Iris Murdoch: A Word Child; The Sea, the Sea; The Black Prince...and more

[Extollager]

Occasionally it's amusing to create a thread that you expect will pretty much go nowhere, and this may be one. Murdoch wrote a number of novels that won awards and/or received critical praise, but hardly anyone seems to read her. My own reading of her novels is limited to A Word Child, which I read around 35 years ago. I'm not recommending this writer; but, on the other hand, if some Chrons people have read her and are able to tell why one should read her, I might well respond to that. If I were going to read her now, I would almost certainly do so by rereading Word Child....

I would hope people would not use this forum to write about the movie about her life with John Bayley, etc. At least for a while let's see if anyone has anything to say about, y'know, books she wrote.

 

[GOLLUM]

Occasionally it's amusing to create a thread that you expect will pretty much go nowhere, and this may be one. Murdoch wrote a number of novels that won awards and/or received critical praise, but hardly anyone seems to read her. .

Ye of little faith... I do have a copy of her novel The Sea, The Sea. Mind you I haven't read it yet..so I guess you have a point.

 

[HareBrain]

I've read The Bell, and half of The Sea, The Sea. I think I'd recommend the former over the latter, but my memory's too sketchy to give any convincing reason why. I think it was quite an interesting study of a closed group of people whose lives are ruled by a metaphor ... or something.

 

[aThenian]

I know this is an old thread but I thought I'd respond as it's probably going to be my only chance ever to show off my Iris Murdoch knowledge (I say this judging from posts above - somebody else will now of course come along who is some kind of world Iris Murdoch expert ).

At one time I read a lot of her books, and if you want to read them I'd suggest the earlier ones - the later ones seem repetitive and less precise in their settings. But maybe I just got bored of her novels, and I haven't read either The Sea, The Sea or The Word Child. The ones I've read include:
The Bell
A Severed Head (closest thing to a comedy)
Flight from the Enchanter (probably my favourite)
The Red and the Green (about the Easter 1916 rising in Dublin)
An Unofficial Rose (this is good, quite a traditional novel)
and several others I probably wouldn't recommend.

The tend to be about rather intense, intellectual types engaged in rather weird sexual relationships (quite a lot of incest), and I think seemed rather exciting and taboo-breaking at the time but I have to say I never go back and reread them now.

 

[galanx]

I was surprised to see the only novel of hers I've actually read was "The Sea, The Sea" which is good, but, struck me as a bit slight.

OTOH her book on moral philosophy "The Sovereignty of Good" is very good, and one of the few modern works of moral philosophy that is both accessible and well-written enough for non-specialists (like me).

 

[Hex]

I had an enthusiasm for her several years ago and read a number of her books. I particularly remember The Red and the Green, The Sea, the Sea, and The Nice and the Good. I might go and read some of them again.

 

[aThenian]

OTOH her book on moral philosophy "The Sovereignty of Good" is very good, and one of the few modern works of moral philosophy that is both accessible and well-written enough for non-specialists (like me).

Interesting. I'd have thought her philosophical interests must also have percolated into her novels - but I can't really think how. I didn't read them that way at the time.

 

[Ray Zdybrow]

I read "The Sea,The Sea" recently and it is very good, a real page-turner in fact, despite not being a thriller type book. It was more "Oh ,no! He's not going to do THAT?!" Frankly a lot of the book was a constant cringe, wish I'd read it when I was younger. Also there were a few of weird/eerie bits where my hair (literally!) stood on end, I was so gripped by this book.

 

[Extollager]

Is the title The Sea, The Sea an allusion to Xenophon’s Anabasis, when the Greeks at last see the shore after their long retreat? I haven’t read either book, so I’m not sure about that origin for the expression.

 

[Toby Frost]

A friend of mine read it and says that yes, it is. Apparently, it also includes the sighting of a sea monster, which I suppose just about makes it "spec fic"!