Lawrence Durrell: Nunquam

nunquam

The latest addition to my website is Lawrence Durrell‘s Nunquam, the second-part of a two part series, started with Tunc. This one starts off where Tunc ended and finds Felix Charlock in a sanatorium, with a head wound. When he recovers, the mysterious Julian, with whom he has talked many times but never actually meets, invites him to a meeting and does turn up, albeit covered in ski gear so his face cannot be seen. Julian begs Felix to participate in a scheme to build a robot of Iolanthe, Julian’s deceased lover. Much of the novel is how this robot is built, with additional details on some of the other activities of the mysterious company, Merlin, run by Julian and his dying brother, Jocas. Of course, once the Iolanthe robot is built, she has a mind of her own. It is quite an enjoyable read, even if Durrell’s flowery and erudite language does seem a bit dated.

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