The unpublished novel by this of Masters, published in 2012 (he died in
1990), was written at the beginning of 1960-ies as a screenplay for the
Paramount Pictures movie by Daniel Mann featuring Sophia Loren. At the end,
Durrell withdrew from the movie production (probably unsatisfied with the
needed changes). The similar fate was with his earlier engagement with the
Twentieth Century-Fox in the making of the "Cleopatra".
While still working on it, Sophia Loren asked Durrell to change the main
character, played by her, from the Lady-professor to the wife and mother,
as "she is not an intelectual type", and he did so, producing two parallel
texts, which he was considering to publish as a "Double scenario" book,
which did not happen, he abandoned the text.
His success as a writer after the publication of "Justine", the first part
of "The Alexandria Quartet", brought Durrell offers of work on the
screenplays, but he was more focused on his artistic work than such
ventures. Still, as in his top writings, in those "side works" he also
investigated thoroughly the locations and state of matters and paid attention
to the structure of the work. "Judith" was a part of his 2nd tier works,
which, for him, was a kind of fermentation of thoughts and rest between the
major works. Durrell was a compulsory writer, and needed many vents for his
artistic personality.
I met with people who considered Durrell mildly, if not strongly
anti-semitic, based on some of his writings. But, of his 4 wives, 2 were Jewish,
and I do not remember ever reading any evil statements or feelings he would
express... But then, he did not belong to the overly politically correct writers,
and some of his comments could be taken out of context and presented in this or
that way. When writing about French Resistance in "The Avignon Quintet" in not
exactly glorifying terms, or similarly about Arabs in many of his works, he did
not show any hate or animosity. Only normal contempt for the human stupidity where
things could, with a little of clear thinking, be easily converted into something
constructive, not destructive, as it was usually the case.
In "Judith" he did exactly the opposite from anti-semitic, from every line
one can feel his sympathy with the Jewish case, and contempt for the
surrounding circumstances of the birth of the Israel, from the collapse of
the British Mandate to the petty plotting of the Arabs.
I do not know much about the events of the Mandate, and especially the fact
that Israel was fought for, not plainly given by the world main players, was
appropriately exposed in "Judith". My impresion is that the fight Israel won
at the time against Arabs gave the country legitimity as any other country,
including my own Croatia just recently...and the rest is in the hands of
more or less dirty politycs. Israel is a fact. As are Arabs, and a sensible
solution for the problem is to be found, or there will be more and more of
the senseless killing.
I learned a pile from the book, and if Durrell is not the most exact of the
historians, I never found him being an evil one. In difference to the too many
of the "official", and in fact doctrinary, historians, or rather propheths of
the one or other national identity.
This book, published only recently from the writings in his documentation,
definitely deserves its place between his other works. He considered it of so
little artistic value that he even did not publish it, but many authors would
love to be able to have such a work in their meter or so of the books on the bookshelf.
