I love this description of the eccentric British Consul in Rhodes after the war.  The better to mull over a newly striking idea, he would precipitously slam on the brakes of the car and give it his full mental attention. 

Only hope he looked in the rear-view mirror first. 

Hoyle is a splendid character and I gathered, as human blossoms, a number of Durrell’s anecdotes about him, including his noticing of detail and his reaction to sound medical advice. 

When a new idea struck him, it was his habit to slam on the brakes, stop the car, and sit awhile to consider it from every angle. 

Source: Lawrence Durrell, Reflections on a Marine Venus (London: Faber & Faber, 1960), p. 124

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