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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
Another quality novel from Murdoch. This one doesn't move with quite the light speed of A Severed Head, but it still has plenty of twists and turns, and is also more structurally complicated (and thus more structurally interesting).
You do need to have some tolerance for philosophical asides; there are quite a few of them. But they're generally brief, usually provocative, and they resonate well with the tale she's telling.
I'm definitely a Murdoch fan, now. I think I'll read The Sea, The Sea next.
You do need to have some tolerance for philosophical asides; there are quite a few of them. But they're generally brief, usually provocative, and they resonate well with the tale she's telling.
I'm definitely a Murdoch fan, now. I think I'll read The Sea, The Sea next.
Real Readers Book Club (Liz) - April 2018
Recommendation from Triin (@wordchild) - 10/6/2017
Last night was our monthly meet up for our #RealReadersBookClub. I’ve been so anxious to discuss this literary gem. This time we all were pretty much in agreement with our ratings. But, I loved that each of us got something different out of the novel. I appreciated all the philosophical musings about art and the creation of art. Murdoch applies this theme throughout many of her novels, this one in particular seemed to be especially full of creative references, since it revolves around a writer.
I especially love that we each came to a different conclusion of the narrator. Was he unreliable, telling the truth, guilty, innocent? It led to a fabulous discussion, in which we decided that at the very least, Murdoch enjoys messing with her readers emotions as well as creating a very clever and unexpected trick with Shakespeare’s Hamlet and the Greek God, Apollo (she even admitted in interviews that she got quite a kick out of this).
For a memorable read with careful plotting, fully realised characters and attention to details, look no further. I highly recommend this literary masterpiece.
My rating: 4.5 Stars
Recommendation from Triin (@wordchild) - 10/6/2017
Last night was our monthly meet up for our #RealReadersBookClub. I’ve been so anxious to discuss this literary gem. This time we all were pretty much in agreement with our ratings. But, I loved that each of us got something different out of the novel. I appreciated all the philosophical musings about art and the creation of art. Murdoch applies this theme throughout many of her novels, this one in particular seemed to be especially full of creative references, since it revolves around a writer.
I especially love that we each came to a different conclusion of the narrator. Was he unreliable, telling the truth, guilty, innocent? It led to a fabulous discussion, in which we decided that at the very least, Murdoch enjoys messing with her readers emotions as well as creating a very clever and unexpected trick with Shakespeare’s Hamlet and the Greek God, Apollo (she even admitted in interviews that she got quite a kick out of this).
For a memorable read with careful plotting, fully realised characters and attention to details, look no further. I highly recommend this literary masterpiece.
My rating: 4.5 Stars
Why did nobody tell me to read this before
I've bought postcards of the post office/ bt tower now
I've bought postcards of the post office/ bt tower now
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Along with The Sea, The Sea, this is a highly recommended selection in Iris Murdoch's extensive bibliography. For those of you not familiar with her writing, she combines a sharp, astute, and quite rigorous philosophic lens to what is essentially a comedy of manners. Far from being dry or obtuse, I think it makes her characters relate-able. This isn't a world of action, filled with verbs and commands, lists of actions performed and deeds done, but thinking and deeply introspective characters, flawed and disgusting, jealous and nasty, but bending civilization's moral code for stupid and pointless reasons. Yes, art and love, the twin desires the motivate protagonist Bradley Person, a snidely failed, just retired tax man-cum-author. But what are art and love but lust and pride? It is the shifting perspective of high and low that makes Murdoch's work intoxicating. Enjoy the wit and dry humor, but be moved by her deeply human analytic gifts.
Just arrived from Cairo, Egypt.
The story of Bradley Pearson who acts as the narrator and hero into this story. I cannot tell anything else in order to avoid spoil it. A GREAT book, to be read for those who like a quite original plot.
The story of Bradley Pearson who acts as the narrator and hero into this story. I cannot tell anything else in order to avoid spoil it. A GREAT book, to be read for those who like a quite original plot.