3

This may be more appropriately called a "Literature" or "History" question but as it's about a writer, I thought I'd try here first. I'm seeking more information about the origin of the following quote, which appears on the flyleaf of the book "The Camp of the Saints" and is attributed to a (nominally) British author named Lawrence Durrell (1912-1990):

"My spirit turns more and more toward the West, toward the old heritage. There are, perhaps, some treasures to retrieve among its ruins ... I don't know."

Durrell produced large numbers of works, including novels, poetry, plays and collections of correspondence with, among others, Henry Miller. This quote could have come from any of them. I've tried searching online but found only references back to the secondary source (authored by Jean Raspail in 1973).

Does anyone know where this quote by Durrell is originally from?

Secespitus
  • 5,686
  • 4
  • 47
  • 96
user1071914
  • 131
  • 2
  • 1
    Here's an eccentric suggestion - according to Wikipedia, Jean Raspail is still alive. So why not try asking him? You can generally reach writers care of their publishers. I've never heard of this book before, but it sounds like an unpleasant piece of work. – Faheem Mitha Aug 24 '15 at 14:47
  • That is indeed an interesting suggestion - I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the response. – user1071914 Aug 25 '15 at 00:59
  • 3
    It's been a while since I read The Alexandria Quartet, but this sounds like something that could be in one of those novels. I did the same Google search as you to no avail. How I do wish people would properly cite their quotes. – Feralthinker Sep 14 '15 at 04:50
  • 2
    "How I do wish people would properly cite their quotes." +1 to that! – user1071914 Sep 15 '15 at 13:11
  • An idea... Often quotes are not real? More than once I have looked for a quote that was from an author to only find that no such quote exists. – Rincewind May 29 '16 at 19:47
  • 1
    Hi. This would actually be better on [literature.se], which exists now. Questions about writers, as opposed to writing, aren't on-topic here, but you could ask this over there. (It's too old to migrate.) – Monica Cellio Feb 19 '18 at 02:49

0 Answers0