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pacificsnail 's review for:
The Sea, the Sea
by Iris Murdoch
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I did not at first feel like writing about this book. From the start, I found the protagonist laughable at best and really - quite despicable. Dull, self-aggrandizing, quite petty. For any genuine praise he managed to give to any of his "friends" in describing them, he would undoubtedly follow it up with many more back-handed compliments and many times outright insults. He seemed obsessed with youth and appearances. I dreaded spending 500 pages in his world.
Two things I found intriguing which had me continue: for one, the introduction did a lot to give away the plot, promising a love triangle and a dramatic turn of events (strange thing for an introduction to do; though, in retrospect, it did not really spoil the book at all); on the other hand - I was quite curious about the format: the voice seemed distinct recorded in the form of a journal-trying--to-be-a-memoir-trying-to-be-a-novel, it was a genuinely interesting way to do a character study I haven't quite seem before. First person - yes. Further made interesting by a constant feeling of the story being recounted backwards in small chunks, rather than flowing forward or backwards, like a series of tiniest flashbacks. The introduction also did much to promise me a Jungian psychology take (which lies in parallel with my current reading of some psychology materials), so I pushed on.
The book caught me almost by surprise as half-way through I found I actually was invested in the plot and the characters.
There is a good amount of mysticism, mostly relayed through James' character, but there's generally an Erie atmosphere.
I'll also add that the story works best in my head if you interpret it as a dramatic retelling (seeing how unreliable our dear protagonist can be) or possibly altogether fictitious - with various parts of Charles' life coming to him as ghosts, embodying different parts of his quite exciting life.
This book also came into my life at the right time. Then again, it's never the wrong time to reflect of possessive love, jealousy, vanity and obsession with youth.
Two things I found intriguing which had me continue: for one, the introduction did a lot to give away the plot, promising a love triangle and a dramatic turn of events (strange thing for an introduction to do; though, in retrospect, it did not really spoil the book at all); on the other hand - I was quite curious about the format: the voice seemed distinct recorded in the form of a journal-trying--to-be-a-memoir-trying-to-be-a-novel, it was a genuinely interesting way to do a character study I haven't quite seem before. First person - yes. Further made interesting by a constant feeling of the story being recounted backwards in small chunks, rather than flowing forward or backwards, like a series of tiniest flashbacks. The introduction also did much to promise me a Jungian psychology take (which lies in parallel with my current reading of some psychology materials), so I pushed on.
The book caught me almost by surprise as half-way through I found I actually was invested in the plot and the characters.
There is a good amount of mysticism, mostly relayed through James' character, but there's generally an Erie atmosphere.
I'll also add that the story works best in my head if you interpret it as a dramatic retelling (seeing how unreliable our dear protagonist can be) or possibly altogether fictitious - with various parts of Charles' life coming to him as ghosts, embodying different parts of his quite exciting life.
This book also came into my life at the right time. Then again, it's never the wrong time to reflect of possessive love, jealousy, vanity and obsession with youth.