Book Review - Tunc by Lawrence Durrell

 Tunc by Lawrence Durrell

London: Faber and Faber, 1969 (first published 1968)   ISBN 0571092209

Lawrence Durrell as an author was best known for his Alexandria Quartet, a group of four linked novels that has become something of a minor classic - I have owned a copy for more than twenty years, but have never got around to reading it, much to my shame. However, in this post-literate age in which we live Lawrence is probably better known as a character in the TV series "The Durrells", which was loosely based on his brother Gerald's books about growing up on the island of Corfu in the 1930s (You can find my reviews of Gerald's books here).

However that may be, my first foray into the world of Lawrence Durrell is this book - Tunc. And what a strange book I found it to be. The first part of a two-novel cycle known as The Revolt of Aphrodite, Tunc introduces us to the character of Felix Charlock, an inventor, who becomes ensnared in the huge global conglomerate known as Merlin, run by two brothers, Jocas, and the mysterious Julian.

Durrell has used a fairly thin plot based on control, madness and revenge, to weave a house of words - his descriptions of whorehouses, the countryside, London and Athens are gloriously fecund, as is his evocation of those moments in one's life that one remembers forever - in Felix's case, his first few months with the beautiful Benedicta, the daughter of Merlin, whom he marries.The marriage soon turns sour as the reader is made aware of Benedicta's mental issues, and Felix is left to his inventions, which get used by Julian for purposes other than those which Felix had in mind. The character of Julian looms over the novel - aware of everything, never seen, obsessive and controlling and yet with a knack of putting people at ease and getting what he wants in the end, except for the beautiful Iolanthe, who turns from prostitute to film goddess before dying. The fact that Iolanthe was Felix's mistress in Athens is a dipole to the revelation that Benedicta is Julian's mistress the whole time she is married to Felix.

Felix, feeling more and more ensnared by Merlin and Julian, tries to break free, which is when he invents Abel - a machine that can not only tell the user everything about a person, but can predict what will happen to them. Felix tries to use Abel to wreak his ultimate revenge on Julian, only for it to backfire. At the end of the novel the reader is unsure if Felix is alive or dead, and in the last paragraphs reads that Benedicta has been sent on her next "assignment" to ensnare another talented individual for the company.

As a reader, I'm not sure quite what to make of Tunc. The descriptive writing was wonderful, and almost covers for the lack of an understandable plot. Durrell I think has perhaps wrapped up a half-idea for a novel in a wonderful package of words which dazzle. I will read the sequel.

Cheers for now, from

A View Over the Bell