638 reviews for:

The sea, the sea

Iris Murdoch

3.94 AVERAGE

ronnie2024's review against another edition

2.0

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There was not a single likable character in this novel. I found Charles, a pompous theater director, wholly irritating. All of the sycophantic former actors who had been in his thrall were one dimensional. The novel was long and had several absurd/clunky plot points. There were some amusing satirical sketches of Charles’s attempt to acclimatize to rural seaside life, as well as lyrical descriptions of the sea. Was this enough to win the Booker Prize?

pris_asagiri's review against another edition

3.0

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This is one of those stories that make it incredibly difficult to like because I did not like the protagonist at all. But I do love Murdoch's writing. So the rating is more 3.5 stars because I give the writing 4 stars but likeability 3.

I have to say this story is very similar in theme to her other book, [b:The Unicorn|253954|The Unicorn (Vintage Classics)|Iris Murdoch|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1330429659s/253954.jpg|1294], which I liked better for a myriad of reasons but mainly a) it was much shorter, b) I read it first, and c) the protagonist was a female and so her reasonings felt more true and less like an overly excited actor past his prime desperately clinging to his grand delusions.

But I truly enjoy Murdoch's writing so I will be working my way through her canon. And if you can manage, she gives you a decent ending (although the epilogue went on interminably too long, much like everything Charles Arrowby did and said).

plf_pgh_321's review against another edition

2.0

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Entirely too long. Main character is unlikeable and delusional — not sure what the point was, unless it’s about the descent into madness.

ben_nevis's review against another edition

5.0

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Narration by Richard E Grant is excellent

boronguyen's review against another edition

3.0

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I would have liked this book a lot more if I had liked or hated Charles, but in the end I’m indifferent. He’s of course unlikeable, but also not consistent enough to be hated. The first-person choice for this kind of book does not reallg work.

monkeelino's review against another edition

5.0

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James Arrowby decides to “repent of egoism” by writing autobiographically. He seems relieved that retirement has afforded him the time he needs to think about himself. And so Murdoch launches us off with one of the most interesting introspective voyages in literature. Our charming narrator has a penchant for delightfully odd-but-faux-sophisticated culinary advice. His certainty wins one over in such a way that ownership of his unreliability transfers to the reader. Despite stepping away from the stage, the drama is anything but over. He presents us with a carefully controlled history that comes back to haunt and unravel him as former colleagues, lovers, and friends seek out his reclusive seaside retirement dwelling. As he loses control of the tale, the past writes the present, and Arrowby frantically grasps for explanations as he attempts to woo the long lost “love of his life.”

This is the only Murdoch I’ve read, so I don’t know how it compares to her other works but it excels on so many levels. I found it to be a deep, moving, hilarious, page-turning, charming, and utterly engaging experience.
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WORDS I LEARNED WHILE READING THIS BOOK
couchant | mackintosh | sursis | hyoshigi | kedgeree | coley | sibilant | guillemots | crepitating | charwoman

lubinka's review against another edition

1.0

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Definitely not my cup of tea. The ramblings of a completely self-absorbed, delusional and unbearably verbose person left me absolutely indifferent. I forced myself to finish it, because I'm a sucker for self-punishment, and also because I hoped for an unimaginable twist at the finish line that would make it all worth it, but I was left none the wiser, if you don't count the bizarre self-inflicted death (not suicide though) that came out of the blue. I suppose the author should be considered very talented, after being able to fill pages upon pages with what was essentially the same ideas, over and over again.

I do hope that my next readings this year will turn out to be more satisfying...

sophiewelsh's review against another edition

3.75

funny mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

glenberger's review against another edition

5.0

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I kept trying to pigeonhole this book as I listened to it (the Simon Vance narration is excellent), and the book continually, deliriously, gleefully resisted. My first Murdoch, the book was philosophical, very funny, heartfelt, farcical, and though it was long, I would have been happy to spend several more weeks with the crew of self-absorbed, love-addled theater folk. Murdoch's characters are vivid, unique, multi-dimensional, and her understanding of what our human dramas look like against the backdrop of The Sea, or of "stars behind stars behind stars" makes for a reading experience where you know you're in good hands, even as certain passages (and the first 70 pages) might appear to be slow-going. It occurs to me now that there were definite shades of The Tempest -- appropriate, and brilliant, since it's ostensibly the memoir of a famous shakespearean theater director who is thinking he'll retire from it all and remove himself to a "poor cell" on the coast. And then his past shows up. Meditations on karma, on love, on projection, on will...all very satisfying.

labajas5280's review against another edition

3.75

challenging emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes