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lazygal's review
4.0
Years ago (about 20, now that I think about it), a colleague recommended Justine, the first of the Alexandria Quartet by Durrell. I read it... and at that point I was a "clean plate" reader, so I slogged through the first 50 pages... the first 100 pages... but somewhere in the 150 range, I got it. Then I raced through to the end and grabbed the next three books. So when I saw Judith at BEA, I was thrilled.
Durrell was not Jewish, so that he was able to really convey the energy and conflict of life in was then Palestine under the British Mandate is pretty amazing. The people here are human: filled with failings, a sense of purpose, broken, driven, etc.. The only one we meet who isn't well rounded is Doud, but perhaps that might have changed. This isn't a truly complete book, in that Durrell didn't finish it. The impetus was his screenplay(s) for Hollywood, one of which turned into a movie starring Sophia Loren; this is a blend of that one and his original idea. There are some awkward word choices (the refrectory is always referred to as "gaunt") and phrasings, but I'm sure that had he edited this, it would have been up to his usual standard.
Copy provided by publisher.
Durrell was not Jewish, so that he was able to really convey the energy and conflict of life in was then Palestine under the British Mandate is pretty amazing. The people here are human: filled with failings, a sense of purpose, broken, driven, etc.. The only one we meet who isn't well rounded is Doud, but perhaps that might have changed. This isn't a truly complete book, in that Durrell didn't finish it. The impetus was his screenplay(s) for Hollywood, one of which turned into a movie starring Sophia Loren; this is a blend of that one and his original idea. There are some awkward word choices (the refrectory is always referred to as "gaunt") and phrasings, but I'm sure that had he edited this, it would have been up to his usual standard.
Copy provided by publisher.
unabridgedchick's review
3.0
That this novel had its start as a screenplay was something I felt aware of throughout my whole reading, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Set in the 1940s, the story is both an adventure novel and a kind of parable of a nation with dramatic landscapes, big emotions, and iconic characters.
Judith Roth, a mathematician and researcher, is smuggled out of Germany and into Israel in hopes she can finish her father's research on a new engine or turbine that will impact oil production. The Nazis, British, and Americans are all eager for Judith's research and assistance as well, but Judith is scarred -- physically and emotionally -- from her time in the camps, and she finds life on a kibbutz to be satisfying and interesting in its own way. She doesn't find pastoral peace, however: her new home is situated on a dangerous border, on the eve of British withdrawal from Israel, and she's captivated and confused by Aaron Stein, the aggressive and good-looking leader of the kibbutz's security team and a member of the unofficial Israeli army. British forces are withdrawing from Israel soon, and the Israelis are preparing themselves for the inevitable conflict to come from their neighbors. The story is fraught with tension, waiting, wondering -- not just for the country but for Judith herself.
This isn't a particularly nuanced novel when it comes to Israel and Palestine so if you've got strong opinions one way or the other, you won't be swayed. As a snapshot of an era and an attitude (1940s, British, pro-Israel), this novel satisfies, however, and I found it intriguing in that way. Durrell's writing is lovely -- not the lyrical loveliness I adored from his Alexandria Quartet -- but pretty at moments, sharply funny at others.
The first chapter -- presumably the film's opening -- has a kind of tragicomic mood to it. The ship's captain discovers among his illicit cargo people, crated up in hay. Two have survived; two have died. He and his second-in-command have a sad but funny back-and-forth about how to dispose of the bodies -- they want to offer some kind of religious burial but neither know what to do. Without extra tarpaulin they're forced to use country flags, and issue small hopes that God will know his people, even if wrapped in a Brazilian flag.
The characters also had a cinematic casting feel: Judith's love interest, Aaron, has the strapping, white-teethed masculinity of a '60s film star (I kept seeing Charlton Heston and Richard Burton in my mind's eye) while Judith's mentor/mother figure, Pete (Miss Peterson) was wiry and tough, a bit like Katherine Hepburn. The British officer Lawton (who was a kind of Captain Renault to alpha male Aaron), had this humorous buddy flick banter thing going on with his younger officer, Carstairs. As with much of the novel, Durrell mixes humor with dark honesty about the situation in Israel, like this scene, in which Lawton and Carstairs realize they're going to have to inspect a kibbutz suspected of harboring illegal immigrants:
The novel's mood remains mixed with the kind of pithy, dark humor and cinematic drama; it reads quickly and relatively uncomplicated. The characters are fairly vibrantly identified although felt a bit thin -- I never really felt like I got to know Judith or Aaron -- and the inevitable romance didn't resonate either (but honestly, it reminded me of a '60s Bond flick, in which a man can give a woman a look and inevitably, sexing must happen. So not bad, just not realistic.)
There's a long introduction by Richard Pine (the founder of the Durrell School of Corfu) which includes a pretty serious historical summary of events around the setting of the novel as well as the writing of it (and the differences between the film and the book). I'm no expert on this era of history, and Pine's intro was both helpful and at times, overwhelming. (At a certain point, I quit reading it, read the novel, then returned to it and found it more helpful.)
I think Durrell fans will enjoy this newly 'discovered' novel; those who are new to him might find a new author to adore. As with Open Roads' other e-books, this one was wonderfully formatted for easy reading (although the very first sentence of the introduction had a weird spacing issue in mine). This edition includes a glossary of terms and an illustrated biography of Durrell's life which was a fun treat.
Judith Roth, a mathematician and researcher, is smuggled out of Germany and into Israel in hopes she can finish her father's research on a new engine or turbine that will impact oil production. The Nazis, British, and Americans are all eager for Judith's research and assistance as well, but Judith is scarred -- physically and emotionally -- from her time in the camps, and she finds life on a kibbutz to be satisfying and interesting in its own way. She doesn't find pastoral peace, however: her new home is situated on a dangerous border, on the eve of British withdrawal from Israel, and she's captivated and confused by Aaron Stein, the aggressive and good-looking leader of the kibbutz's security team and a member of the unofficial Israeli army. British forces are withdrawing from Israel soon, and the Israelis are preparing themselves for the inevitable conflict to come from their neighbors. The story is fraught with tension, waiting, wondering -- not just for the country but for Judith herself.
This isn't a particularly nuanced novel when it comes to Israel and Palestine so if you've got strong opinions one way or the other, you won't be swayed. As a snapshot of an era and an attitude (1940s, British, pro-Israel), this novel satisfies, however, and I found it intriguing in that way. Durrell's writing is lovely -- not the lyrical loveliness I adored from his Alexandria Quartet -- but pretty at moments, sharply funny at others.
The first chapter -- presumably the film's opening -- has a kind of tragicomic mood to it. The ship's captain discovers among his illicit cargo people, crated up in hay. Two have survived; two have died. He and his second-in-command have a sad but funny back-and-forth about how to dispose of the bodies -- they want to offer some kind of religious burial but neither know what to do. Without extra tarpaulin they're forced to use country flags, and issue small hopes that God will know his people, even if wrapped in a Brazilian flag.
The characters also had a cinematic casting feel: Judith's love interest, Aaron, has the strapping, white-teethed masculinity of a '60s film star (I kept seeing Charlton Heston and Richard Burton in my mind's eye) while Judith's mentor/mother figure, Pete (Miss Peterson) was wiry and tough, a bit like Katherine Hepburn. The British officer Lawton (who was a kind of Captain Renault to alpha male Aaron), had this humorous buddy flick banter thing going on with his younger officer, Carstairs. As with much of the novel, Durrell mixes humor with dark honesty about the situation in Israel, like this scene, in which Lawton and Carstairs realize they're going to have to inspect a kibbutz suspected of harboring illegal immigrants:
"It may interest you to know, Sir, that when I joined the army to fight Hitler, I felt sure that I'd be loved and wanted by the Jews forever after. All this has been a horrible shock to my nervous system."
"Oh, shut up," said Lawton furiously, and his junior subsided into chastened silence, and contented himself by slowly selecting another sweet from the apparently endless supply in his pocket. (p121)
The novel's mood remains mixed with the kind of pithy, dark humor and cinematic drama; it reads quickly and relatively uncomplicated. The characters are fairly vibrantly identified although felt a bit thin -- I never really felt like I got to know Judith or Aaron -- and the inevitable romance didn't resonate either (but honestly, it reminded me of a '60s Bond flick, in which a man can give a woman a look and inevitably, sexing must happen. So not bad, just not realistic.)
There's a long introduction by Richard Pine (the founder of the Durrell School of Corfu) which includes a pretty serious historical summary of events around the setting of the novel as well as the writing of it (and the differences between the film and the book). I'm no expert on this era of history, and Pine's intro was both helpful and at times, overwhelming. (At a certain point, I quit reading it, read the novel, then returned to it and found it more helpful.)
I think Durrell fans will enjoy this newly 'discovered' novel; those who are new to him might find a new author to adore. As with Open Roads' other e-books, this one was wonderfully formatted for easy reading (although the very first sentence of the introduction had a weird spacing issue in mine). This edition includes a glossary of terms and an illustrated biography of Durrell's life which was a fun treat.
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