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Reflections on a Marine Venus: A Companion to the Landscape of Rhodes Kindle Edition

by Lawrence Durrell (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 86 ratings
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After World War II, an Englishman seeks peace on an ancient Greek island in this “remarkable” travel memoir (The New York Times).
 Islomania is a disease not yet classified by Western science, but to those afflicted its symptoms are all too recognizable. Men like Lawrence Durrell are struck by a powerful need to live on the ancient islands of the Mediterranean, where the clear blue Aegean is always within reach. After four tortuous wartime years in Egypt, Durrell finds a post on the island of Rhodes, where the British are attempting to return Greece to the sleepy peace it enjoyed in the ’30s. From his first morning, when a dip in the frigid sea jolts him awake for what feels like the first time in years, Durrell breathes in the fullest joys of island life, meeting villagers, eating exotic food, and throwing back endless bottles of ouzo, as though the war had never happened at all. The charms of his stay there still resonate today, for the pleasures of Greece are older than history itself.
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  1. Print length
    244 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Open Road Media
  5. Publication date
    June 12, 2012
  6. File size
    4170 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
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From the Publisher

Lawrence Durrell

Lawrence Durrell

Nancy and Lawrence Durrell

A Page from Durrell's Notebook

Lawrence Durrell aboard his Boat

This photograph of Lawrence Durrell aboard his boat, the Van Norden, is taken from a negative discovered among his papers. The vessel is named after a character in Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer. (Photograph held in the British Library’s modern manuscripts collection.)

Nancy and Lawrence Durrell

This photograph of Nancy and Lawrence Durrell was likely taken in Delphi, Greece, in late 1939. (Photo courtesy of Joanna Hodgkin and the Gerald Durrell Estate.)

A page from Durrell’s Notebook

A page from Durrell’s notebooks, or, as he called them, the 'quarry.' This page introduced his notes on the 'colour and narrative' of scenes in Justine. (Photo courtesy of the Lawrence Durrell Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Southern Illinois University Carbondale.)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Sparkles with . . . intense energy . . . brilliance and fire.” —The Christian Science Monitor “[Durrell shows] his gusto for Greek ruins, wild flowers, Patmian monks, forged bus tickets, the violet, alluring sea, and pilgrimages embellished by traditional dancing beside barbeques.” —Sunday Times “Remarkable and constantly arresting. No writer of our time seems to bring so much meaning out of the naked word.” —The New York Times

About the Author

Born in Jalandhar, British India, in 1912 to Indian-born British colonials, Lawrence Durrell was a critically hailed and beloved novelist, poet, humorist, and travel writer best known for the Alexandria Quartet novels, which were ranked by the Modern Library as among the greatest works of English literature in the twentieth century. A passionate and dedicated writer from an early age, Durrell’s prolific career also included the groundbreaking Avignon Quintet, whose first novel, Monsieur (1974), won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and whose third novel, Constance (1982), was nominated for the Booker Prize. He also penned the celebrated travel memoir Bitter Lemons of Cyprus (1957), which won the Duff Cooper Prize. Durrell corresponded with author Henry Miller for forty-five years, and Miller influenced much of his early work, including a provocative and controversial novel, The Black Book (1938). Durrell died in France in 1990.  

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0085IMYX0
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media (June 12, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 12, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4170 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 244 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 86 ratings

About the author

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Lawrence Durrell

Lawrence Durrell

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Born in Jalandhar, British India, in 1912 to Indian-born British colonials, Lawrence Durrell was a critically hailed and beloved novelist, poet, humorist, and travel writer best known for the Alexandria Quartet novels, which were ranked by the Modern Library as among the greatest works of English literature in the twentieth century. A passionate and dedicated writer from an early age, Durrell’s prolific career also included the groundbreaking Avignon Quintet, whose first novel, Monsieur (1974), won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and whose third novel, Constance (1982), was nominated for the Booker Prize. He also penned the celebrated travel memoir Bitter Lemons of Cyprus (1957), which won the Duff Cooper Prize. Durrell corresponded with author Henry Miller for forty-five years, and Miller influenced much of his early work, including a provocative and controversial novel, The Black Book (1938). Durrell died in France in 1990.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
86 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

kylie quebedeaux
5.0 out of 5 stars This book made me fall in love with Durrell
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2016
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This book made me fall in love with Durrell. It is simply wonderful. Combining elements of old and new Greek travel writing, this paints a wonderful picture of like in Greece. He does his best to show the rich history of Rhodes, a city of mysticism for its colossus.
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b riordan
4.0 out of 5 stars Good, not Great.
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2013
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Erudite, personal but not as good as the 'BITTER LEMONS OF CYPRUS' or the more complex,lengthy, and challenging 'ALEXANDRIA QUARTET'.
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Thomas Kotsos
5.0 out of 5 stars A CLASSIC NOT MANY PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2013
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I am not an avid reader but this book changed my way of thinking about history. it gave such a vivid picture of the setting and challenges of post wwII greece I would recc this to anyone.
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Christo
5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece on Rhodes island
Reviewed in the United States on November 9, 2015
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Wonderful evocative poetic prose. Durrell surpassed himself. Even now it still inspires one to visit and experience Rhodes, and Greece.
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Amazon Customer
2.0 out of 5 stars Reflections on a Marine Venus: A disappointing book.
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2017
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Laurence Durrell's book is essentially a personal journal of his experiences while living on the island of Rhodes in the eastern Mediterranean Sea after World War Two. It is difficult to read because of his use of the names of places and things related to the British occupation of the Greek island after the war. He writes with a somewhat poetic flair and uses metaphors excessively and usually unnecessary for a smooth reading of the story in my opinion.
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L. Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorites
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2016
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Just...read it.
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R. M. Peterson
4.0 out of 5 stars Another Durrell portrayal of a Greek time and place that, sadly, is no more
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2009
REFLECTIONS ON A MARINE VENUS is the second of Lawrence Durrell's "travelogues", for want of a more precise word. His books on exotic Mediterranean isles -- for example, Corfu, Rhodes, Cyprus, and Sicily -- are sui generis blends of memoir, history, myth, philosophy, and prose poetry. The subject of REFLECTIONS ON A MARINE VENUS is the isle of Rhodes, where Durrell spent about two years (1945-1947) as the head of the Information Office during the time that Great Britain administered Rhodes, after defeat and expulsion of the Germans and before turning responsibility for its governance back to Greece.

The "Marine Venus" was an ancient statue of a naked woman that some fishermen had dragged up in their nets from the bottom of Rhodes harbor; the statue was placed in a museum on the island where "she sits * * * gravely meditating upon the works of time." For Durrell, the statue symbolizes not only the island, but "the whole idea of Greece" and "a past whose greatest hopes and ideals fell to ruins."

The book proceeds in a leisurely and relaxed fashion, as did life on Rhodes. When it comes to describing a landscape (or seascape) or conveying a sense of place, Durrell is a master, and a poet. He also is a highly literate instructor on the history (stretching back to the mythology) of a place, although for him it is a somewhat idiosyncratic history. As he explains, "history as chronology is woefully misleading; for the history of a place, dispersed by time, lives on in fable, gesture, intonation, raw habit."

Rhodes of 1945-1947 was not quite the island paradise it probably was before WWII and maybe again in the 50s and 60s (before affluent Europeans began flocking to it for their vacations and second homes). When Durrell was there, the scars of war -- including mine fields, shell casings, and burned-out bunkers and gun placements -- were still fresh and almost ubiquitous. Nor had the economy recovered: for example, the daily newspaper that Durrell superintended publication of was issued for a penny but was worth two cents locally as wrapping paper, so that the paper made much more money from scrapped issues than from current sales.

Perhaps it is because the War had not yet abandoned Rhodes that REFLECTIONS ON A MARINE VENUS is not quite the magical and lyrical tour de force that I found Durrell's earlier travelogue "Prospero's Cell" (about Corfu, circa 1937-1938) to be. Perhaps it is because Corfu simply was more magical and lyrical than Rhodes. Likely it also has something to do with the genius of Durrell's literary efforts. In any event, "Prospero's Cell" is clearly the superior work, but REFLECTIONS ON A MARINE VENUS nonetheless warrants a readership and, therefore, remaining in print.
2 people found this helpful
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Ceal S.
2.0 out of 5 stars bit eccentric
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2021
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nice enough, in a low-key way, not sure of its value...
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Top reviews from other countries

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Simon Gibson
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful; a must read.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 15, 2023
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This is a beautiful, lovely book about a world lost.
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E
1.0 out of 5 stars Edition sent does not correspond to picture
Reviewed in Spain on September 15, 2021
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The edition is a completely different one than the one advertised!
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Castiglioni Luca
5.0 out of 5 stars Un testo onirico per gli amanti dell'Egeo e di Rodi
Reviewed in Italy on August 18, 2017
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Questa autobiografia di Durrell della sua esperienza a Rodi alla fine della seconda guerra mondiale è un testo pieno di lirismo e di poesia. Chi conosce quei luoghi e sa filtrare gli eccessi del turismo saprà ritrovare le sensazioni dell'autore. Questo testo è un vero testamento d'amore per l'Egeo e per Rodi, divenendo una lettura unica nel suo genere.

Il testo naturalmente è in inglese.
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Bilko
5.0 out of 5 stars goods\product service
Reviewed in Canada on August 12, 2011
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Paperback arrived in a timely manner and was exactly as described, in good shape for a used book.I am totally satisfied with the order.
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David R
5.0 out of 5 stars Bought to read while in Rhodes- not disappointed
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 8, 2018
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I had previously read the Alexandria Quartet and the Avignon Quintet and found them rewarding if difficult. I bought this just before going on holiday to Rhodes and it greatly added to my enjoyment of the trip. Durrell was there during the British Occupatation in 1945 and a lot of the places he talks about are still recognisable today. Contrast his descriptions of the sad state of Rhodes harbour after the war with the vibrant place today. An eclectic mix of history, local culture and traditions. Do read before going to or while in Rhodes.
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