> Passable as entertainment, James, if your knowledge of the family goes no further than 'My Family......' But biographically very inaccurate. Don't waste your money on pre-ordering the DVD if there is one. >> >> Peter >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >>> On 5 Apr 2016, at 03:07, James Gifford wrote: >>> >>> Hello all, >>> >>> I'm curious if anyone has feedback on the ITV production of "The Durrells" that aired last night. It's certainly catching some media attention elsewhere. >>> >>> All best, >>> James >>> _______________________________________________ >>> ILDS mailing list >>> ILDS at lists.uvic.ca >>> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From james.d.gifford at gmail.com Mon Apr 4 23:10:27 2016 From: james.d.gifford at gmail.com (James Gifford) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2016 23:10:27 -0700 Subject: [ilds] The Durrells In-Reply-To: References: <57031D98.3080508@gmail.com> <57034C9D.1080401@gmail.com> Message-ID: <570356D3.3070804@gmail.com> Thanks for the details, Peter! > The focus is on a stressed mother, Louisa, > struggling with four unruly 'children' I was under the impression that "gin-soaked" might touch on it... Just maybe it will drive people to /Amateurs in Eden/ for adult updates. > As you say, if it brings cash to G's estate > ie for the Jersey Zoo that's some good It's something at least. I've watched a handful of book adaptations for TV series over the past year (we don't actually have TV), and it's a strange combination of being impressed and disappointed. The remediation inevitably means change, and some of that can actually be quite welcome (after all, /My Family/ was never "accurate" in the first place...). The great disappointment is when something appears with grand filming, some decent acting, and much potential yet seems to be trimmed to death on the cutting room floor. I'm hoping this makes a decent thing unto itself, even if it runs away from the source materials. > No sponsorships trails for Panic Spring > for the series! Alas! I don't see a penny off those, but I'd be very glad to see the pennies flowing to someone. One can hope. The book's worth reading, after all -- it just wants more readers to open it. For what it's worth, there's a new documentary about the Barbarian Press that interviews Jason Dewinetz who did the design for the ELS Editions of Durrell -- the Barbarians have a stunning shop, and their daughter imprint recently printed a long poem by one of my earliest Canadian ancestors. Delos might find the trailer worth the time (I know the Barbarians have much to say on the Centaur setting of the Quartet and Durrell's translations of Cavafy): https://vimeo.com/160010994 All best, James From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Tue Apr 5 05:18:24 2016 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2016 05:18:24 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Bitter Lemons and Academe In-Reply-To: <57031D59.9070202@gmail.com> References: <5F0782BD-89E7-40B4-A2E5-A1BD9B97D433@earthlink.net> <57031D59.9070202@gmail.com> Message-ID: James, Yes. I thought of adding Chinua Achebe to my list of postcolonial writers but thought my comment had already grown too long. Now that you?ve brought him up, I?ll elaborate. I?m not a fan of Achebe, a Nigerian novelist and critic, and his diatribe on Conrad?s Heart of Darkness. His essay, ?An Image of Africa: Conrad?s Heart of Darkness,? was first delivered as a lecture at the U of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1975 and was later published in the U of Massachusetts Review in 1977. In the lecture, he calls Conrad a ?bloody racist?; in the article, he emends that phrase to ?thoroughgoing racist.? The Brits are attuned to the difference. I find ?thoroughgoing? more offensive. Ian Watt was a Brit and one of the great critics of the English novel and Joseph Conrad in particular. (See his Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding [1957] and Conrad in the Nineteenth Century [1979].) In his article, ?Conrad?s Heart of Darkness and the Critics,? anthologized in his Essays on Conrad (2000), Watt dismantles and refutes Achebe?s charge of Conrad?s racism. In my opinion, of course, anyone who takes Achebe seriously has not read Heart of Darkness closely. This is not to say that Conrad did not have prejudices which extended to certain ethnic groups (he had a preference for the Malays over the Chinese, I seem to recall), but to call him a ?racist? I find outrageous. Unfortunately, as Regina Martin?s recent article in PMLA suggests, Achebe?s charge of Conrad?s ?racism? is now widely accepted as fact and would seem to have the stamp of approval of the Modern Language Association. (Interestingly, Martin does not cite Achebe; apparently, she felt no need to reference the obvious.) This is what I find disturbing. I attribute it to the excesses of ?postcolonial? thinking and argumentation. Re your other comments, I think you?re right that Durrell likes to have things both ways. That?s part of his sly persona. As to Cyprus and the Cold War, that historical context is important. But that?s the present of 1957. One of the things I?ve always liked about Durrell and his epigraphs (along with the illustrations) is how he places one foot in the present and another in the past, deep time. It?s no coincidence that he worked in Kyrenia (or was it Nicosia?) but found a home in the village of Bellapaix, a Crusader refuge. All Romantic Classicism, I guess. Bruce > On Apr 4, 2016, at 7:05 PM, James Gifford wrote: > > Hi Bruce, > >> Postcolonialism in the academy has some pernicious consequences. In a >> recent article on Joseph Conrad in /PMLA,/ the premier journal of >> American literary studies, we find this first sentence: ?Critics tend >> to agree that Joseph Conrad?s novels engage in a critique of >> imperialism, but, given the novels? pervasive racism the nature of that >> critique persist as a source of debate in postcolonial studies? (Regina >> Martin, ?Absentee Capitalism and the Politics of Conrad?s Imperial >> Novels,? /PMLA 130.3/ [2015]: 584). ?Critics? do /not/ tend to agree >> on Conrad?s ?racism? (read an eminent critic like Ian Watt on Conrad and >> the authoritative/ Oxford Reader?s Companion to Conrad)/ but Martin >> would have it so. > > I'm not a Conrad scholar, but I can probably trouble this a bit -- we hosted the Conrad Society's conference here at FDU-Vancouver just after the last On Miracle Ground. One side would certainly defend Conrad from the charge, but there's also a famous lecture (later paper) by Chinua Achebe on Conrad in which he offers the biting comment "Conrad was a bloody racist." He goes on to give a more nuanced outline of the sentiment, but the laconic form makes the point. As an instance of how that plays out, the outstanding Conrad scholar John Stape taught for us here in Vancouver and brought the conference here, and my Campus Provost was friends with Achebe -- when they talked, it was from two very different perspectives... > > By granting the critique of imperialism along with the racism, I'd suspect Martin was trying to speak in a way that would reach both of those crowds (more a way of getting the two major readerships to feel okay than necessarily the central gesture). I'd have to go to the article and read to say more! > > That said, a comparable comment on Durrell from a global figure like Achebe but born in the mid-1970s would be rather helpful (a comparable age gap for us today from Conrad & Achebe). After all, people tend to actually read the polemics -- it's the same reason bad reviews are better than tepid reviews: the stirring of curiosity is always a help. > >> As to Durrell?s /Bitter Lemons,/ calling the book a ?whitewash? of >> British policy is far, far too simplistic and another misreading of a >> complicated text written by an author who was deeply conflicted and >> troubled. > > As you know, I tend to read Durrell as often ironic, and many don't agree with me -- I've said on the listserv in the past that I look to the opening of /Bitter Lemons/ in exactly the same way as I look to the opening of /Justine/ in the same year. It speaks in the contradictions but not in what's said, much like the closing interpretation of silence. > > Justine opens with Freud & Sade, but I think it's Freud *vs.* Sade, and the cut or unspoken portions are the most important. Likewise, /Bitter Lemons/ opens with its claim "this is not a political book" but follows up an epigram that makes the irony pretty overt: "A race advancing on the East must start with Cyprus" followed by grand conflicts between nations and imperialism then a closing reference to how important the Suez Canal makes Cyprus. It's always struck me as something like "of course I could not write this book if it were a political book, so it isn't -- by the way, I'm lying." > > Durrell's anonymous writings on Cyprus make it clear he was thinking of the Cold War, not some "genuine" claim Britain had. Only three years later he would write that humanity lives "under sentence of death and simply living from reprieve to reprieve." It's unsurprising for the period -- in fact, what is surprising is that an author would turn to the kind of lush writing we find in the Quartet at that precise moment. If we read /Bitter Lemons/ beside 1957 in literature, some other trends might stand out: Fleming's /From Russia, with Love/, Kerouac's /On the Road/, Pasternak's /Doctor Zhivago/, Rand's /Atlas Shrugged/, Wyndham's /The Midwich Cuckoos/, etc... Durrell certainly stands distinct from his contemporaries, but the Cold War mentality seems ready to hand! I think we'd be wise to see it as ready to hand in /Bitter Lemons/ as well, even if it's mumbled. > > All best, > James > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pan.gero at hotmail.com Tue Apr 5 11:54:02 2016 From: pan.gero at hotmail.com (Panaiotis Gerontopoulos) Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2016 21:54:02 +0300 Subject: [ilds] Bitter Lemons and Academe In-Reply-To: References: , , <5F0782BD-89E7-40B4-A2E5-A1BD9B97D433@earthlink.net>, , , <57031D59.9070202@gmail.com>, Message-ID: I do not understand why and how I have misrepresent Redwine?s point ?about A.J. Balfour and HMG?s position on Egypt?. He disturbed Gramsci, Fanon, Conrad, and went back to the Arab conquest of 640-41, but overlooked the fact that the ?HMG?s official point of view? on Cyprus offered by Lawrence Durrell in 1954 to Charles Foley, was identical to that offered by A.J. Balfour to the UK Parliament in 1910. Aggravated by the proof of the rising of the living standards of the indigenes because of the opening of new bordellos for the troops called in to keep the indigenes under control Just as the liberal Robertson opposed the Tory policies in Egypt in 1910, many UK liberals opposed in 1953-56 the policies of Anthony Eden in Cyprus. It was Redwine and not I, to bring into this discussion the ?postcolonial take on Cyprus ? la Edward Said? and the unthinkable corollary ?The Brits and Turks are bad. The Greeks are good?. He should feel the need to explain what he meant.. For the attempt to whitewash of the British policy in Cyprus in Bitter Lemons, it is in order to give a short but concrete example: [?] ?Have you heard the news?? I nodded. ?The execution?? She puffed and swelled with sorrow. ?Why should they do such things? I became angry. ?If you kill you must die,? I said; she raised her hand, as if to stop me. ?Not that. Not the execution. But they would not give his mother the body, or so they say. That is a terrible punishment, sir. For if you do not look upon your loved one dead you will never meet him again in the other world (Bitter Lemons of Cyprus, paperback Edition Faber & Faber 1959, p. 268) The discussion takes place between LD and the cleaning-lady Xenou during LD?s last visit to the Bellapaix house the day of the execution of Michalakis Karaolis in spite of the international protests and appeals for clemency, US president Eisenhower and Albert Camus included, LD gets angry: ?If you kill you must die?. Xenou the law-abiding subject of HM protests: the killing was OK, what she had in mind was the decision of not turning back to the mother of the dead body for sepulture ?because if you don?t look upon your loved one? etc. ?The na?ve belief of the illiterate indigene registered by pseudo-orientalist LD that ignored the story Antigone. Otherwise, as all law-abiding subjects of HM, Xenou approved the hanging. Even more white washing, the ?remarkably courageous woman? as advertised in the dust cover of her book ?Below the Tide? Penelope Tremayne published in 1959, with a spirited preface by the philhellene LD. Speaking of Caraolis hanging she does reiterate courageously ?murder had been done, and punished according the law? and continues on desecrating the dead He had killed a man, yes a policeman and compatriot. But that was not murder: it was the high-spirited act of a decent, upstanding youth who yearned for his freedom he was a hero and a martyr ? or at all events, he became later so. It is hard to think that many people believed in this martyr view at the time. The average Cypriot, then, was still level-headed enough to know murder when he saw it; and the EOKA enthusiasts must have been chilled, at least, by the fact that, when he was condemned, all Caraolis? political heroics fell from him: he repudiated EOKA, said that it was all nonsense and he had never really wanted to have anything to do with it, and asked for mercy on the grounds that he was a good boy led astray by bad companions. (Penelope Tremayne Bellow the Tide, Houghton Mifflin, First American Edition, 1959, 17) Nothing to comment. The non-philhellene Charles Foley was of a different advice: Caraolis at twenty-two was a captive specimen of Cypriot delinquency; Michael Davidson [a journalist of The Times of Cyprus] had followed the trial and he wanted to know what twist of psychology had brought him to kill a policeman at the behest of a secret society. Caraolis had not, after all, learned his fanaticism at some Greek forcing house like the [Pancyprian] Gymnasium; instead, he had been turned out by the English School, the multi-racial, cricket playing, Shakespeare-reading mill for producing Cypriot civil servants: its extensive grounds and playing fields adjoined Government house, and the Governor presented the prizes on Sports Days. Friends, family, his English masters were interviewed, they were biased in his favour perhaps, yet their accounts tallied too closely to be worthless. Caraolis appeared to be a model pupil, a good scholar, a popular perfect, a half-mile champion and a member of the school cricket team. His colleagues said he was on the threshold of a promising career. He showed little interest in politics, read few newspapers. An uncle recalled that was prone to faint at the sight of blood. There was no trace of mental unbalance, as far as one can tell. Caraolis and his kind were a perpetual puzzle to those who believed that the population were being terrorized by a handful of callous malcontents ? (Charles Foley ?Island in Revolt?. Longmans 1962, p.48) As for the executions, the refusal of the Colonial Government to render the bodies of the terrorists to their families, and the protest of the superstitious Xenou: The execution shed stood in a corner of an extensive prison grounds where you might have expected to find an outside lavatory; it was made of the same yellow sandstone as the rest of the jail. Ten paces away were the condemned cells, which had no windows, through a certain amount of light came through the bars above the cell entrance [?] On a day of a hanging the executioner and his assistant arrived from London and slept in the little hall outside the cells. Men were hanged between the hours of midnight and 5 a. m. [?] The rope was greased by a big bar of yellow shop for the purpose and a piece of thick grey felt was wrapped around the prisoner?s head. The trap was released by a metal lever of the sort seen in old-fashioned railway signal-boxes. There was a surprisingly loud bang when the doubled doors in the platform fell open, and attempts to quieten the sound with bits of rubber did not succeed. The coffins were kept piled by a corner. Made of the flimsiest material covered with cheap black cotton, each had a silver-paper cross gummed on the top. From there it was only a short walk to a patch of prison yard, which had been freshly walled off to house the graves of the men killed in action or executed. After the fiasco of Mouscos? funeral in Nicosia, all dead Eoka men were buried here. To save space, two bodies shared a grave, one at a depth of ten feet , the other at six; no one knew how many more were to come , and the graveyard was rather small. As there was no burial service and no Greeks were admitted to the area it soon took on a neglected, weed grown air (ibid p.86) In 1953-56 LD was in possess of mote information than Charles Foley on what happened in the prisons and in the offices of the Colonial Government of Cyprus. He was not a policy maker but in Bitter Lemons he chose to lie not ?for his country? but for ?the Tories of his country? cashing the Duff Cooper Memorial, the compliments of the Queen Mother and the applause of Lord Salisbury. Thirty years after, in the interview with the Aegean Review he apologized. Maybe not in earnest, but why ironically? All these might sound simplistic but are hard facts that must be taken into consideration and explained by the learned professors of this list unless they think they deal with simpletons. From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2016 05:18:24 -0700 To: james.d.gifford at gmail.com; ilds at lists.uvic.ca CC: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Subject: Re: [ilds] Bitter Lemons and Academe James, Yes. I thought of adding Chinua Achebe to my list of postcolonial writers but thought my comment had already grown too long. Now that you?ve brought him up, I?ll elaborate. I?m not a fan of Achebe, a Nigerian novelist and critic, and his diatribe on Conrad?s Heart of Darkness. His essay, ?An Image of Africa: Conrad?s Heart of Darkness,? was first delivered as a lecture at the U of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1975 and was later published in the U of Massachusetts Review in 1977. In the lecture, he calls Conrad a ?bloody racist?; in the article, he emends that phrase to ?thoroughgoing racist.? The Brits are attuned to the difference. I find ?thoroughgoing? more offensive. Ian Watt was a Brit and one of the great critics of the English novel and Joseph Conrad in particular. (See his Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding [1957] and Conrad in the Nineteenth Century [1979].) In his article, ?Conrad?s Heart of Darkness and the Critics,? anthologized in his Essays on Conrad (2000), Watt dismantles and refutes Achebe?s charge of Conrad?s racism. In my opinion, of course, anyone who takes Achebe seriously has not read Heart of Darkness closely. This is not to say that Conrad did not have prejudices which extended to certain ethnic groups (he had a preference for the Malays over the Chinese, I seem to recall), but to call him a ?racist? I find outrageous. Unfortunately, as Regina Martin?s recent article in PMLA suggests, Achebe?s charge of Conrad?s ?racism? is now widely accepted as fact and would seem to have the stamp of approval of the Modern Language Association. (Interestingly, Martin does not cite Achebe; apparently, she felt no need to reference the obvious.) This is what I find disturbing. I attribute it to the excesses of ?postcolonial? thinking and argumentation. Re your other comments, I think you?re right that Durrell likes to have things both ways. That?s part of his sly persona. As to Cyprus and the Cold War, that historical context is important. But that?s the present of 1957. One of the things I?ve always liked about Durrell and his epigraphs (along with the illustrations) is how he places one foot in the present and another in the past, deep time. It?s no coincidence that he worked in Kyrenia (or was it Nicosia?) but found a home in the village of Bellapaix, a Crusader refuge. All Romantic Classicism, I guess. Bruce On Apr 4, 2016, at 7:05 PM, James Gifford wrote:Hi Bruce, Postcolonialism in the academy has some pernicious consequences. In a recent article on Joseph Conrad in /PMLA,/ the premier journal of American literary studies, we find this first sentence: ?Critics tend to agree that Joseph Conrad?s novels engage in a critique of imperialism, but, given the novels? pervasive racism the nature of that critique persist as a source of debate in postcolonial studies? (Regina Martin, ?Absentee Capitalism and the Politics of Conrad?s Imperial Novels,? /PMLA 130.3/ [2015]: 584). ?Critics? do /not/ tend to agree on Conrad?s ?racism? (read an eminent critic like Ian Watt on Conrad and the authoritative/ Oxford Reader?s Companion to Conrad)/ but Martin would have it so. I'm not a Conrad scholar, but I can probably trouble this a bit -- we hosted the Conrad Society's conference here at FDU-Vancouver just after the last On Miracle Ground. One side would certainly defend Conrad from the charge, but there's also a famous lecture (later paper) by Chinua Achebe on Conrad in which he offers the biting comment "Conrad was a bloody racist." He goes on to give a more nuanced outline of the sentiment, but the laconic form makes the point. As an instance of how that plays out, the outstanding Conrad scholar John Stape taught for us here in Vancouver and brought the conference here, and my Campus Provost was friends with Achebe -- when they talked, it was from two very different perspectives... By granting the critique of imperialism along with the racism, I'd suspect Martin was trying to speak in a way that would reach both of those crowds (more a way of getting the two major readerships to feel okay than necessarily the central gesture). I'd have to go to the article and read to say more! That said, a comparable comment on Durrell from a global figure like Achebe but born in the mid-1970s would be rather helpful (a comparable age gap for us today from Conrad & Achebe). After all, people tend to actually read the polemics -- it's the same reason bad reviews are better than tepid reviews: the stirring of curiosity is always a help. As to Durrell?s /Bitter Lemons,/ calling the book a ?whitewash? of British policy is far, far too simplistic and another misreading of a complicated text written by an author who was deeply conflicted and troubled. As you know, I tend to read Durrell as often ironic, and many don't agree with me -- I've said on the listserv in the past that I look to the opening of /Bitter Lemons/ in exactly the same way as I look to the opening of /Justine/ in the same year. It speaks in the contradictions but not in what's said, much like the closing interpretation of silence. Justine opens with Freud & Sade, but I think it's Freud *vs.* Sade, and the cut or unspoken portions are the most important. Likewise, /Bitter Lemons/ opens with its claim "this is not a political book" but follows up an epigram that makes the irony pretty overt: "A race advancing on the East must start with Cyprus" followed by grand conflicts between nations and imperialism then a closing reference to how important the Suez Canal makes Cyprus. It's always struck me as something like "of course I could not write this book if it were a political book, so it isn't -- by the way, I'm lying." Durrell's anonymous writings on Cyprus make it clear he was thinking of the Cold War, not some "genuine" claim Britain had. Only three years later he would write that humanity lives "under sentence of death and simply living from reprieve to reprieve." It's unsurprising for the period -- in fact, what is surprising is that an author would turn to the kind of lush writing we find in the Quartet at that precise moment. If we read /Bitter Lemons/ beside 1957 in literature, some other trends might stand out: Fleming's /From Russia, with Love/, Kerouac's /On the Road/, Pasternak's /Doctor Zhivago/, Rand's /Atlas Shrugged/, Wyndham's /The Midwich Cuckoos/, etc... Durrell certainly stands distinct from his contemporaries, but the Cold War mentality seems ready to hand! I think we'd be wise to see it as ready to hand in /Bitter Lemons/ as well, even if it's mumbled. All best, James _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mail at durrelllibrarycorfu.org Tue Apr 5 12:52:37 2016 From: mail at durrelllibrarycorfu.org (mail at durrelllibrarycorfu.org) Date: Tue, 05 Apr 2016 19:52:37 +0000 Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 3 Message-ID: Baldwin to Gifford: "As you say, if it brings cash to G's estate ie for the Jersey Zoo that's some good". Unfortunately Gerald sold all rights many years ago and the Estate and/or the "Zoo" get nothing financially and have no say in the scripting of this travesty. However, the acting of the Gerry part (by Milo Parker who was so brilliant in "Mr Holmes" opposite Ian McKellen) is fine. The almost complete airbrushing of Stephanides in favour of the wholly fictitious cameo role for Lesley Caron is another matter. -----Original Message----- From: ilds-request at lists.uvic.ca [mailto:ilds-request at lists.uvic.ca] Sent: Tuesday, April 5, 2016 09:01 PM To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca Subject: ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 3 Send ILDS mailing list submissions to ilds at lists.uvic.caTo subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ildsor, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to ilds-request at lists.uvic.caYou can reach the person managing the list at ilds-owner at lists.uvic.caWhen replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specificthan "Re: Contents of ILDS digest..."Today's Topics: 1. Re: Bitter Lemons and Academe (James Gifford) 2. The Durrells (James Gifford) 3. Re: The Durrells (PETER BALDWIN) 4. Re: The Durrells (James Gifford) 5. Re: The Durrells (PETER BALDWIN) 6. Re: The Durrells (James Gifford) 7. Re: Bitter Lemons and Academe (Bruce Redwine)----------------------------------------------------------------------Message: 1Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2016 19:05:13 -0700From: James Gifford To: ilds at lists.uvic.caSubject: Re: [ilds] Bitter Lemons and AcademeMessage-ID: <57031D59.9070202 at gmail.com>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowedHi Bruce,> Postcolonialism in the academy has some pernicious consequences. In a> recent article on Joseph Conrad in /PMLA,/ the premier journal of> American literary studies, we find this first sentence: ?Critics tend> to agree that Joseph Conrad?s novels engage in a critique of> imperialism, but, given the novels? pervasive racism the nature of that> critique persist as a source of debate in postcolonial studies? (Regina> Martin, ?Absentee Capitalism and the Politics of Conrad?s Imperial> Novels,? /PMLA 130.3/ [2015]: 584). ?Critics? do /not/ tend to agree> on Conrad?s ?racism? (read an eminent critic like Ian Watt on Conrad and> the authoritative/ Oxford Reader?s Companion to Conrad)/ but Martin> would have it so.I'm not a Conrad scholar, but I can probably trouble this a bit -- we hosted the Conrad Society's conference here at FDU-Vancouver just after the last On Miracle Ground. One side would certainly defend Conrad from the charge, but there's also a famous lecture (later paper) by Chinua Achebe on Conrad in which he offers the biting comment "Conrad was a bloody racist." He goes on to give a more nuanced outline of the sentiment, but the laconic form makes the point. As an instance of how that plays out, the outstanding Conrad scholar John Stape taught for us here in Vancouver and brought the conference here, and my Campus Provost was friends with Achebe -- when they talked, it was from two very different perspectives...By granting the critique of imperialism along with the racism, I'd suspect Martin was trying to speak in a way that would reach both of those crowds (more a way of getting the two major readerships to feel okay than necessarily the central gesture). I'd have to go to the article and read to say more!That said, a comparable comment on Durrell from a global figure like Achebe but born in the mid-1970s would be rather helpful (a comparable age gap for us today from Conrad & Achebe). After all, people tend to actually read the polemics -- it's the same reason bad reviews are better than tepid reviews: the stirring of curiosity is always a help.> As to Durrell?s /Bitter Lemons,/ calling the book a ?whitewash? of> British policy is far, far too simplistic and another misreading of a> complicated text written by an author who was deeply conflicted and> troubled.As you know, I tend to read Durrell as often ironic, and many don't agree with me -- I've said on the listserv in the past that I look to the opening of /Bitter Lemons/ in exactly the same way as I look to the opening of /Justine/ in the same year. It speaks in the contradictions but not in what's said, much like the closing interpretation of silence.Justine opens with Freud & Sade, but I think it's Freud *vs.* Sade, and the cut or unspoken portions are the most important. Likewise, /Bitter Lemons/ opens with its claim "this is not a political book" but follows up an epigram that makes the irony pretty overt: "A race advancing on the East must start with Cyprus" followed by grand conflicts between nations and imperialism then a closing reference to how important the Suez Canal makes Cyprus. It's always struck me as something like "of course I could not write this book if it were a political book, so it isn't -- by the way, I'm lying."Durrell's anonymous writings on Cyprus make it clear he was thinking of the Cold War, not some "genuine" claim Britain had. Only three years later he would write that humanity lives "under sentence of death and simply living from reprieve to reprieve." It's unsurprising for the period -- in fact, what is surprising is that an author would turn to the kind of lush writing we find in the Quartet at that precise moment. If we read /Bitter Lemons/ beside 1957 in literature, some other trends might stand out: Fleming's /From Russia, with Love/, Kerouac's /On the Road/, Pasternak's /Doctor Zhivago/, Rand's /Atlas Shrugged/, Wyndham's /The Midwich Cuckoos/, etc... Durrell certainly stands distinct from his contemporaries, but the Cold War mentality seems ready to hand! I think we'd be wise to see it as ready to hand in /Bitter Lemons/ as well, even if it's mumbled.All best,James------------------------------Message: 2Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2016 19:06:16 -0700From: James Gifford To: ILDS Listserv Subject: [ilds] The DurrellsMessage-ID: <57031D98.3080508 at gmail.com>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowedHello all,I'm curious if anyone has feedback on the ITV production of "The Durrells" that aired last night. It's certainly catching some media attention elsewhere.All best,James------------------------------Message: 3Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2016 05:34:03 +0100From: PETER BALDWIN To: , Subject: Re: [ilds] The DurrellsMessage-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"Passable as entertainment, James, if your knowledge of the family goes no further than 'My Family......' But biographically very inaccurate. Don't waste your money on pre-ordering the DVD if there is one.Peter Sent from my iPhone> On 5 Apr 2016, at 03:07, James Gifford wrote:> > Hello all,> > I'm curious if anyone has feedback on the ITV production of "The Durrells" that aired last night. It's certainly catching some media attention elsewhere.> > All best,> James> _______________________________________________> ILDS mailing list> ILDS at lists.uvic.ca> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds------------------------------Message: 4Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2016 22:26:53 -0700From: James Gifford To: ilds at lists.uvic.caSubject: Re: [ilds] The DurrellsMessage-ID: <57034C9D.1080401 at gmail.com>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowedHi Peter,Good to know! I was thinking more along the lines of, "is this worth watching online or am I better off with Netflix..." That said, I hope it does well -- there seems to be talk of more than one series, and that would be a good thing, whether it's accurate or not. It would at least make the estates happy.Cheers,JamesOn 2016-04-04 9:34 PM, PETER BALDWIN wrote:> Passable as entertainment, James, if your knowledge of the family goes no further than 'My Family......' But biographically very inaccurate. Don't waste your money on pre-ordering the DVD if there is one.>> Peter>> Sent from my iPhone>>> On 5 Apr 2016, at 03:07, James Gifford wrote:>>>> Hello all,>>>> I'm curious if anyone has feedback on the ITV production of "The Durrells" that aired last night. It's certainly catching some media attention elsewhere.>>>> All best,>> James>> _______________________________________________>> ILDS mailing list>> ILDS at lists.uvic.ca>> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds------------------------------Message: 5Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2016 06:39:19 +0100From: PETER BALDWIN To: , Subject: Re: [ilds] The DurrellsMessage-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"The focus is on a stressed mother, Louisa, struggling with four unruly 'children'That GD found fascination with wildlife on Corfu through the mentoring of Theo hardly gets a look in. The whole compares very badly for the fan of the D family against books (given how key the Greek experience was to both brothers) and previous adaptions Pleased to see the shrine of St A used for some scenes - thankfully not identified as suchContrast BBC in 1990's (?) when the wildlife filming reflected G's fascination with animalsAs you say, if it brings cash to G's estate ie for the Jersey Zoo that's some goodNo sponsorships trails for Panic Spring for the series!PeterPeterhttp://www.thevictoriabarntgreen.co.uk/Sent from my iPhone> On 5 Apr 2016, at 06:28, James Gifford wrote:> > Hi Peter,> > Good to know! I was thinking more along the lines of, "is this worth watching online or am I better off with Netflix..." That said, I hope it does well -- there seems to be talk of more than one series, and that would be a good thing, whether it's accurate or not. It would at least make the estates happy.> > Cheers,> James> >> On 2016-04-04 9:34 PM, PETER BALDWIN wrote:>> Passable as entertainment, James, if your knowledge of the family goes no further than 'My Family......' But biographically very inaccurate. Don't waste your money on pre-ordering the DVD if there is one.>> >> Peter>> >> Sent from my iPhone>> >>> On 5 Apr 2016, at 03:07, James Gifford wrote:>>> >>> Hello all,>>> >>> I'm curious if anyone has feedback on the ITV production of "The Durrells" that aired last night. It's certainly catching some media attention elsewhere.>>> >>> All best,>>> James>>> _______________________________________________>>> ILDS mailing list>>> ILDS at lists.uvic.ca>>> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds> _______________________________________________> ILDS mailing list> ILDS at lists.uvic.ca> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds-------------- next part --------------An HTML attachment was scrubbed...URL: ------------------------------Message: 6Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2016 23:10:27 -0700From: James Gifford To: ilds Listserv Subject: Re: [ilds] The DurrellsMessage-ID: <570356D3.3070804 at gmail.com>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowedThanks for the details, Peter!> The focus is on a stressed mother, Louisa,> struggling with four unruly 'children'I was under the impression that "gin-soaked" might touch on it... Just maybe it will drive people to /Amateurs in Eden/ for adult updates.> As you say, if it brings cash to G's estate> ie for the Jersey Zoo that's some goodIt's something at least. I've watched a handful of book adaptations for TV series over the past year (we don't actually have TV), and it's a strange combination of being impressed and disappointed. The remediation inevitably means change, and some of that can actually be quite welcome (after all, /My Family/ was never "accurate" in the first place...). The great disappointment is when something appears with grand filming, some decent acting, and much potential yet seems to be trimmed to death on the cutting room floor. I'm hoping this makes a decent thing unto itself, even if it runs away from the source materials.> No sponsorships trails for Panic Spring> for the series!Alas! I don't see a penny off those, but I'd be very glad to see the pennies flowing to someone. One can hope. The book's worth reading, after all -- it just wants more readers to open it.For what it's worth, there's a new documentary about the Barbarian Press that interviews Jason Dewinetz who did the design for the ELS Editions of Durrell -- the Barbarians have a stunning shop, and their daughter imprint recently printed a long poem by one of my earliest Canadian ancestors. Delos might find the trailer worth the time (I know the Barbarians have much to say on the Centaur setting of the Quartet and Durrell's translations of Cavafy):https://vimeo.com/160010994All best,James------------------------------Message: 7Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2016 05:18:24 -0700From: Bruce Redwine To: James Gifford , Sumantra Nag Cc: Bruce Redwine Subject: Re: [ilds] Bitter Lemons and AcademeMessage-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"James,Yes. I thought of adding Chinua Achebe to my list of postcolonial writers but thought my comment had already grown too long. Now that you?ve brought him up, I?ll elaborate.I?m not a fan of Achebe, a Nigerian novelist and critic, and his diatribe on Conrad?s Heart of Darkness. His essay, ?An Image of Africa: Conrad?s Heart of Darkness,? was first delivered as a lecture at the U of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1975 and was later published in the U of Massachusetts Review in 1977. In the lecture, he calls Conrad a ?bloody racist?; in the article, he emends that phrase to ?thoroughgoing racist.? The Brits are attuned to the difference. I find ?thoroughgoing? more offensive.Ian Watt was a Brit and one of the great critics of the English novel and Joseph Conrad in particular. (See his Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding [1957] and Conrad in the Nineteenth Century [1979].) In his article, ?Conrad?s Heart of Darkness and the Critics,? anthologized in his Essays on Conrad (2000), Watt dismantles and refutes Achebe?s charge of Conrad?s racism. In my opinion, of course, anyone who takes Achebe seriously has not read Heart of Darkness closely. This is not to say that Conrad did not have prejudices which extended to certain ethnic groups (he had a preference for the Malays over the Chinese, I seem to recall), but to call him a ?racist? I find outrageous.Unfortunately, as Regina Martin?s recent article in PMLA suggests, Achebe?s charge of Conrad?s ?racism? is now widely accepted as fact and would seem to have the stamp of approval of the Modern Language Association. (Interestingly, Martin does not cite Achebe; apparently, she felt no need to reference the obvious.) This is what I find disturbing. I attribute it to the excesses of ?postcolonial? thinking and argumentation.Re your other comments, I think you?re right that Durrell likes to have things both ways. That?s part of his sly persona. As to Cyprus and the Cold War, that historical context is important. But that?s the present of 1957. One of the things I?ve always liked about Durrell and his epigraphs (along with the illustrations) is how he places one foot in the present and another in the past, deep time. It?s no coincidence that he worked in Kyrenia (or was it Nicosia?) but found a home in the village of Bellapaix, a Crusader refuge. All Romantic Classicism, I guess.Bruce> On Apr 4, 2016, at 7:05 PM, James Gifford wrote:> > Hi Bruce,> >> Postcolonialism in the academy has some pernicious consequences. In a>> recent article on Joseph Conrad in /PMLA,/ the premier journal of>> American literary studies, we find this first sentence: ?Critics tend>> to agree that Joseph Conrad?s novels engage in a critique of>> imperialism, but, given the novels? pervasive racism the nature of that>> critique persist as a source of debate in postcolonial studies? (Regina>> Martin, ?Absentee Capitalism and the Politics of Conrad?s Imperial>> Novels,? /PMLA 130.3/ [2015]: 584). ?Critics? do /not/ tend to agree>> on Conrad?s ?racism? (read an eminent critic like Ian Watt on Conrad and>> the authoritative/ Oxford Reader?s Companion to Conrad)/ but Martin>> would have it so.> > I'm not a Conrad scholar, but I can probably trouble this a bit -- we hosted the Conrad Society's conference here at FDU-Vancouver just after the last On Miracle Ground. One side would certainly defend Conrad from the charge, but there's also a famous lecture (later paper) by Chinua Achebe on Conrad in which he offers the biting comment "Conrad was a bloody racist." He goes on to give a more nuanced outline of the sentiment, but the laconic form makes the point. As an instance of how that plays out, the outstanding Conrad scholar John Stape taught for us here in Vancouver and brought the conference here, and my Campus Provost was friends with Achebe -- when they talked, it was from two very different perspectives...> > By granting the critique of imperialism along with the racism, I'd suspect Martin was trying to speak in a way that would reach both of those crowds (more a way of getting the two major readerships to feel okay than necessarily the central gesture). I'd have to go to the article and read to say more!> > That said, a comparable comment on Durrell from a global figure like Achebe but born in the mid-1970s would be rather helpful (a comparable age gap for us today from Conrad & Achebe). After all, people tend to actually read the polemics -- it's the same reason bad reviews are better than tepid reviews: the stirring of curiosity is always a help.> >> As to Durrell?s /Bitter Lemons,/ calling the book a ?whitewash? of>> British policy is far, far too simplistic and another misreading of a>> complicated text written by an author who was deeply conflicted and>> troubled.> > As you know, I tend to read Durrell as often ironic, and many don't agree with me -- I've said on the listserv in the past that I look to the opening of /Bitter Lemons/ in exactly the same way as I look to the opening of /Justine/ in the same year. It speaks in the contradictions but not in what's said, much like the closing interpretation of silence.> > Justine opens with Freud & Sade, but I think it's Freud *vs.* Sade, and the cut or unspoken portions are the most important. Likewise, /Bitter Lemons/ opens with its claim "this is not a political book" but follows up an epigram that makes the irony pretty overt: "A race advancing on the East must start with Cyprus" followed by grand conflicts between nations and imperialism then a closing reference to how important the Suez Canal makes Cyprus. It's always struck me as something like "of course I could not write this book if it were a political book, so it isn't -- by the way, I'm lying."> > Durrell's anonymous writings on Cyprus make it clear he was thinking of the Cold War, not some "genuine" claim Britain had. Only three years later he would write that humanity lives "under sentence of death and simply living from reprieve to reprieve." It's unsurprising for the period -- in fact, what is surprising is that an author would turn to the kind of lush writing we find in the Quartet at that precise moment. If we read /Bitter Lemons/ beside 1957 in literature, some other trends might stand out: Fleming's /From Russia, with Love/, Kerouac's /On the Road/, Pasternak's /Doctor Zhivago/, Rand's /Atlas Shrugged/, Wyndham's /The Midwich Cuckoos/, etc... Durrell certainly stands distinct from his contemporaries, but the Cold War mentality seems ready to hand! I think we'd be wise to see it as ready to hand in /Bitter Lemons/ as well, even if it's mumbled.> > All best,> James> -------------- next part --------------An HTML attachment was scrubbed...URL: ------------------------------Subject: Digest Footer_______________________________________________ILDS mailing listILDS at lists.uvic.cahttps://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds------------------------------End of ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 3************************************ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From robin.w.collins at gmail.com Tue Apr 5 13:06:29 2016 From: robin.w.collins at gmail.com (Robin Collins) Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2016 16:06:29 -0400 Subject: [ilds] re Bitter Lemons and Durrell attitudes to colonialism Message-ID: I feel a bit out of my reach here, but when I read Espirt de Corps (pub.1951?) a long time ago, while I didn't find it hilarious by any stretch, I didn't get the feeling that LD took himself or the diplomatic corps (and bey extension British colonialism) particularly seriously. It was a job to him, a source of income so that he could write... Anyone have a more recent memory of this book? Robin > > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2016 19:05:13 -0700 > From: James Gifford > > [...] > > As you know, I tend to read Durrell as often ironic, and many don't > agree with me -- I've said on the listserv in the past that I look to > the opening of /Bitter Lemons/ in exactly the same way as I look to the > opening of /Justine/ in the same year. It speaks in the contradictions > but not in what's said, much like the closing interpretation of silence. > > Justine opens with Freud & Sade, but I think it's Freud *vs.* Sade, and > the cut or unspoken portions are the most important. Likewise, /Bitter > Lemons/ opens with its claim "this is not a political book" but follows > up an epigram that makes the irony pretty overt: "A race advancing on > the East must start with Cyprus" followed by grand conflicts between > nations and imperialism then a closing reference to how important the > Suez Canal makes Cyprus. It's always struck me as something like "of > course I could not write this book if it were a political book, so it > isn't -- by the way, I'm lying." > > [...] > > All best, > James > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From james.d.gifford at gmail.com Tue Apr 5 14:19:53 2016 From: james.d.gifford at gmail.com (James Gifford) Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2016 14:19:53 -0700 Subject: [ilds] re Bitter Lemons and Durrell attitudes to colonialism In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <57042BF9.6060403@gmail.com> Hi Robin, I wonder if the question isn't so much his seriousness but rather how much he was a "party man" for the British position -- he certainly mocks the British and distances himself from Britishness to varying degrees and in different circumstances, yet in his job he did was he was told until he decided to leave. I'd also suggest that it's hard to read /Bitter Lemons/ without feeling deep sympathy with the Cypriot characters. Durrell, of course, couldn't write a book against the British position, so he wrote one that was "not a political book" in which the reader's emotional sympathies clearly lean to the Cypriots. I'm reminded of the character Lawrence Durrell in his short narrative "Oil for the Saint" who bemoans tourism on Corfu only to be told by Kerkyra that the tourists bring much needed money, thank-you very much -- that the story was printed in /Holiday/ magazine makes the point. Of course he wrote it to encourage tourism, first because it paid, and second because it was good for his friends. But saying so through the mouth of his character Lawrence Durrell wouldn't suit the purpose. In essence, the text shows us this rather than tells us. I tend to think much of that happens in /Bitter Lemons/ as well. All best, James On 2016-04-05 1:06 PM, Robin Collins wrote: > I feel a bit out of my reach here, but when I read Espirt de Corps > (pub.1951?) a long time ago, while I didn't find it hilarious by any > stretch, I didn't get the feeling that LD took himself or the diplomatic > corps (and bey extension British colonialism) particularly seriously. It > was a job to him, a source of income so that he could write... > Anyone have a more recent memory of this book? > > Robin > > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2016 19:05:13 -0700 > From: James Gifford > > > [...] > > As you know, I tend to read Durrell as often ironic, and many don't > agree with me -- I've said on the listserv in the past that I look to > the opening of /Bitter Lemons/ in exactly the same way as I look to the > opening of /Justine/ in the same year. It speaks in the contradictions > but not in what's said, much like the closing interpretation of silence. > > Justine opens with Freud & Sade, but I think it's Freud *vs.* Sade, and > the cut or unspoken portions are the most important. Likewise, /Bitter > Lemons/ opens with its claim "this is not a political book" but follows > up an epigram that makes the irony pretty overt: "A race advancing on > the East must start with Cyprus" followed by grand conflicts between > nations and imperialism then a closing reference to how important the > Suez Canal makes Cyprus. It's always struck me as something like "of > course I could not write this book if it were a political book, so it > isn't -- by the way, I'm lying." > > [...] > > All best, > James > > > > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > From james.d.gifford at gmail.com Tue Apr 5 14:40:19 2016 From: james.d.gifford at gmail.com (James Gifford) Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2016 14:40:19 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Bitter Lemons and Academe In-Reply-To: References: <5F0782BD-89E7-40B4-A2E5-A1BD9B97D433@earthlink.net> <57031D59.9070202@gmail.com> Message-ID: <570430C3.7050901@gmail.com> Hi Bruce, > I?m not a fan of Achebe I'll admit that I am, though that doesn't mean that I agree with him on everything. His dispute with Ng?g? wa Thiong'o over language in African literature is great to teach, even if one doesn't actually pick a side. I've taught his /Things Fall Apart/ for many years now. > Regina Martin?s recent article in /PMLA/ suggests, > Achebe?s charge of Conrad?s ?racism? is now > widely accepted as fact and would seem to have the > stamp of approval of the Modern Language > Association. (Interestingly, Martin does not cite > Achebe; apparently, she felt no need to reference > the obvious.) I'd agree on both points. It is widely accepted by a section of the critical community, and that's also why she doesn't need to refer to it directly. That said, there's certainly still dispute. If I may suggest an older title, Stephen Ross' /Conrad & Empire/ covers this terrain and Achebe as well as complex responses by Christ GoGwilt and Andrea White (4?5, 187) -- Ross spoke at the Victoria OMG conference, and I'm biased toward his reading, but I think it's very well done. It's in ebrary if you have access. > One of the things I?ve always liked about > Durrell and his epigraphs ... is how he places > one foot in the present and another in the past, > deep time. I'm in complete agreement on that -- those ties to deep time, allusions to passed landscapes and past texts are more than literary gestures. I think they're a call to the outlines of history in our modern lives, like the trace or a palimpsest. I don't think it's a stretch to see the same pattern at work in his composition method, the structure of his narratives, and the role of both allusion and epigrams. It strikes me as a unified method. All best, James From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Tue Apr 5 15:26:27 2016 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2016 15:26:27 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Bitter Lemons and Academe In-Reply-To: <570430C3.7050901@gmail.com> References: <5F0782BD-89E7-40B4-A2E5-A1BD9B97D433@earthlink.net> <57031D59.9070202@gmail.com> <570430C3.7050901@gmail.com> Message-ID: James, Thanks for being candid. So, I?ll do likewise. I think I?ve said all that needs to be said about Achebe on Conrad?s Heart of Darkness. I?m with Ian Watt (among other Conradians) and his criticisms of the Nigerian?s charge of JC being a ?bloody? or ?thoroughgoing racist.? Both versions are utterly reckless and ridiculous, in my opinion, and another example of what has happened to the MLA over the past few decades. Very sad. I?m glad, however, that we agree on Durrell?s stance in Bitter Lemons. Yes, a ?unified method.? Nevertheless, beware?what has happened to Joseph Conrad is sure to happen to Lawrence Durrell, if it hasn?t already! On second thought, it surely has happened! Best, Bruce > On Apr 5, 2016, at 2:40 PM, James Gifford wrote: > > Hi Bruce, > >> I?m not a fan of Achebe > > I'll admit that I am, though that doesn't mean that I agree with him on everything. His dispute with Ng?g? wa Thiong'o over language in African literature is great to teach, even if one doesn't actually pick a side. I've taught his /Things Fall Apart/ for many years now. > >> Regina Martin?s recent article in /PMLA/ suggests, >> Achebe?s charge of Conrad?s ?racism? is now >> widely accepted as fact and would seem to have the >> stamp of approval of the Modern Language >> Association. (Interestingly, Martin does not cite >> Achebe; apparently, she felt no need to reference >> the obvious.) > > I'd agree on both points. It is widely accepted by a section of the critical community, and that's also why she doesn't need to refer to it directly. That said, there's certainly still dispute. If I may suggest an older title, Stephen Ross' /Conrad & Empire/ covers this terrain and Achebe as well as complex responses by Christ GoGwilt and Andrea White (4?5, 187) -- Ross spoke at the Victoria OMG conference, and I'm biased toward his reading, but I think it's very well done. It's in ebrary if you have access. > >> One of the things I?ve always liked about >> Durrell and his epigraphs ... is how he places >> one foot in the present and another in the past, >> deep time. > > I'm in complete agreement on that -- those ties to deep time, allusions to passed landscapes and past texts are more than literary gestures. I think they're a call to the outlines of history in our modern lives, like the trace or a palimpsest. I don't think it's a stretch to see the same pattern at work in his composition method, the structure of his narratives, and the role of both allusion and epigrams. It strikes me as a unified method. > > All best, > James -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mail at durrelllibrarycorfu.org Wed Apr 6 01:20:17 2016 From: mail at durrelllibrarycorfu.org (mail at durrelllibrarycorfu.org) Date: Wed, 06 Apr 2016 08:20:17 +0000 Subject: [ilds] Panayotis on Bitter Lemons Message-ID: Regarding Panayotis' remarks below: I cannot see how this polarisation of opinion can be resolved. It is totally understandable that Greeks, especially Cypriots, would regard LD as part of the British administration, that they would see that administration as offensive and obstructing enosis and therefore by implication LD was part of that system. I respect that point of view although I radically disagreee with it. Philhellenes like myself would take the view that the situation was an impossible one based on historical mistakes (even Gladstone referred negatively to the annexation of Cyprus, saying it was ill-judged). Those of us who knew LD and/or have studied his work in all areas of his writing will be able to see what I have already described as the agon between his head and his heart. I am sure (and so was he) that he was wrong to take the job in Public Relations, and people like Seferis were right (from their standpoint) to confirm Maurice Cardiff;s view that he would lose his Greek friends. In fact, LD intensely disliked most of the postings he had in the British foreign service, with the exceptions of Rhodes and probably the short-lived job in Kalamata. But to brand him unreservedly as a colonial leper, as Panayotis seems to do, is as one-sided as to see the current Cypriot situation or the name-dispute over FYROM as irresoluble because of indelible polar differences. If war is the thing we do when diplomacy and peace have failed, then Panayotis must be seen as a warhorse in the same vein as Roufos and Montis - so virulently anti-British as to condemn all philhellenes. If to be British/English is to be bad (in Greek terms) then there can be no philhellenes , hence no Byron. That's the logic of exclusivism. It doesn't work in the modern world, although extremists can see it no other way - hence the Middle East, Isis, Putin, the Panama Papers which have fascinated us for all of this week.......ad infinitum. Some of us have to get on with the business of living with our opposites WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT. Even the Cypriots are endeavouring to overcome the problems caused by the illegal occupation of their country by Turkey. But look at the continuing presence of Britian in Cyprus (as owner of 100 sq miles of sovereign etrritory) and ask: why do they hold on to it? Because despite the British desire to get out, the Americans insist on its retention - this is the realpolitik of geopolitics. Rebelling against this, as EOKA did against the british, is futile; it may be honourable, but so is martyrdom and exile. LD had 2 views on the martyrdom of EOKA - again, the heart and the head, As a British employee he simply couldn't openly condemn it, but as we know he did condemn it in his private diary, which I made public in 1994, confirming evidence from other sources. And if Panayotis is so pro-Greek, what does he say of the failed putsch in Cyprus by the military junta in 1974 which provoked the Turkish invasion? Was it simply a desperate attempt by the fascists to bolster their sagging power, or was it a truly nationalist attempt to achieve the longed-for enosis, 14 years too late? According to Panayotis, one must take an entrenched, monochrome view of the thing. And for Panayotis to suggest that the town of Corfu should not have named a park "Bosketto Durrell" or allowed the bas-reliefs of Gerald and Lawrence to be placed there is so absurd as to make his position insupportable to all but the most rabid Greek nationalists. LD and GD did honour to Corfu, and the island has thanked them for it. Nationalisn has had its day, as we know in this country, where the notion of sovereignty has been exploded by the realpolitik of globalised finance and geopolitics. Moreover, whatever his persuasions, Panayotis is simply not reading Bitter Lemons correctly and I can see the reason for this: the English text is not immediately amenable to critical analysis by non-English readers. I find this when I am lecturing to Greek students or indeed Americans - never tell a joke because the joke for its success demands a shared referential context and Greeks or Americans simply do not 'get' English jokes. It;'s the same with a book, whether it is or is not 'political', whether it is written for propaganda or (to use LD's term) impropaganda, or just for money. The mindset is different. It's a matter of translation - metaphor - and it usually fails. "Every interpretation of reality is based upon a unique position. Two paces east or west and the whole picture is changed". Bitter Lemons is an ambivalent (diforoumenos) and flawed work where fiction meets history (mithistorima). Don't try to analyse it as a political treatise, as an objective history or even as a fable. It has parts of all of these, and it is above all a work of the imagination as are prospero's Cell and Reflections on a Marine Venus (but I expect Panayotis would read the latter as proof of LD's betrayal of the Greeks by joining the Dodecanese to Greece as part of some dastardly long-term plot to intensify Greek-Turkish hatred and mistrust - and it is indeed open to such interpretation....) RP ----------------------------------------------- For the attempt to whitewash of the British policy in Cyprus in Bitter Lemons, it is in order to give ashort but concrete example: [?] ?Have you heard the news?? I nodded.?The execution?? She puffed and swelled with sorrow. ?Why should they do suchthings? I became angry. ?If you kill you must die,? I said; she raised herhand, as if to stop me. ?Not that. Not the execution. But they would not givehis mother the body, or so they say. That is a terrible punishment, sir. For ifyou do not look upon your loved one dead you will never meet him again in theother world (Bitter Lemons of Cyprus,paperback Edition Faber & Faber 1959, p. 268) The discussion takes place between LDand the cleaning-lady Xenou during LD?s last visit to the Bellapaix house theday of the execution of Michalakis Karaolis in spite of the international protestsand appeals for clemency, US president Eisenhower and Albert Camus included, LD gets angry: ?If you kill you must die?.Xenou the law-abiding subject of HM protests: the killing was OK, what she hadin mind was the decision of not turning back to the mother of the dead body forsepulture ?because if you don?t look upon your loved one? etc. ?The na?ve beliefof the illiterate indigene registered by pseudo-orientalist LD that ignored thestory Antigone. Otherwise, as all law-abiding subjects of HM, Xenou approved thehanging. Even more white washing, the ?remarkablycourageous woman? as advertised in the dust cover of her book ?Below the Tide? PenelopeTremayne published in 1959, with a spirited preface by the philhellene LD. Speaking of Caraolishanging she does reiterate courageously ?murder had been done, and punished accordingthe law? and continues on desecrating the dead He had killed a man, yes a policeman andcompatriot. But that was not murder: it was the high-spirited act of a decent,upstanding youth who yearned for his freedom he was a hero and a martyr ? or atall events, he became later so. It is hard to think that many people believed in this martyr view at thetime. The average Cypriot, then, was still level-headed enough to know murderwhen he saw it; and the EOKA enthusiasts must have been chilled, at least, bythe fact that, when he was condemned, all Caraolis? political heroics fell fromhim: he repudiated EOKA, said that it was all nonsense and he had never reallywanted to have anything to do with it, and asked for mercy on the grounds thathe was a good boy led astray by bad companions. (Penelope Tremayne Bellow theTide, Houghton Mifflin, First American Edition, 1959, 17) In1953-56 LD was in possess of mote information than Charles Foley on whathappened in the prisons and in the offices of the Colonial Government of Cyprus.He was not a policy maker but in BitterLemons he chose to lie not ?for his country? but for ?the Tories of his country?cashing the DuffCooper Memorial, thecompliments of the Queen Mother and the applause of Lord Salisbury. Thirtyyears after, in the interview with the Aegean Review he apologized. Maybe notin earnest, but why ironically? All these might sound simplistic but are hard factsthat must be taken into consideration and explained by the learned professors of this list unless theythink they deal with simpletons. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From james.d.gifford at gmail.com Wed Apr 6 10:43:13 2016 From: james.d.gifford at gmail.com (James Gifford) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2016 10:43:13 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Happy Birthday... Message-ID: <57054AB1.9050802@gmail.com> Hello all, Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages later, I hope you're all still having fun. All best, James From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Wed Apr 6 11:52:52 2016 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2016 11:52:52 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Happy Birthday... In-Reply-To: <57054AB1.9050802@gmail.com> References: <57054AB1.9050802@gmail.com> Message-ID: <2C9B18C2-CFDC-4414-99D5-7281CC3D5313@earthlink.net> Hear! Hear! Why not begin another reading? Bitter Lemons or Tunc, for example. Bruce Sent from my iPhone > On Apr 6, 2016, at 10:43 AM, James Gifford wrote: > > Hello all, > > Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages later, I hope you're all still having fun. > > From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Wed Apr 6 12:50:05 2016 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2016 12:50:05 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Panayotis on Bitter Lemons In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <9FAF6105-7BD1-4041-8993-040084DE5120@earthlink.net> Richard, Thanks for your succinct comment. Since my knowledge of the historical issues is limited, I cannot say you are right on all points with certainty, but I agree with the main thrust of your argument. Well said. Bruce > On Apr 6, 2016, at 1:20 AM, mail at durrelllibrarycorfu.org wrote: > > Regarding Panayotis' remarks below: I cannot see how this polarisation of opinion can be resolved. It is totally understandable that Greeks, especially Cypriots, would regard LD as part of the British administration, that they would see that administration as offensive and obstructing enosis and therefore by implication LD was part of that system. I respect that point of view although I radically disagreee with it. > Philhellenes like myself would take the view that the situation was an impossible one based on historical mistakes (even Gladstone referred negatively to the annexation of Cyprus, saying it was ill-judged). > Those of us who knew LD and/or have studied his work in all areas of his writing will be able to see what I have already described as the agon between his head and his heart. I am sure (and so was he) that he was wrong to take the job in Public Relations, and people like Seferis were right (from their standpoint) to confirm Maurice Cardiff;s view that he would lose his Greek friends. > In fact, LD intensely disliked most of the postings he had in the British foreign service, with the exceptions of Rhodes and probably the short-lived job in Kalamata. But to brand him unreservedly as a colonial leper, as Panayotis seems to do, is as one-sided as to see the current Cypriot situation or the name-dispute over FYROM as irresoluble because of indelible polar differences. If war is the thing we do when diplomacy and peace have failed, then Panayotis must be seen as a warhorse in the same vein as Roufos and Montis - so virulently anti-British as to condemn all philhellenes. If to be British/English is to be bad (in Greek terms) then there can be no philhellenes , hence no Byron. That's the logic of exclusivism. It doesn't work in the modern world, although extremists can see it no other way - hence the Middle East, Isis, Putin, the Panama Papers which have fascinated us for all of this week.......ad infinitum. Some of us have to get on with the business of living with our opposites WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT. Even the Cypriots are endeavouring to overcome the problems caused by the illegal occupation of their country by Turkey. But look at the continuing presence of Britian in Cyprus (as owner of 100 sq miles of sovereign etrritory) and ask: why do they hold on to it? Because despite the British desire to get out, the Americans insist on its retention - this is the realpolitik of geopolitics. Rebelling against this, as EOKA did against the british, is futile; it may be honourable, but so is martyrdom and exile. LD had 2 views on the martyrdom of EOKA - again, the heart and the head, As a British employee he simply couldn't openly condemn it, but as we know he did condemn it in his private diary, which I made public in 1994, confirming evidence from other sources. > And if Panayotis is so pro-Greek, what does he say of the failed putsch in Cyprus by the military junta in 1974 which provoked the Turkish invasion? Was it simply a desperate attempt by the fascists to bolster their sagging power, or was it a truly nationalist attempt to achieve the longed-for enosis, 14 years too late? According to Panayotis, one must take an entrenched, monochrome view of the thing. > And for Panayotis to suggest that the town of Corfu should not have named a park "Bosketto Durrell" or allowed the bas-reliefs of Gerald and Lawrence to be placed there is so absurd as to make his position insupportable to all but the most rabid Greek nationalists. LD and GD did honour to Corfu, and the island has thanked them for it. > Nationalisn has had its day, as we know in this country, where the notion of sovereignty has been exploded by the realpolitik of globalised finance and geopolitics. > Moreover, whatever his persuasions, Panayotis is simply not reading Bitter Lemons correctly and I can see the reason for this: the English text is not immediately amenable to critical analysis by non-English readers. I find this when I am lecturing to Greek students or indeed Americans - never tell a joke because the joke for its success demands a shared referential context and Greeks or Americans simply do not 'get' English jokes. It;'s the same with a book, whether it is or is not 'political', whether it is written for propaganda or (to use LD's term) impropaganda, or just for money. The mindset is different. It's a matter of translation - metaphor - and it usually fails. "Every interpretation of reality is based upon a unique position. Two paces east or west and the whole picture is changed". > Bitter Lemons is an ambivalent (diforoumenos) and flawed work where fiction meets history (mithistorima). Don't try to analyse it as a political treatise, as an objective history or even as a fable. It has parts of all of these, and it is above all a work of the imagination as are prospero's Cell and Reflections on a Marine Venus (but I expect Panayotis would read the latter as proof of LD's betrayal of the Greeks by joining the Dodecanese to Greece as part of some dastardly long-term plot to intensify Greek-Turkish hatred and mistrust - and it is indeed open to such interpretation....) > RP > ----------------------------------------------- > For the attempt to whitewash of the British policy in Cyprus in Bitter Lemons, it is in order to give a short but concrete example: > > [?] ?Have you heard the news?? I nodded. ?The execution?? She puffed and swelled with sorrow. ?Why should they do such things? I became angry. ?If you kill you must die,? I said; she raised her hand, as if to stop me. ?Not that. Not the execution. But they would not give his mother the body, or so they say. That is a terrible punishment, sir. For if you do not look upon your loved one dead you will never meet him again in the other world (Bitter Lemons of Cyprus, paperback Edition Faber & Faber 1959, p. 268) > > The discussion takes place between LD and the cleaning-lady Xenou during LD?s last visit to the Bellapaix house the day of the execution of Michalakis Karaolis in spite of the international protests and appeals for clemency, US president Eisenhower and Albert Camus included, LD gets angry: ?If you kill you must die?. Xenou the law-abiding subject of HM protests: the killing was OK, what she had in mind was the decision of not turning back to the mother of the dead body for sepulture ?because if you don?t look upon your loved one? etc. ?The na?ve belief of the illiterate indigene registered by pseudo-orientalist LD that ignored the story Antigone. Otherwise, as all law-abiding subjects of HM, Xenou approved the hanging. > > Even more white washing, the ?remarkably courageous woman? as advertised in the dust cover of her book ?Below the Tide? Penelope Tremayne published in 1959, with a spirited preface by the philhellene LD. Speaking of Caraolis hanging she does reiterate courageously ?murder had been done, and punished according the law? and continues on desecrating the dead > > He had killed a man, yes a policeman and compatriot. But that was not murder: it was the high-spirited act of a decent, upstanding youth who yearned for his freedom he was a hero and a martyr ? or at all events, he became later so. > It is hard to think that many people believed in this martyr view at the time. The average Cypriot, then, was still level-headed enough to know murder when he saw it; and the EOKA enthusiasts must have been chilled, at least, by the fact that, when he was condemned, all Caraolis? political heroics fell from him: he repudiated EOKA, said that it was all nonsense and he had never really wanted to have anything to do with it, and asked for mercy on the grounds that he was a good boy led astray by bad companions. (Penelope Tremayne Bellow the Tide, Houghton Mifflin, First American Edition, 1959, 17) > In 1953-56 LD was in possess of mote information than Charles Foley on what happened in the prisons and in the offices of the Colonial Government of Cyprus. He was not a policy maker but in Bitter Lemons he chose to lie not ?for his country? but for ?the Tories of his country? cashing the Duff Cooper Memorial, the compliments of the Queen Mother and the applause of Lord Salisbury. Thirty years after, in the interview with the Aegean Review he apologized. Maybe not in earnest, but why ironically? All these might sound simplistic but are hard facts that must be taken into consideration and explained by the learned professors of this list unless they think they deal with simpletons. > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From giacomoesposito72 at gmail.com Wed Apr 6 13:11:07 2016 From: giacomoesposito72 at gmail.com (james Esposito) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2016 23:11:07 +0300 Subject: [ilds] Panayotis on Bitter Lemons In-Reply-To: <9FAF6105-7BD1-4041-8993-040084DE5120@earthlink.net> References: <9FAF6105-7BD1-4041-8993-040084DE5120@earthlink.net> Message-ID: Dear Mr Bruce Redwine I received this which, having read what he has written about Bitter Lemons, I assume was intended for Mr Pine. I think the Durrell people have a new email but I am not sure what it is. But there is no "Richard" here. This mistake was also made some time ago by professor Gifford, and he has yet to explain how the mistake occurred. JE On Wed, Apr 6, 2016 at 10:50 PM, Bruce Redwine wrote: > Richard, > > Thanks for your succinct comment. Since my knowledge of the historical > issues is limited, I cannot say you are right on all points with certainty, > but I agree with the main thrust of your argument. Well said. > > Bruce > > > > > > On Apr 6, 2016, at 1:20 AM, mail at durrelllibrarycorfu.org wrote: > > Regarding Panayotis' remarks below: I cannot see how this polarisation of > opinion can be resolved. It is totally understandable that Greeks, > especially Cypriots, would regard LD as part of the British administration, > that they would see that administration as offensive and obstructing enosis > and therefore by implication LD was part of that system. I respect that > point of view although I radically disagreee with it. > Philhellenes like myself would take the view that the situation was an > impossible one based on historical mistakes (even Gladstone referred > negatively to the annexation of Cyprus, saying it was ill-judged). > Those of us who knew LD and/or have studied his work in all areas of his > writing will be able to see what I have already described as the agon > between his head and his heart. I am sure (and so was he) that he was wrong > to take the job in Public Relations, and people like Seferis were right > (from their standpoint) to confirm Maurice Cardiff;s view that he would > lose his Greek friends. > In fact, LD intensely disliked most of the postings he had in the British > foreign service, with the exceptions of Rhodes and probably the short-lived > job in Kalamata. But to brand him unreservedly as a colonial leper, as > Panayotis seems to do, is as one-sided as to see the current Cypriot > situation or the name-dispute over FYROM as irresoluble because of > indelible polar differences. If war is the thing we do when diplomacy and > peace have failed, then Panayotis must be seen as a warhorse in the same > vein as Roufos and Montis - so virulently anti-British as to condemn all > philhellenes. If to be British/English is to be bad (in Greek terms) then > there can be no philhellenes , hence no Byron. That's the logic of > exclusivism. It doesn't work in the modern world, although extremists can > see it no other way - hence the Middle East, Isis, Putin, the Panama Papers > which have fascinated us for all of this week.......ad infinitum. Some of > us have to get on with the business of living with our opposites WHETHER WE > LIKE IT OR NOT. Even the Cypriots are endeavouring to overcome the problems > caused by the illegal occupation of their country by Turkey. But look at > the continuing presence of Britian in Cyprus (as owner of 100 sq miles of > sovereign etrritory) and ask: why do they hold on to it? Because despite > the British desire to get out, the Americans insist on its retention - this > is the realpolitik of geopolitics. Rebelling against this, as EOKA did > against the british, is futile; it may be honourable, but so is martyrdom > and exile. LD had 2 views on the martyrdom of EOKA - again, the heart and > the head, As a British employee he simply couldn't openly condemn it, but > as we know he did condemn it in his private diary, which I made public in > 1994, confirming evidence from other sources. > And if Panayotis is so pro-Greek, what does he say of the failed putsch in > Cyprus by the military junta in 1974 which provoked the Turkish invasion? > Was it simply a desperate attempt by the fascists to bolster their sagging > power, or was it a truly nationalist attempt to achieve the longed-for > enosis, 14 years too late? According to Panayotis, one must take an > entrenched, monochrome view of the thing. > And for Panayotis to suggest that the town of Corfu should not have named > a park "Bosketto Durrell" or allowed the bas-reliefs of Gerald and Lawrence > to be placed there is so absurd as to make his position insupportable to > all but the most rabid Greek nationalists. LD and GD did honour to Corfu, > and the island has thanked them for it. > Nationalisn has had its day, as we know in this country, where the notion > of sovereignty has been exploded by the realpolitik of globalised finance > and geopolitics. > Moreover, whatever his persuasions, Panayotis is simply not reading Bitter > Lemons correctly and I can see the reason for this: the English text is not > immediately amenable to critical analysis by non-English readers. I find > this when I am lecturing to Greek students or indeed Americans - never tell > a joke because the joke for its success demands a shared referential > context and Greeks or Americans simply do not 'get' English jokes. It;'s > the same with a book, whether it is or is not 'political', whether it is > written for propaganda or (to use LD's term) impropaganda, or just for > money. The mindset is different. It's a matter of translation - metaphor - > and it usually fails. "Every interpretation of reality is based upon a > unique position. Two paces east or west and the whole picture is changed". > Bitter Lemons is an ambivalent (diforoumenos) and flawed work where > fiction meets history (mithistorima). Don't try to analyse it as a > political treatise, as an objective history or even as a fable. It has > parts of all of these, and it is above all a work of the imagination as are > prospero's Cell and Reflections on a Marine Venus (but I expect Panayotis > would read the latter as proof of LD's betrayal of the Greeks by joining > the Dodecanese to Greece as part of some dastardly long-term plot to > intensify Greek-Turkish hatred and mistrust - and it is indeed open to such > interpretation....) > RP > ----------------------------------------------- > For the attempt to whitewash of the British policy in Cyprus in *Bitter > Lemons, *it is in order to give a short but concrete example: > > > [?] ?Have you heard the news?? I nodded. ?The execution?? She puffed and > swelled with sorrow. ?Why should they do such things? I became angry. ?If > you kill you must die,? I said; she raised her hand, as if to stop me. ?Not > that. Not the execution. But they would not give his mother the body, or so > they say. That is a terrible punishment, sir. For if you do not look upon > your loved one dead you will never meet him again in the other world (*Bitter > Lemons of Cyprus*, paperback Edition Faber & Faber 1959, p. 268) > > > The discussion takes place between LD and the cleaning-lady Xenou during > LD?s last visit to the Bellapaix house the day of the execution of > Michalakis Karaolis in spite of the international protests and appeals for > clemency, US president Eisenhower and Albert Camus included, LD gets > angry: ?If you kill you must die?. Xenou the law-abiding subject of HM > protests: the killing was OK, what she had in mind was the decision of not > turning back to the mother of the dead body for sepulture ?because if you > don?t look upon your loved one? etc. ?The na?ve belief of the illiterate > indigene registered by pseudo-orientalist LD that ignored the story > Antigone. Otherwise, as all law-abiding subjects of HM, Xenou approved the > hanging. > > > Even more *white washing*, the ?remarkably courageous woman? as > advertised in the dust cover of her book ?Below the Tide? Penelope Tremayne > published in 1959, with a spirited preface by the *philhellene* LD. > Speaking of Caraolis hanging she does reiterate courageously ?*murder > had been done, and punished according the law*? and continues on > desecrating the dead > > > He had killed a man, yes a policeman and compatriot. But that was not > murder: it was the high-spirited act of a decent, upstanding youth who > yearned for his freedom he was a hero and a martyr ? or at all events, he > became later so. > It is hard to think that many people believed in this martyr view at > the time. The average Cypriot, then, was still level-headed enough to know > murder when he saw it; and the EOKA enthusiasts must have been chilled, at > least, by the fact that, when he was condemned, all Caraolis? political > heroics fell from him: he repudiated EOKA, said that it was all nonsense > and he had never really wanted to have anything to do with it, and asked > for mercy on the grounds that he was a good boy led astray by bad > companions. (Penelope Tremayne Bellow the Tide, Houghton Mifflin, First > American Edition, 1959, 17) > In 1953-56 LD was in possess of mote information than Charles Foley on > what happened in the prisons and in the offices of the Colonial Government > of Cyprus. He was not a policy maker but in *Bitter Lemons* he chose to > lie not ?for his country? but for ?the Tories of his country? cashing the > Duff Cooper Memorial, the compliments of the Queen Mother and the > applause of Lord Salisbury. Thirty years after, in the interview with the > Aegean Review he apologized. Maybe not in earnest, but why ironically? All > these might sound simplistic but are hard facts that must be taken into > consideration and explained by the learned* professors* of this list > unless they think they deal with simpletons. > > > > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From wilded at hotmail.com Wed Apr 6 14:00:26 2016 From: wilded at hotmail.com (david wilde) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2016 21:00:26 +0000 Subject: [ilds] Happy Birthday... In-Reply-To: <57054AB1.9050802@gmail.com> References: <57054AB1.9050802@gmail.com> Message-ID: Ditto James. Thank you for all the great efforts spent and the hornorable gesture!! David Wilde (UNM) ________________________________________ From: ILDS on behalf of James Gifford Sent: Wednesday, April 6, 2016 11:43 AM To: ILDS Listserv Subject: [ilds] Happy Birthday... Hello all, Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages later, I hope you're all still having fun. All best, James _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds From gammage.kennedy at gmail.com Wed Apr 6 19:16:30 2016 From: gammage.kennedy at gmail.com (Kennedy Gammage) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2016 19:16:30 -0700 Subject: [ilds] The Durrells In-Reply-To: References: <57031D98.3080508@gmail.com> <57034C9D.1080401@gmail.com> Message-ID: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3522005/A-gin-soaked-mum-mischief-sun-s-perfect-Sunday-telly-CHRISTOPHER-STEVENS-reviews-weekend-s-TV.html On Mon, Apr 4, 2016 at 10:39 PM, PETER BALDWIN wrote: > The focus is on a stressed mother, Louisa, struggling with four unruly > 'children' > > That GD found fascination with wildlife on Corfu through the mentoring of > Theo hardly gets a look in. The whole compares very badly for the fan of > the D family against books (given how key the Greek experience was to both > brothers) and previous adaptions > > Pleased to see the shrine of St A used for some scenes - thankfully not > identified as such > > Contrast BBC in 1990's (?) when the wildlife filming reflected G's > fascination with animals > > As you say, if it brings cash to G's estate ie for the Jersey Zoo that's > some good > > No sponsorships trails for Panic Spring for the series! > > Peter > > Peterhttp://www.thevictoriabarntgreen.co.uk/ > Sent from my iPhone > > On 5 Apr 2016, at 06:28, James Gifford wrote: > > Hi Peter, > > Good to know! I was thinking more along the lines of, "is this worth > watching online or am I better off with Netflix..." That said, I hope it > does well -- there seems to be talk of more than one series, and that would > be a good thing, whether it's accurate or not. It would at least make the > estates happy. > > Cheers, > James > > On 2016-04-04 9:34 PM, PETER BALDWIN wrote: > > Passable as entertainment, James, if your knowledge of the family goes no > further than 'My Family......' But biographically very inaccurate. Don't > waste your money on pre-ordering the DVD if there is one. > > > Peter > > > Sent from my iPhone > > > On 5 Apr 2016, at 03:07, James Gifford wrote: > > > Hello all, > > > I'm curious if anyone has feedback on the ITV production of "The Durrells" > that aired last night. It's certainly catching some media attention > elsewhere. > > > All best, > > James > > _______________________________________________ > > ILDS mailing list > > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > > > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From giacomoesposito72 at gmail.com Wed Apr 6 23:12:17 2016 From: giacomoesposito72 at gmail.com (james Esposito) Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2016 09:12:17 +0300 Subject: [ilds] The Durrells In-Reply-To: References: <57031D98.3080508@gmail.com> <57034C9D.1080401@gmail.com> Message-ID: As a lawyer, I am fascinated by the fact that the programme can (according to the Daily Mail) include "four teenage children", when Gerald was ten and Lawrence was twenty-three. Such is "poetic licence" perhaps, but it wouldn't stand up in court. James Esposito On Thu, Apr 7, 2016 at 5:16 AM, Kennedy Gammage wrote: > > http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3522005/A-gin-soaked-mum-mischief-sun-s-perfect-Sunday-telly-CHRISTOPHER-STEVENS-reviews-weekend-s-TV.html > > > > On Mon, Apr 4, 2016 at 10:39 PM, PETER BALDWIN > wrote: > >> The focus is on a stressed mother, Louisa, struggling with four unruly >> 'children' >> >> That GD found fascination with wildlife on Corfu through the mentoring of >> Theo hardly gets a look in. The whole compares very badly for the fan of >> the D family against books (given how key the Greek experience was to both >> brothers) and previous adaptions >> >> Pleased to see the shrine of St A used for some scenes - thankfully not >> identified as such >> >> Contrast BBC in 1990's (?) when the wildlife filming reflected G's >> fascination with animals >> >> As you say, if it brings cash to G's estate ie for the Jersey Zoo that's >> some good >> >> No sponsorships trails for Panic Spring for the series! >> >> Peter >> >> Peterhttp://www.thevictoriabarntgreen.co.uk/ >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> On 5 Apr 2016, at 06:28, James Gifford wrote: >> >> Hi Peter, >> >> Good to know! I was thinking more along the lines of, "is this worth >> watching online or am I better off with Netflix..." That said, I hope it >> does well -- there seems to be talk of more than one series, and that would >> be a good thing, whether it's accurate or not. It would at least make the >> estates happy. >> >> Cheers, >> James >> >> On 2016-04-04 9:34 PM, PETER BALDWIN wrote: >> >> Passable as entertainment, James, if your knowledge of the family goes no >> further than 'My Family......' But biographically very inaccurate. Don't >> waste your money on pre-ordering the DVD if there is one. >> >> >> Peter >> >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >> >> On 5 Apr 2016, at 03:07, James Gifford wrote: >> >> >> Hello all, >> >> >> I'm curious if anyone has feedback on the ITV production of "The >> Durrells" that aired last night. It's certainly catching some media >> attention elsewhere. >> >> >> All best, >> >> James >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> ILDS mailing list >> >> ILDS at lists.uvic.ca >> >> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds >> >> _______________________________________________ >> ILDS mailing list >> ILDS at lists.uvic.ca >> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> ILDS mailing list >> ILDS at lists.uvic.ca >> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Ric.Wilson at msn.com Thu Apr 7 11:22:54 2016 From: Ric.Wilson at msn.com (Ric Wilson) Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2016 18:22:54 +0000 Subject: [ilds] MESSAGE 1 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Pan.Gero's response was very well received. I prefer the "stirring of the curiosity [as] always a help." At home here in my simpleton's Sonoran desert, these replies and counter emails remind me of Bowen's use of "individuating": "To individuate the work of the Personal Landscape poets, to show the singularity and range of their achievement, has been more difficult because the historical context was neglected. The distrust and disapproval of [let's contrary points of view re:] about 'foreign cities,' in fact of the whole tradition of a modernism with a cosmopolitan access to the world outside England, shows itself in the denial of this context." ( from Many Histories Deep, 188) SO if, "The guests are scatter?d thro? the land, For the eye altering alters all;" (http://www.bartleby.com/235/134.html) then what we're really seeing here speaks to an unraveling of something larger than anticipation for singular correctitude, right? As one whose brain is clearly more whitewashed than the many far wiser than me here, I liked the consolation in reflecting on LD's voice as " It speaks in the contradictions but not in what's said, much like the closing interpretation of silence. " I suspect that members here reaffirm the intoxicating euphoria that reading from a best seller brings down on his audience. On reflection, though, it's crazy for the grape tomato to stand out and question the competence of the kalamata olive's authenticity in the salad bowl , right? I think anyway that we're all slanted and LD's voice appeals this fact. So what for what it's worth, thank you for so much authentic discussion referencing so many things I had no idea about. Ric Wilson ________________________________________ From: ILDS on behalf of ilds-request at lists.uvic.ca Sent: Wednesday, April 6, 2016 12:00 PM To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca Subject: ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 4 ************** From zahlan at earthlink.net Thu Apr 7 13:24:37 2016 From: zahlan at earthlink.net (Anne Zahlan) Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2016 16:24:37 -0400 Subject: [ilds] Happy Birthday... In-Reply-To: References: <57054AB1.9050802@gmail.com> Message-ID: <000001d1910b$817bd860$84738920$@earthlink.net> Indeed, many congratulations to James for the effort and creativity he unfailingly contributes to the discussion. Here's to a productive tenth year! And I pass on a message from the ILDS Nominations Committee (David Radavich, James Gifford, Don Kaczvinsky, Grove Koger) that some of you may not have received by earlier email. The time to make your suggestions for ILDS leadership is now. Dear Fellow Durrellians, As chair of the International Lawrence Durrell Society nominating committee, I am writing to solicit your nominations for officers and Board members to serve the Society from July 2016 through June 2018. The officer positions are President, Vice-President, and Secretary/Treasurer. For the three at-large Board positions, we particularly welcome nominations of those persons who may be newer to Durrell studies and who might bring a fresh perspective to Board discussions. Since the Board meets yearly at the Literature Since 1900 Conference toward the end of February in Louisville, it would be advantageous for nominees to travel to the Board meeting or participate through Skype. Please send your nominations and suggestions to daradavich at eiu.edu by April 15. Thanks in advance for your input. David Radavich, Chair ILDS Nominating Committee Hello all, Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages later, I hope you're all still having fun. All best, James /listinfo/ilds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From sumantranag at gmail.com Sat Apr 9 00:22:52 2016 From: sumantranag at gmail.com (Sumantra Nag) Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2016 12:52:52 +0530 Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Many Happy Returns of the Day. James, Will the Justine reading group be revived? Regards Sumantra ------------------------------------ James: "Hello all, Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages later, I hope you're all still having fun. All best, James /listinfo/ilds" Sent from my Asus Zenfone On 9 Apr 2016 00:37, wrote: Send ILDS mailing list submissions to ilds at lists.uvic.ca To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to ilds-request at lists.uvic.ca You can reach the person managing the list at ilds-owner at lists.uvic.ca When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of ILDS digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Happy Birthday... (Anne Zahlan) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2016 16:24:37 -0400 From: "Anne Zahlan" To: Subject: [ilds] Happy Birthday... Message-ID: <000001d1910b$817bd860$84738920$@earthlink.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Indeed, many congratulations to James for the effort and creativity he unfailingly contributes to the discussion. Here's to a productive tenth year! And I pass on a message from the ILDS Nominations Committee (David Radavich, James Gifford, Don Kaczvinsky, Grove Koger) that some of you may not have received by earlier email. The time to make your suggestions for ILDS leadership is now. Dear Fellow Durrellians, As chair of the International Lawrence Durrell Society nominating committee, I am writing to solicit your nominations for officers and Board members to serve the Society from July 2016 through June 2018. The officer positions are President, Vice-President, and Secretary/Treasurer. For the three at-large Board positions, we particularly welcome nominations of those persons who may be newer to Durrell studies and who might bring a fresh perspective to Board discussions. Since the Board meets yearly at the Literature Since 1900 Conference toward the end of February in Louisville, it would be advantageous for nominees to travel to the Board meeting or participate through Skype. Please send your nominations and suggestions to daradavich at eiu.edu by April 15. Thanks in advance for your input. David Radavich, Chair ILDS Nominating Committee Hello all, Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages later, I hope you're all still having fun. All best, James /listinfo/ilds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: < http://lists.uvic.ca/pipermail/ilds/attachments/20160407/50ec82f2/attachment-0001.html > ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds ------------------------------ End of ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6 ************************************ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dtart at bigpond.net.au Sat Apr 9 18:51:18 2016 From: dtart at bigpond.net.au (Denise Tart & David Green) Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2016 11:51:18 +1000 Subject: [ilds] The Bitter Lemons of Cyprus Message-ID: <2E5D8CA9-4730-4417-AB34-6BA2168DC302@bigpond.net.au> 'Bitter Lemons' won the Duff Cooper prize in 1957 not because Lord Balfour would have approved or because it 'whitewashed' British complicity and folly in the Cyprus crisis, but because it is a fine book and, along with Justine, one of Durrell's best. It is clear, concise, poetic and energetically written with a well selected cast of characters who allow the author to tell the unfolding tragedy from a range of perspectives (Greek, Turkish, British) with wit, humour, wisdom, pathos and a sense of inevitable impending doom; all this through an excellent story arc that moves effortlessly from comedy to tragedy. As such it not a 'political book' in the sense of being an in depth critique of British policy. However, we are left in no doubt of the party line Durrell had to spruik, often reluctantly. The British community is portrayed as inept, boorish and insensitive to local feelings and culture. He shows that the British decision to close the door on Enosis was a mistake and that the Cyprus situation could not be kept as a colonial matter. Although not a fan of Greek administration he is sympathetic to their cause, but also represents the Turkish view and well as that of the administration. I have read Bitter Lemons several times and, given the balance of perspectives that Durrell weaves through his narrative, find it disingenuous to accuse Durrell of 'whitewashing' the British handling of the crisis. To suggest this is to suggest a different book to one I read. Durrell builds his story from the hint of menace in 'Voices at the Tavern Door' to a 'Feast of Unreason' and then 'Vanishing Landmarks'. He is as critical of British blindness and insensitivity as he is of the nationalistic rhetoric pouring out of politicians in Athens and Ankara, inflaming the local situation. The chapter 'Point of No Return' explores a range of perspectives here. In his role as school teacher, civil servant and inhabitant who could speak Greek and understood Greek culture and history, he was well placed to see all sides and this comes through. Durrell's pain, internal conflict and sadness are palpable; a Greek world that he loved and in which he hoped to live falling apart as he 'achieves nothing'. It maybe he is too sentimental about the so called historic friendship between Britain and Greece dating back to Byron's time, but we should remember that Durrell had the best of his youth in Greece and if we are in any doubt as to his views of the British administration, I shall leave you with the words of his friend Richard Lumley: "And I can see him now (Durrell) sitting in the hall, fairly pissed one evening, and the telephone goes and a long, increasingly angry conversation. And this is one of the top in the administration. And Larry's punchline I'll never forget - 'anyway, you're an inept cunt!' Howls of laughter and he puts the receiver down." Needless to say, Durrell's days in the diplomatic corps were numbered. David Sent from my iPad From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Sun Apr 10 08:35:10 2016 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2016 08:35:10 -0700 Subject: [ilds] The Bitter Lemons of Cyprus In-Reply-To: <2E5D8CA9-4730-4417-AB34-6BA2168DC302@bigpond.net.au> References: <2E5D8CA9-4730-4417-AB34-6BA2168DC302@bigpond.net.au> Message-ID: David, I think you're on point about Durrell's memoir, Bitter Lemons. This is a good summation. But what do you think about the coda, the short poem "Bitter Lemons?" I see a shift--from the political to the personal. The hidden reference is to Eve and not, as you might expect, to the sadness of the political situation. Bruce Sent from my iPhone > On Apr 9, 2016, at 6:51 PM, Denise Tart & David Green wrote: > > 'Bitter Lemons' won the Duff Cooper prize in 1957 not because Lord Balfour would have approved or because it 'whitewashed' British complicity and folly in the Cyprus crisis, but because it is a fine book and, along with Justine, one of Durrell's best. It is clear, concise, poetic and energetically written with a well selected cast of characters who allow the author to tell the unfolding tragedy from a range of perspectives (Greek, Turkish, British) with wit, humour, wisdom, pathos and a sense of inevitable impending doom; all this through an excellent story arc that moves effortlessly from comedy to tragedy. As such it not a 'political book' in the sense of being an in depth critique of British policy. However, we are left in no doubt of the party line Durrell had to spruik, often reluctantly. The British community is portrayed as inept, boorish and insensitive to local feelings and culture. He shows that the British decision to close the door on Enosis was a mistake and tha! > t the Cyprus situation could not be kept as a colonial matter. Although not a fan of Greek administration he is sympathetic to their cause, but also represents the Turkish view and well as that of the administration. > > I have read Bitter Lemons several times and, given the balance of perspectives that Durrell weaves through his narrative, find it disingenuous to accuse Durrell of 'whitewashing' the British handling of the crisis. To suggest this is to suggest a different book to one I read. Durrell builds his story from the hint of menace in 'Voices at the Tavern Door' to a 'Feast of Unreason' and then 'Vanishing Landmarks'. He is as critical of British blindness and insensitivity as he is of the nationalistic rhetoric pouring out of politicians in Athens and Ankara, inflaming the local situation. The chapter 'Point of No Return' explores a range of perspectives here. In his role as school teacher, civil servant and inhabitant who could speak Greek and understood Greek culture and history, he was well placed to see all sides and this comes through. Durrell's pain, internal conflict and sadness are palpable; a Greek world that he loved and in which he hoped to live falling apart as he 'achi! > eves nothing'. > > It maybe he is too sentimental about the so called historic friendship between Britain and Greece dating back to Byron's time, but we should remember that Durrell had the best of his youth in Greece and if we are in any doubt as to his views of the British administration, I shall leave you with the words of his friend Richard Lumley: > > "And I can see him now (Durrell) sitting in the hall, fairly pissed one evening, and the telephone goes and a long, increasingly angry conversation. And this is one of the top in the administration. And Larry's punchline I'll never forget - 'anyway, you're an inept cunt!' Howls of laughter and he puts the receiver down." > > Needless to say, Durrell's days in the diplomatic corps were numbered. > > David > > Sent from my iPad > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds From grtaneja47 at hotmail.com Sun Apr 10 09:36:35 2016 From: grtaneja47 at hotmail.com (G. R. Taneja) Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2016 22:06:35 +0530 Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford In-Reply-To: References: , Message-ID: Dear James, It would be great if the Justine reading cold be revived. Warmly, G R Taneja In-between Website: G. R. Taneja / Editor In-between: Essays & Studies in Literary Criticism Department of English, R. L. A. College, University of Delhi Anand Niketan Colony, Benito Juarez Marg, New Delhi-110 021, India Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2016 12:52:52 +0530 From: sumantranag at gmail.com To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca CC: james.d.gifford at gmail.com Subject: Re: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford Many Happy Returns of the Day. James, Will the Justine reading group be revived? Regards Sumantra ------------------------------------ James: "Hello all, Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages later, I hope you're all still having fun. All best, James /listinfo/ilds" Sent from my Asus Zenfone On 9 Apr 2016 00:37, wrote: Send ILDS mailing list submissions to ilds at lists.uvic.ca To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to ilds-request at lists.uvic.ca You can reach the person managing the list at ilds-owner at lists.uvic.ca When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of ILDS digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Happy Birthday... (Anne Zahlan) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2016 16:24:37 -0400 From: "Anne Zahlan" To: Subject: [ilds] Happy Birthday... Message-ID: <000001d1910b$817bd860$84738920$@earthlink.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Indeed, many congratulations to James for the effort and creativity he unfailingly contributes to the discussion. Here's to a productive tenth year! And I pass on a message from the ILDS Nominations Committee (David Radavich, James Gifford, Don Kaczvinsky, Grove Koger) that some of you may not have received by earlier email. The time to make your suggestions for ILDS leadership is now. Dear Fellow Durrellians, As chair of the International Lawrence Durrell Society nominating committee, I am writing to solicit your nominations for officers and Board members to serve the Society from July 2016 through June 2018. The officer positions are President, Vice-President, and Secretary/Treasurer. For the three at-large Board positions, we particularly welcome nominations of those persons who may be newer to Durrell studies and who might bring a fresh perspective to Board discussions. Since the Board meets yearly at the Literature Since 1900 Conference toward the end of February in Louisville, it would be advantageous for nominees to travel to the Board meeting or participate through Skype. Please send your nominations and suggestions to daradavich at eiu.edu by April 15. Thanks in advance for your input. David Radavich, Chair ILDS Nominating Committee Hello all, Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages later, I hope you're all still having fun. All best, James /listinfo/ilds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds ------------------------------ End of ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6 ************************************ _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From grtaneja47 at hotmail.com Sun Apr 10 09:37:29 2016 From: grtaneja47 at hotmail.com (G. R. Taneja) Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2016 22:07:29 +0530 Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford In-Reply-To: References: , , Message-ID: Dear James, It would be great if the Justine reading group could be revived. Warmly, G R Taneja In-between Website: G. R. Taneja / Editor In-between: Essays & Studies in Literary Criticism Department of English, R. L. A. College, University of Delhi Anand Niketan Colony, Benito Juarez Marg, New Delhi-110 021, India From: grtaneja47 at hotmail.com To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca CC: james.d.gifford at gmail.com Subject: RE: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2016 22:06:35 +0530 Dear James, It would be great if the Justine reading cold be revived. Warmly, G R Taneja In-between Website: G. R. Taneja / Editor In-between: Essays & Studies in Literary Criticism Department of English, R. L. A. College, University of Delhi Anand Niketan Colony, Benito Juarez Marg, New Delhi-110 021, India Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2016 12:52:52 +0530 From: sumantranag at gmail.com To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca CC: james.d.gifford at gmail.com Subject: Re: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford Many Happy Returns of the Day. James, Will the Justine reading group be revived? Regards Sumantra ------------------------------------ James: "Hello all, Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages later, I hope you're all still having fun. All best, James /listinfo/ilds" Sent from my Asus Zenfone On 9 Apr 2016 00:37, wrote: Send ILDS mailing list submissions to ilds at lists.uvic.ca To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to ilds-request at lists.uvic.ca You can reach the person managing the list at ilds-owner at lists.uvic.ca When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of ILDS digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Happy Birthday... (Anne Zahlan) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2016 16:24:37 -0400 From: "Anne Zahlan" To: Subject: [ilds] Happy Birthday... Message-ID: <000001d1910b$817bd860$84738920$@earthlink.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Indeed, many congratulations to James for the effort and creativity he unfailingly contributes to the discussion. Here's to a productive tenth year! And I pass on a message from the ILDS Nominations Committee (David Radavich, James Gifford, Don Kaczvinsky, Grove Koger) that some of you may not have received by earlier email. The time to make your suggestions for ILDS leadership is now. Dear Fellow Durrellians, As chair of the International Lawrence Durrell Society nominating committee, I am writing to solicit your nominations for officers and Board members to serve the Society from July 2016 through June 2018. The officer positions are President, Vice-President, and Secretary/Treasurer. For the three at-large Board positions, we particularly welcome nominations of those persons who may be newer to Durrell studies and who might bring a fresh perspective to Board discussions. Since the Board meets yearly at the Literature Since 1900 Conference toward the end of February in Louisville, it would be advantageous for nominees to travel to the Board meeting or participate through Skype. Please send your nominations and suggestions to daradavich at eiu.edu by April 15. Thanks in advance for your input. David Radavich, Chair ILDS Nominating Committee Hello all, Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages later, I hope you're all still having fun. All best, James /listinfo/ilds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds ------------------------------ End of ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6 ************************************ _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bredwine1968 at gmail.com Sun Apr 10 10:58:37 2016 From: bredwine1968 at gmail.com (Bruce Redwine) Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2016 10:58:37 -0700 Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <42452F53-583F-4311-A0E2-A21E6DBE5EE0@gmail.com> G. R. Taneja, Not a bad idea. But it would require a lot of work for James Gifford and his fellow moderators (assuming he could find any). I suggest we stick to discussing Durrell?s Bitter Lemons and to do it on a systematic basis, either sequentially (from beginning to end) or topically. As David Green argues (and I agree with), Bitter Lemons is probably the greatest of Durrell?s ?travel? books. There are other possibilities, however. Tunc? Nunquam? Monsieur? Bruce > On Apr 10, 2016, at 9:37 AM, G. R. Taneja wrote: > > > Dear James, > It would be great if the Justine reading group could be revived. > > > Warmly, > > G R Taneja > > In-between Website: inbetween eslc > > > G. R. Taneja / Editor > In-between: Essays & Studies in Literary Criticism > Department of English, R. L. A. College, University of Delhi > Anand Niketan Colony, Benito Juarez Marg, > New Delhi-110 021, India > > From: grtaneja47 at hotmail.com > To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca > CC: james.d.gifford at gmail.com > Subject: RE: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford > Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2016 22:06:35 +0530 > > Dear James, > It would be great if the Justine reading cold be revived. > > > Warmly, > > G R Taneja > > In-between Website: > > G. R. Taneja / Editor > In-between: Essays & Studies in Literary Criticism > Department of English, R. L. A. College, University of Delhi > Anand Niketan Colony, Benito Juarez Marg, > New Delhi-110 021, India > > Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2016 12:52:52 +0530 > From: sumantranag at gmail.com > To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca > CC: james.d.gifford at gmail.com > Subject: Re: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford > > Many Happy Returns of the Day. > James, > Will the Justine reading group be revived? > Regards > Sumantra > ------------------------------------ > James: > "Hello all, > Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic > and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages > later, I hope you're all still having fun. > All best, > James > /listinfo/ilds" > Sent from my Asus Zenfone > On 9 Apr 2016 00:37, > wrote: > Send ILDS mailing list submissions to > ilds at lists.uvic.ca > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > ilds-request at lists.uvic.ca > > You can reach the person managing the list at > ilds-owner at lists.uvic.ca > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of ILDS digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Happy Birthday... (Anne Zahlan) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2016 16:24:37 -0400 > From: "Anne Zahlan" > > To: > > Subject: [ilds] Happy Birthday... > Message-ID: <000001d1910b$817bd860$84738920$@earthlink.net > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Indeed, many congratulations to James for the effort and creativity > he unfailingly contributes to the discussion. Here's to a productive tenth > year! > > And I pass on a message from the ILDS Nominations Committee (David > Radavich, James Gifford, Don Kaczvinsky, Grove Koger) that some of you may > not have received by earlier email. The time to make your suggestions for > ILDS leadership is now. > > Dear Fellow Durrellians, > > As chair of the International Lawrence Durrell Society nominating > committee, I am writing to solicit your nominations for officers and Board > members to serve the Society from July 2016 through June 2018. The officer > positions are President, Vice-President, and Secretary/Treasurer. For the > three at-large Board positions, we particularly welcome nominations of those > persons who may be newer to Durrell studies and who might bring a fresh > perspective to Board discussions. Since the Board meets yearly at the > Literature Since 1900 Conference toward the end of February in Louisville, > it would be advantageous for nominees to travel to the Board meeting or > participate through Skype. > > Please send your nominations and suggestions to daradavich at eiu.edu > by April 15. Thanks in advance for your input. > > David Radavich, Chair > ILDS Nominating Committee > > > > Hello all, > > Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic > and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages > later, I hope you're all still having fun. > > All best, > James > /listinfo/ilds > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > > > ------------------------------ > > Subject: Digest Footer > > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > > > ------------------------------ > > End of ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6 > ************************************ > > _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nlongrifle at hotmail.com Sun Apr 10 11:55:23 2016 From: nlongrifle at hotmail.com (Norman Hills) Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2016 18:55:23 +0000 Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford In-Reply-To: <42452F53-583F-4311-A0E2-A21E6DBE5EE0@gmail.com> References: <42452F53-583F-4311-A0E2-A21E6DBE5EE0@gmail.com> Message-ID: I?d still vote for Justine as the best book to follow. Norman On Apr 10, 2016, at 12:58 PM, Bruce Redwine > wrote: G. R. Taneja, Not a bad idea. But it would require a lot of work for James Gifford and his fellow moderators (assuming he could find any). I suggest we stick to discussing Durrell?s Bitter Lemons and to do it on a systematic basis, either sequentially (from beginning to end) or topically. As David Green argues (and I agree with), Bitter Lemons is probably the greatest of Durrell?s ?travel? books. There are other possibilities, however. Tunc? Nunquam? Monsieur? Bruce On Apr 10, 2016, at 9:37 AM, G. R. Taneja > wrote: Dear James, It would be great if the Justine reading group could be revived. Warmly, G R Taneja In-between Website: inbetweeneslc> G. R. Taneja / Editor In-between: Essays & Studies in Literary Criticism Department of English, R. L. A. College, University of Delhi Anand Niketan Colony, Benito Juarez Marg, New Delhi-110 021, India ________________________________ From: grtaneja47 at hotmail.com To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca CC: james.d.gifford at gmail.com Subject: RE: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2016 22:06:35 +0530 Dear James, It would be great if the Justine reading cold be revived. Warmly, G R Taneja In-between Website: G. R. Taneja / Editor In-between: Essays & Studies in Literary Criticism Department of English, R. L. A. College, University of Delhi Anand Niketan Colony, Benito Juarez Marg, New Delhi-110 021, India ________________________________ Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2016 12:52:52 +0530 From: sumantranag at gmail.com To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca CC: james.d.gifford at gmail.com Subject: Re: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford Many Happy Returns of the Day. James, Will the Justine reading group be revived? Regards Sumantra ------------------------------------ James: "Hello all, Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages later, I hope you're all still having fun. All best, James /listinfo/ilds" Sent from my Asus Zenfone On 9 Apr 2016 00:37, > wrote: Send ILDS mailing list submissions to ilds at lists.uvic.ca To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to ilds-request at lists.uvic.ca You can reach the person managing the list at ilds-owner at lists.uvic.ca When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of ILDS digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Happy Birthday... (Anne Zahlan) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2016 16:24:37 -0400 From: "Anne Zahlan" > To: > Subject: [ilds] Happy Birthday... Message-ID: <000001d1910b$817bd860$84738920$@earthlink.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Indeed, many congratulations to James for the effort and creativity he unfailingly contributes to the discussion. Here's to a productive tenth year! And I pass on a message from the ILDS Nominations Committee (David Radavich, James Gifford, Don Kaczvinsky, Grove Koger) that some of you may not have received by earlier email. The time to make your suggestions for ILDS leadership is now. Dear Fellow Durrellians, As chair of the International Lawrence Durrell Society nominating committee, I am writing to solicit your nominations for officers and Board members to serve the Society from July 2016 through June 2018. The officer positions are President, Vice-President, and Secretary/Treasurer. For the three at-large Board positions, we particularly welcome nominations of those persons who may be newer to Durrell studies and who might bring a fresh perspective to Board discussions. Since the Board meets yearly at the Literature Since 1900 Conference toward the end of February in Louisville, it would be advantageous for nominees to travel to the Board meeting or participate through Skype. Please send your nominations and suggestions to daradavich at eiu.edu by April 15. Thanks in advance for your input. David Radavich, Chair ILDS Nominating Committee Hello all, Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages later, I hope you're all still having fun. All best, James /listinfo/ilds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds ------------------------------ End of ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6 ************************************ _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From meta.cerar at guest.arnes.si Sun Apr 10 12:58:06 2016 From: meta.cerar at guest.arnes.si (Meta Cerar) Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2016 21:58:06 +0200 Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford In-Reply-To: <42452F53-583F-4311-A0E2-A21E6DBE5EE0@gmail.com> References: <42452F53-583F-4311-A0E2-A21E6DBE5EE0@gmail.com> Message-ID: <001801d19363$4d26d150$e77473f0$@cerar@guest.arnes.si> Dark Labyrinth perhaps? As it's one of the topics of the Crete conference? Marjeta Cerar Od: ILDS [mailto:ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca] Namesto Bruce Redwine Poslano: 10. april 2016 19:59 Za: Sumantra Nag Kp: Bruce Redwine Zadeva: Re: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford G. R. Taneja, Not a bad idea. But it would require a lot of work for James Gifford and his fellow moderators (assuming he could find any). I suggest we stick to discussing Durrell?s Bitter Lemons and to do it on a systematic basis, either sequentially (from beginning to end) or topically. As David Green argues (and I agree with), Bitter Lemons is probably the greatest of Durrell?s ?travel? books. There are other possibilities, however. Tunc? Nunquam? Monsieur? Bruce On Apr 10, 2016, at 9:37 AM, G. R. Taneja wrote: Dear James, It would be great if the Justine reading group could be revived. Warmly, G R Taneja In-between Website: inbetween eslc > G. R. Taneja / Editor In-between: Essays & Studies in Literary Criticism Department of English, R. L. A. College, University of Delhi Anand Niketan Colony, Benito Juarez Marg, New Delhi-110 021, India _____ From: grtaneja47 at hotmail.com To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca CC: james.d.gifford at gmail.com Subject: RE: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2016 22:06:35 +0530 Dear James, It would be great if the Justine reading cold be revived. Warmly, G R Taneja In-between Website: G. R. Taneja / Editor In-between: Essays & Studies in Literary Criticism Department of English, R. L. A. College, University of Delhi Anand Niketan Colony, Benito Juarez Marg, New Delhi-110 021, India _____ Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2016 12:52:52 +0530 From: sumantranag at gmail.com To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca CC: james.d.gifford at gmail.com Subject: Re: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford Many Happy Returns of the Day. James, Will the Justine reading group be revived? Regards Sumantra ------------------------------------ James: "Hello all, Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages later, I hope you're all still having fun. All best, James /listinfo/ilds" Sent from my Asus Zenfone On 9 Apr 2016 00:37, wrote: Send ILDS mailing list submissions to ilds at lists.uvic.ca To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to ilds-request at lists.uvic.ca You can reach the person managing the list at ilds-owner at lists.uvic.ca When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of ILDS digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Happy Birthday... (Anne Zahlan) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2016 16:24:37 -0400 From: "Anne Zahlan" To: Subject: [ilds] Happy Birthday... Message-ID: <000001d1910b$817bd860$84738920$@earthlink.net > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Indeed, many congratulations to James for the effort and creativity he unfailingly contributes to the discussion. Here's to a productive tenth year! And I pass on a message from the ILDS Nominations Committee (David Radavich, James Gifford, Don Kaczvinsky, Grove Koger) that some of you may not have received by earlier email. The time to make your suggestions for ILDS leadership is now. Dear Fellow Durrellians, As chair of the International Lawrence Durrell Society nominating committee, I am writing to solicit your nominations for officers and Board members to serve the Society from July 2016 through June 2018. The officer positions are President, Vice-President, and Secretary/Treasurer. For the three at-large Board positions, we particularly welcome nominations of those persons who may be newer to Durrell studies and who might bring a fresh perspective to Board discussions. Since the Board meets yearly at the Literature Since 1900 Conference toward the end of February in Louisville, it would be advantageous for nominees to travel to the Board meeting or participate through Skype. Please send your nominations and suggestions to daradavich at eiu.edu by April 15. Thanks in advance for your input. David Radavich, Chair ILDS Nominating Committee Hello all, Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages later, I hope you're all still having fun. All best, James /listinfo/ilds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds ------------------------------ End of ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6 ************************************ _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds --- Ta e-po?ta je bila pregledana z Avast protivirusnim programom. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dtart at bigpond.net.au Sun Apr 10 13:38:47 2016 From: dtart at bigpond.net.au (Denise Tart & David Green) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2016 06:38:47 +1000 Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford In-Reply-To: <001801d19363$4d26d150$e77473f0$@cerar@guest.arnes.si> References: <42452F53-583F-4311-A0E2-A21E6DBE5EE0@gmail.com> <001801d19363$4d26d150$e77473f0$@cerar@guest.arnes.si> Message-ID: Meta, yes, given the Crete conference, reading Dark Labyrinth makes sense. It is a great book too, very underrated in my view. But Crete is not on for me this year. It is a wonderful island. Sent from my iPad > On 11 Apr 2016, at 5:58 AM, Meta Cerar wrote: > > Dark Labyrinth perhaps? As it's one of the topics of the Crete conference? > Marjeta Cerar > > Od: ILDS [mailto:ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca] Namesto Bruce Redwine > Poslano: 10. april 2016 19:59 > Za: Sumantra Nag > Kp: Bruce Redwine > Zadeva: Re: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford > > G. R. Taneja, > > Not a bad idea. But it would require a lot of work for James Gifford and his fellow moderators (assuming he could find any). I suggest we stick to discussing Durrell?s Bitter Lemons and to do it on a systematic basis, either sequentially (from beginning to end) or topically. As David Green argues (and I agree with), Bitter Lemons is probably the greatest of Durrell?s ?travel? books. There are other possibilities, however. Tunc? Nunquam? Monsieur? > > Bruce > > > > > > On Apr 10, 2016, at 9:37 AM, G. R. Taneja wrote: > > > Dear James, > It would be great if the Justine reading group could be revived. > > > Warmly, > > G R Taneja > > In-between Website: > > G. R. Taneja / Editor > In-between: Essays & Studies in Literary Criticism > Department of English, R. L. A. College, University of Delhi > Anand Niketan Colony, Benito Juarez Marg, > New Delhi-110 021, India > > From: grtaneja47 at hotmail.com > To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca > CC: james.d.gifford at gmail.com > Subject: RE: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford > Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2016 22:06:35 +0530 > > Dear James, > It would be great if the Justine reading cold be revived. > > > Warmly, > > G R Taneja > > In-between Website: > > G. R. Taneja / Editor > In-between: Essays & Studies in Literary Criticism > Department of English, R. L. A. College, University of Delhi > Anand Niketan Colony, Benito Juarez Marg, > New Delhi-110 021, India > > Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2016 12:52:52 +0530 > From: sumantranag at gmail.com > To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca > CC: james.d.gifford at gmail.com > Subject: Re: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford > > Many Happy Returns of the Day. > James, > Will the Justine reading group be revived? > Regards > Sumantra > ------------------------------------ > James: > "Hello all, > Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic > and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages > later, I hope you're all still having fun. > All best, > James > /listinfo/ilds" > Sent from my Asus Zenfone > On 9 Apr 2016 00:37, wrote: > Send ILDS mailing list submissions to > ilds at lists.uvic.ca > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > ilds-request at lists.uvic.ca > > You can reach the person managing the list at > ilds-owner at lists.uvic.ca > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of ILDS digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Happy Birthday... (Anne Zahlan) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2016 16:24:37 -0400 > From: "Anne Zahlan" > To: > Subject: [ilds] Happy Birthday... > Message-ID: <000001d1910b$817bd860$84738920$@earthlink.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > Indeed, many congratulations to James for the effort and creativity > he unfailingly contributes to the discussion. Here's to a productive tenth > year! > > And I pass on a message from the ILDS Nominations Committee (David > Radavich, James Gifford, Don Kaczvinsky, Grove Koger) that some of you may > not have received by earlier email. The time to make your suggestions for > ILDS leadership is now. > > Dear Fellow Durrellians, > > As chair of the International Lawrence Durrell Society nominating > committee, I am writing to solicit your nominations for officers and Board > members to serve the Society from July 2016 through June 2018. The officer > positions are President, Vice-President, and Secretary/Treasurer. For the > three at-large Board positions, we particularly welcome nominations of those > persons who may be newer to Durrell studies and who might bring a fresh > perspective to Board discussions. Since the Board meets yearly at the > Literature Since 1900 Conference toward the end of February in Louisville, > it would be advantageous for nominees to travel to the Board meeting or > participate through Skype. > > Please send your nominations and suggestions to daradavich at eiu.edu > by April 15. Thanks in advance for your input. > > David Radavich, Chair > ILDS Nominating Committee > > > > Hello all, > > Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic > and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages > later, I hope you're all still having fun. > > All best, > James > /listinfo/ilds > -------------- next part -------------- > An HTML attachment was scrubbed... > URL: > > ------------------------------ > > Subject: Digest Footer > > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > > > ------------------------------ > > End of ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6 > ************************************ > > _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > > > > > Ta e-po?ta je bila pregledana z Avast protivirusnim programom. > www.avast.com > > > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dtart at bigpond.net.au Sun Apr 10 13:54:39 2016 From: dtart at bigpond.net.au (Denise Tart & David Green) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2016 06:54:39 +1000 Subject: [ilds] The Bitter Lemons of Cyprus In-Reply-To: References: <2E5D8CA9-4730-4417-AB34-6BA2168DC302@bigpond.net.au> Message-ID: Yes, Bitter lemons, the poem, is a favourite. Tight, cryptic but evoktive. Hard to know what saying but I agree that it is personal poem about loss, loss of youth, loss of Eve and loss of beloved Greece. It was on Cyprus that Larry and Eve's relationship irretrievably broke down. There were black eyes and claw marks probably best left unsaid. Eve took Sappho away with her. His beloved Greeks turned on him, Panos was shot and attempts made on his life before he fled, never to live in Greece again. Tears Unshed may refer to that deep emotional pain that will never fully heal. Dunno - or perhaps something to do with true story never being able to be told. Larry may have left Greece but Greece never left him. When he bought the mazet near Nimes it was because the land there reminded him of Greece, especially Corfu. David Sent from my iPad > On 11 Apr 2016, at 1:35 AM, Bruce Redwine wrote: > > David, I think you're on point about Durrell's memoir, Bitter Lemons. This is a good summation. But what do you think about the coda, the short poem "Bitter Lemons?" I see a shift--from the political to the personal. The hidden reference is to Eve and not, as you might expect, to the sadness of the political situation. > > Bruce > > Sent from my iPhone > >> On Apr 9, 2016, at 6:51 PM, Denise Tart & David Green wrote: >> >> 'Bitter Lemons' won the Duff Cooper prize in 1957 not because Lord Balfour would have approved or because it 'whitewashed' British complicity and folly in the Cyprus crisis, but because it is a fine book and, along with Justine, one of Durrell's best. It is clear, concise, poetic and energetically written with a well selected cast of characters who allow the author to tell the unfolding tragedy from a range of perspectives (Greek, Turkish, British) with wit, humour, wisdom, pathos and a sense of inevitable impending doom; all this through an excellent story arc that moves effortlessly from comedy to tragedy. As such it not a 'political book' in the sense of being an in depth critique of British policy. However, we are left in no doubt of the party line Durrell had to spruik, often reluctantly. The British community is portrayed as inept, boorish and insensitive to local feelings and culture. He shows that the British decision to close the door on Enosis was a mistake and t! > ha! >> t the Cyprus situation could not be kept as a colonial matter. Although not a fan of Greek administration he is sympathetic to their cause, but also represents the Turkish view and well as that of the administration. >> >> I have read Bitter Lemons several times and, given the balance of perspectives that Durrell weaves through his narrative, find it disingenuous to accuse Durrell of 'whitewashing' the British handling of the crisis. To suggest this is to suggest a different book to one I read. Durrell builds his story from the hint of menace in 'Voices at the Tavern Door' to a 'Feast of Unreason' and then 'Vanishing Landmarks'. He is as critical of British blindness and insensitivity as he is of the nationalistic rhetoric pouring out of politicians in Athens and Ankara, inflaming the local situation. The chapter 'Point of No Return' explores a range of perspectives here. In his role as school teacher, civil servant and inhabitant who could speak Greek and understood Greek culture and history, he was well placed to see all sides and this comes through. Durrell's pain, internal conflict and sadness are palpable; a Greek world that he loved and in which he hoped to live falling apart as he 'ac! > hi! >> eves nothing'. >> >> It maybe he is too sentimental about the so called historic friendship between Britain and Greece dating back to Byron's time, but we should remember that Durrell had the best of his youth in Greece and if we are in any doubt as to his views of the British administration, I shall leave you with the words of his friend Richard Lumley: >> >> "And I can see him now (Durrell) sitting in the hall, fairly pissed one evening, and the telephone goes and a long, increasingly angry conversation. And this is one of the top in the administration. And Larry's punchline I'll never forget - 'anyway, you're an inept cunt!' Howls of laughter and he puts the receiver down." >> >> Needless to say, Durrell's days in the diplomatic corps were numbered. >> >> David >> >> Sent from my iPad >> _______________________________________________ >> ILDS mailing list >> ILDS at lists.uvic.ca >> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > > > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds From dtart at bigpond.net.au Sun Apr 10 13:59:28 2016 From: dtart at bigpond.net.au (Denise Tart & David Green) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2016 06:59:28 +1000 Subject: [ilds] Durrell's valley, Nimes, France. The view is from his terrace. Message-ID: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: FullSizeRender.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 162244 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- Sent from my iPad From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Sun Apr 10 16:32:39 2016 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2016 16:32:39 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Durrell's endings In-Reply-To: References: <2E5D8CA9-4730-4417-AB34-6BA2168DC302@bigpond.net.au> Message-ID: <7EC96D11-22E8-45D8-BA60-92D61FD2D395@earthlink.net> David, What you say is absolutely true. Still. This has been discussed before years back, namely, Durrell?s tendency to conclude (not the right word?no real conclusion) his fictions on a note of darkness or ambiguity. I?m thinking of Prospero?s Cell, Marine Venus, Bitter Lemons, Dark Labyrinth, Justine, and even Quinx. The move is from exterior to interior. The lyric ?Bitter Lemons? illustrates this beautifully?an island (indefinitely located) yields to reflections on some trauma (deliberately hidden). A coda winds up a piece of art. It?s a summation. If the subject of this poem is Eve Cohen and if she embodies the mental state of ?biter lemons,? then the whole book (or some major part anyway) is really a descant on Durrell?s troubled marriage and problems with women. My interpretation, that is. Bruce > On Apr 10, 2016, at 1:54 PM, Denise Tart & David Green wrote: > > Yes, Bitter lemons, the poem, is a favourite. Tight, cryptic but evoktive. Hard to know what saying but I agree that it is personal poem about loss, loss of youth, loss of Eve and loss of beloved Greece. It was on Cyprus that Larry and Eve's relationship irretrievably broke down. There were black eyes and claw marks probably best left unsaid. Eve took Sappho away with her. His beloved Greeks turned on him, Panos was shot and attempts made on his life before he fled, never to live in Greece again. Tears Unshed may refer to that deep emotional pain that will never fully heal. Dunno - or perhaps something to do with true story never being able to be told. Larry may have left Greece but Greece never left him. When he bought the mazet near Nimes it was because the land there reminded him of Greece, especially Corfu. > > David > > Sent from my iPad > >> On 11 Apr 2016, at 1:35 AM, Bruce Redwine wrote: >> >> David, I think you're on point about Durrell's memoir, Bitter Lemons. This is a good summation. But what do you think about the coda, the short poem "Bitter Lemons?" I see a shift--from the political to the personal. The hidden reference is to Eve and not, as you might expect, to the sadness of the political situation. >> >> Bruce >> >> Sent from my iPhone >> >>> On Apr 9, 2016, at 6:51 PM, Denise Tart & David Green wrote: >>> >>> 'Bitter Lemons' won the Duff Cooper prize in 1957 not because Lord Balfour would have approved or because it 'whitewashed' British complicity and folly in the Cyprus crisis, but because it is a fine book and, along with Justine, one of Durrell's best. It is clear, concise, poetic and energetically written with a well selected cast of characters who allow the author to tell the unfolding tragedy from a range of perspectives (Greek, Turkish, British) with wit, humour, wisdom, pathos and a sense of inevitable impending doom; all this through an excellent story arc that moves effortlessly from comedy to tragedy. As such it not a 'political book' in the sense of being an in depth critique of British policy. However, we are left in no doubt of the party line Durrell had to spruik, often reluctantly. The British community is portrayed as inept, boorish and insensitive to local feelings and culture. He shows that the British decision to close the door on Enosis was a mistake and ! > t! >> ha! >>> t the Cyprus situation could not be kept as a colonial matter. Although not a fan of Greek administration he is sympathetic to their cause, but also represents the Turkish view and well as that of the administration. >>> >>> I have read Bitter Lemons several times and, given the balance of perspectives that Durrell weaves through his narrative, find it disingenuous to accuse Durrell of 'whitewashing' the British handling of the crisis. To suggest this is to suggest a different book to one I read. Durrell builds his story from the hint of menace in 'Voices at the Tavern Door' to a 'Feast of Unreason' and then 'Vanishing Landmarks'. He is as critical of British blindness and insensitivity as he is of the nationalistic rhetoric pouring out of politicians in Athens and Ankara, inflaming the local situation. The chapter 'Point of No Return' explores a range of perspectives here. In his role as school teacher, civil servant and inhabitant who could speak Greek and understood Greek culture and history, he was well placed to see all sides and this comes through. Durrell's pain, internal conflict and sadness are palpable; a Greek world that he loved and in which he hoped to live falling apart as he 'a! > c! >> hi! >>> eves nothing'. >>> >>> It maybe he is too sentimental about the so called historic friendship between Britain and Greece dating back to Byron's time, but we should remember that Durrell had the best of his youth in Greece and if we are in any doubt as to his views of the British administration, I shall leave you with the words of his friend Richard Lumley: >>> >>> "And I can see him now (Durrell) sitting in the hall, fairly pissed one evening, and the telephone goes and a long, increasingly angry conversation. And this is one of the top in the administration. And Larry's punchline I'll never forget - 'anyway, you're an inept cunt!' Howls of laughter and he puts the receiver down." >>> >>> Needless to say, Durrell's days in the diplomatic corps were numbered. >>> >>> David >>> >>> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bredwine1968 at earthlink.net Sun Apr 10 18:16:01 2016 From: bredwine1968 at earthlink.net (Bruce Redwine) Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2016 18:16:01 -0700 Subject: [ilds] Durrell's valley, Nimes, France. The view is from his terrace. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Beautiful. Much the way I?ve always imagined it. Thanks. Bruce > On Apr 10, 2016, at 1:59 PM, Denise Tart & David Green wrote: > > > > > > > Sent from my iPad_______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds From delospeter at hotmail.com Sun Apr 10 21:33:08 2016 From: delospeter at hotmail.com (PETER BALDWIN) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2016 05:33:08 +0100 Subject: [ilds] Durrell's valley, Nimes, France. The view is from his terrace. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Which valley, David? From the Villa Louis? Peter Sent from my iPhone > On 10 Apr 2016, at 22:05, Denise Tart & David Green wrote: > > > > > > > > Sent from my iPad > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds From delospeter at hotmail.com Sun Apr 10 21:43:22 2016 From: delospeter at hotmail.com (PETER BALDWIN) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2016 05:43:22 +0100 Subject: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford In-Reply-To: References: <42452F53-583F-4311-A0E2-A21E6DBE5EE0@gmail.com> <001801d19363$4d26d150$e77473f0$@cerar@guest.arnes.si> Message-ID: My vote goes for Tunc. No need , in my view, to focus again on Justine. What a prescient novel Tunc is - with voice recognition now widely available on our computers and the availability of 3D modelling. And is the recent Greek experience of the EU not The Firm come true...? Peter Sent from my iPhone > On 10 Apr 2016, at 22:04, Denise Tart & David Green wrote: > > Meta, yes, given the Crete conference, reading Dark Labyrinth makes sense. It is a great book too, very underrated in my view. But Crete is not on for me this year. It is a wonderful island. > > Sent from my iPad > >> On 11 Apr 2016, at 5:58 AM, Meta Cerar wrote: >> >> Dark Labyrinth perhaps? As it's one of the topics of the Crete conference? >> Marjeta Cerar >> >> Od: ILDS [mailto:ilds-bounces at lists.uvic.ca] Namesto Bruce Redwine >> Poslano: 10. april 2016 19:59 >> Za: Sumantra Nag >> Kp: Bruce Redwine >> Zadeva: Re: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford >> >> G. R. Taneja, >> >> Not a bad idea. But it would require a lot of work for James Gifford and his fellow moderators (assuming he could find any). I suggest we stick to discussing Durrell?s Bitter Lemons and to do it on a systematic basis, either sequentially (from beginning to end) or topically. As David Green argues (and I agree with), Bitter Lemons is probably the greatest of Durrell?s ?travel? books. There are other possibilities, however. Tunc? Nunquam? Monsieur? >> >> Bruce >> >> >> >> >> >> On Apr 10, 2016, at 9:37 AM, G. R. Taneja wrote: >> >> >> Dear James, >> It would be great if the Justine reading group could be revived. >> >> >> Warmly, >> >> G R Taneja >> >> In-between Website: >> >> G. R. Taneja / Editor >> In-between: Essays & Studies in Literary Criticism >> Department of English, R. L. A. College, University of Delhi >> Anand Niketan Colony, Benito Juarez Marg, >> New Delhi-110 021, India >> >> From: grtaneja47 at hotmail.com >> To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca >> CC: james.d.gifford at gmail.com >> Subject: RE: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford >> Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2016 22:06:35 +0530 >> >> Dear James, >> It would be great if the Justine reading cold be revived. >> >> >> Warmly, >> >> G R Taneja >> >> In-between Website: >> >> G. R. Taneja / Editor >> In-between: Essays & Studies in Literary Criticism >> Department of English, R. L. A. College, University of Delhi >> Anand Niketan Colony, Benito Juarez Marg, >> New Delhi-110 021, India >> >> Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2016 12:52:52 +0530 >> From: sumantranag at gmail.com >> To: ilds at lists.uvic.ca >> CC: james.d.gifford at gmail.com >> Subject: Re: [ilds] ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6-James Gifford >> >> Many Happy Returns of the Day. >> James, >> Will the Justine reading group be revived? >> Regards >> Sumantra >> ------------------------------------ >> James: >> "Hello all, >> Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic >> and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages >> later, I hope you're all still having fun. >> All best, >> James >> /listinfo/ilds" >> Sent from my Asus Zenfone >> On 9 Apr 2016 00:37, wrote: >> Send ILDS mailing list submissions to >> ilds at lists.uvic.ca >> >> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit >> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds >> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to >> ilds-request at lists.uvic.ca >> >> You can reach the person managing the list at >> ilds-owner at lists.uvic.ca >> >> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific >> than "Re: Contents of ILDS digest..." >> >> >> Today's Topics: >> >> 1. Happy Birthday... (Anne Zahlan) >> >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> Message: 1 >> Date: Thu, 7 Apr 2016 16:24:37 -0400 >> From: "Anne Zahlan" >> To: >> Subject: [ilds] Happy Birthday... >> Message-ID: <000001d1910b$817bd860$84738920$@earthlink.net> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >> >> Indeed, many congratulations to James for the effort and creativity >> he unfailingly contributes to the discussion. Here's to a productive tenth >> year! >> >> And I pass on a message from the ILDS Nominations Committee (David >> Radavich, James Gifford, Don Kaczvinsky, Grove Koger) that some of you may >> not have received by earlier email. The time to make your suggestions for >> ILDS leadership is now. >> >> Dear Fellow Durrellians, >> >> As chair of the International Lawrence Durrell Society nominating >> committee, I am writing to solicit your nominations for officers and Board >> members to serve the Society from July 2016 through June 2018. The officer >> positions are President, Vice-President, and Secretary/Treasurer. For the >> three at-large Board positions, we particularly welcome nominations of those >> persons who may be newer to Durrell studies and who might bring a fresh >> perspective to Board discussions. Since the Board meets yearly at the >> Literature Since 1900 Conference toward the end of February in Louisville, >> it would be advantageous for nominees to travel to the Board meeting or >> participate through Skype. >> >> Please send your nominations and suggestions to daradavich at eiu.edu >> by April 15. Thanks in advance for your input. >> >> David Radavich, Chair >> ILDS Nominating Committee >> >> >> >> Hello all, >> >> Just a brief note to say on April 6th 2007, the listserv migrated to UVic >> and began the Justine reading group. Nine years and nearing 10,000 messages >> later, I hope you're all still having fun. >> >> All best, >> James >> /listinfo/ilds >> -------------- next part -------------- >> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... >> URL: >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> Subject: Digest Footer >> >> _______________________________________________ >> ILDS mailing list >> ILDS at lists.uvic.ca >> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds >> >> >> ------------------------------ >> >> End of ILDS Digest, Vol 108, Issue 6 >> ************************************ >> >> _______________________________________________ ILDS mailing list ILDS at lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds >> _______________________________________________ >> ILDS mailing list >> ILDS at lists.uvic.ca >> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds >> >> >> >> >> Ta e-po?ta je bila pregledana z Avast protivirusnim programom. >> www.avast.com >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> ILDS mailing list >> ILDS at lists.uvic.ca >> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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