Do I have to read Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet?

[MsAmerica]

I was quickly browsing through some used books, saw a nice one-volume copy of the Durrell and bought it for pennies, as it's on my radar in the back of my mind as a "good" book.
I thought myself lucky, until I sat down and started to read. Okay, I didn't know anything about it. But I hate it. I hate the style. Is there any reason I should force myself to try to tackle it?

I read it a long long time ago - I was about 19 if I remember rightly - and agree that the settings and the evocation of the time period are fascinating, but the writing is pompous, sometimes turgid and often irritating. It’s pretty flawed as a quartet, too - his attempt to make it about Einsteinian relativity doesn’t really come off. But bits of it are good - I agree that the later books are much more readable. If I’d had another daughter I really wanted to name her Clea!

I might tackle a book where "bits" were good ... if it was short. But not for something that long!
I agree about the name Clea.

I am the same as thecatfromneptune, and also read them when I was about 19. I did not enjoy them but gritted my teeth and got through them. I remember my dad being quite amused that I wanted to read them. He did say say very much the same as thecatfromneptune.

I used to be someone who HAD to finish a book, almost like it was a rule. I think I was in my thirties when I first broke it - I remember which book as well! - so I want to remind you that reading is meant to be a leisure activity, not a chore. If you’re finding a book to be a chore then drop it and start another.

Funny how many of us there are who begin with the idea that we're obliged to finish a book ... then gradually re-think that.

If you’re posting from around, say, 1980, then probably. Any later-I wouldn’t bother.