Posted by Rizwan on 9/1/2012, 17:23:53, in reply to "Re: The Alexandria Quartet"
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I also read "The Alexandria Quartet" years ago and liked it. I then followed it up with another novel about Alexandria--Naguib Mahfouz's "Miramar." I'm not sure which influenced which, but both the "Quartet" and "Miramar" employ the Rashomon-like device of telling the same story from different points of view, suggesting that perhaps it's somewhere in the middle that the real truth of what occurred lies.
The best thing to come out of my reading the "Quartet," though, was my discovery of the poet who inspired it: Constantine Cavafy. I had never heard of him before, but now he is one of my very favorite writers. Highly recommended if you get a chance. Though the poems are approaching 100 years old now, they read as if they were written just last night by that solitary individual lingering over a cup of coffee in the back corner of the cafe you visited.
In case you're interested, here is an interesting essay on Cavafy and his kindred spirit, the Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa: www.threepennyreview.com/samples/cohen_w02.html
The author of the piece compares the two poets (both worked mundane office jobs while producing in near anonymity great literature in their free time) and discusses the importance of the cities they lived in (Alexandria for Cavafy, Lisbon for Pessoa) to their work.
Finally, one more thing on Alexandria. I read somewhere that E.M. Forster (a friend of Cavafy's) wrote two definitive guidebooks to old Alexandria, but I've only been able to find one of them ("Pharos and Pharillon"). The other ("Alexandria: A History & a Guide") remains out there somewhere, yet to be tracked down by me. I'd love to find a copy because: 1. since my discovery of Cavafy, I have a fascination with old Alexandria; and 2. several writers have called Forster's guide one of the great travel books ever written.
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