Justine is one of the most hyped books I have ever encountered, and while not a bad book per se, it really doesn’t justify the cult following it supposedly has. None of the books in this quartet really hold up on their own, but combined, the effect is bigger than the sum of their parts. I was reminded of Rashomon when the same events were retold from different vantage points…and our opinion of the motives of each characters continues to shift and become more complex as we read on. The style is a bit like a long-winded, ornate letter…and I found myself always hearing about the characters I was interested in second-hand via characters who I didn’t really care about at the time. There are some good ideas and powerful secenes (e.g. Narouz’s last day) scattered throughout, and an occasional clever turn of phrase, but many chapters drone on for ages without holding any real interest…and yet something keeps you moving forward. It’s as if someone who really annoyed you were telling you a story that you really wanted to hear. It made me want to go to Alexandria to see what remains of Durrell’s (largely imagined) vision…