What is Balthazar? It is certainly impossible to read without first devouring its 'sibling' [b:Justine|13037|Justine (The Alexandria Quartet #1)|Lawrence Durrell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1428544115l/13037._SY75_.jpg|45387]. The entire concept is that Balthazar - a supporting character from that book - read that book (the narrator Darley's memoirs) and is offering an annotation of them from a different point-of-view.

You could perhaps describe this book as a story about character, not plot, but that would be deceptive: the characters are the plot. The journeys they make, the changes of motivation and destination, the doubts and fears and sudden spasms of fate that occur, the small moments when their minds realise something heretofore unknown... those are what progress these books along.

In some ways, now that I'm accustomed to Durrell's style, I enjoy it more. Outwardly, he's pretentious - tossing in some French, Latin, Greek and just expecting you to understand it, making a discreet reference to a classic text or a philosophical doctrine in ways that are beyond mere literary references - but the fact is, he's not. Because, there's no pretense. This is genuinely who Durrell is and how he thinks. While one feels like he wrote this novel exclusively for the educated exiles from England of his era, it has a democratic way of looking at people that fits in with the American novels of earlier in that same century.

I can't wait to read [b:Mountolive|126710|Mountolive (The Alexandria Quartet #3)|Lawrence Durrell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347909368l/126710._SX50_.jpg|1849754] and [b:Clea|13039|Clea (The Alexandria Quartet #4)|Lawrence Durrell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1440271623l/13039._SY75_.jpg|841968] now. The richly drawn characters of the first two books now exist in my memories like real people - loquacious Pombal, perverted and broken Scobie, pathetic Melissa, desperate Narouz, ethereal (yet somehow earthy) Clea, feeble Darley, bitter Pursewarden, rigid Nessim, sly Balthazar, charismatic Mountolive (as yet still reasonably underdeveloped) and of course the endlessly fascinating Justine. It is a testament to Durrell's skill that in two reasonably slim books, he has sketched not only these vast characters but the great and nuanced topography of their city, their Alexandria. Brilliant stuff. ( )

Durrell is preoccupied with what it means to love someone, how people change over time and, finally, how “truth” depends upon one’s perspective—which, of course, changes over time but and depends on one’s “position” as well. Small matters these! Thus, where Justine—the first of four books—tells a relatively straightforward story about a group of friends and acquaintances, Balthazar is much more a meditation on these questions. Much of Balthazar is taken up with the “Interlinear,” a copy of Durrell’s manuscript (or, more precisely, the character who represents Durrell) of what would become Justine as heavily annotated by Balthazar, another character. The annotations and explanations he added to the manuscript substantially revise the narrator’s understanding and interpretation of what happened in Justine and also provides much new information. All of this enormously complicates what we thought we “knew” after reading Justine. New relationships are created where we (and the narrator) had seen nothing (or misunderstood it) before; things we believed were true or accurate are now seen to be far more nuanced, at the very least. Indeed, much of Balthazar illustrates Durrell’s notion that point of view and change are everything. This second volume of the “Alexandria Quartet” is far more meditative, more contemplative. I found the writing occasionally as brilliant as in Justine, but less often so. Still, an extraordinary accomplishment. ( )

This is the second book in the Alexandria Quartet. The four books tell the same story from different perspectives. It is about love, relationships, and jealousy. In the first book, we focused on the unnamed narrator’s overwhelming love for Justine. In this book we find out what he believed is not true.

We spend a lot of time with the reminiscences of the narrator, and we learn his name. We find out more about Justine and her various relationships. The major set piece of this book is an intriguing description of Carnaval. There is a murder, and a mystery, all wrapped up in a wide variety of philosophical musings.

This is not a standalone. Justine must be read first for it to make any sense. I appreciate the creativity but it’s not going to be for everyone. The reader will need a great deal of patience with flowery language and a nonlinear storyline. As in Justine, toward the end of the book we find a thin thread of a plot, but there is nothing that feels like a conclusion. It just … ends. I liked this one more than Justine and will continue to read the quartet. I am planning to take my time, since I can only digest these books in small portions. Next up is Mountolive.
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The author of "Balthazar", Lawrence Durrell, was a perceptive and honest observer of human character and desires, and he provides a firsthand description of Alexandra in Egypt before World War II, having lived there around that time.

There are some annoyances. Durrell appears rather self-consciously to have been trying to Write Literature. Perhaps it was a late 1950's mannerism. Untranslated French seems to appear on every other page (Penguin, 1991). The reader should be rather familiar with classical Mythology. The occasional sexual candor was likely an attraction (and asset) once but is common today.

Not recommended for the general reader. Writers may enjoy the book as might anyone especially interested in that time and place.

"Balthazar" is the second book of Durrell's "Alexandria Quartet" and may be read independently of the first; they focus on the same place and time and retain largely the same characters and events but are told from a different character's point of view. The style of this second of the Quartet is somewhat less mannered than that of the first and thus more pleasant to read, but the content may be slightly less interesting. ( )

Not as good as Justine, but oddly it actually makes Justine an even better novel. Justine would not be as good with out Balthazar. ( )