Prospero's Cell by Lawrence Durrell

Where to begin with this beautiful book.  As when I first read Dickens, I feel with Durrell that I have discovered a trove of treasure.

Prospero's Cell combines a variety of my interests.  Greece and the Mediterranean. History. Erudition. Great Britain. Melancholy. Travel and foreign culture.

I've known of Durrell for years through his characterization on the PBS Masterpiece show The Durrells on Corfu.  And fittingly this book tells the story of his time living on that island.

But this book is far from just a travel essay.  His style of writing touches my soul.  The book reads as if it was written with perfect ease, flowing off the tongue (and I found myself reading much of it aloud).  But I know that he must have toiled, painstakingly, word by word.

He paints such a melancholic picture of life on Corfu in the first half of the 20th century that I must visit to try and experience any bit of that world that still remains.

Fortunately Durrell published many volumes, from travel essays and notes from his experiences living across the Mediterranean, to fiction, all of which I can't wait to read.