The Sandcastle

by Iris Murdoch

An alternate cover edition for this ISBN can be found here and here.

Once again Iris Murdoch demonstrates that her gift for compelling narrative, vivid characterization and comic invention are unrivalled. Her story -- of a frustrated, middle-aged and unhappily married schoolmaster who loses his heart completely to a bewitching young artist -- succeeds brilliantly in involving our emotions at every level.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Novels, 20th Century, Literary Fiction, British Literature, Literature

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Dame Jean Iris Murdoch

Irish-born British writer, university lecturer and prolific and highly professional novelist, Iris Murdoch dealt with everyday ethical or moral issues, sometimes in the light of myths. As a writer, she was a perfectionist who did not allow editors to change her text. Murdoch produced 26 novels in 40 years, the last written while she was suffering from Alzheimer disease.

"She wanted, through her novels, to reach all possible readers, in different ways and by different means: by the excitement of her story, its pace and its comedy, through its ideas and its philosophical implications, through the numinous atmosphere of her own original and created world--the world she must have glimpsed as she considered and planned her first steps in the art of fiction." (John Bayley in Elegy for Iris, 1998)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_Mur...

Reviews

[Guille · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Las personas excéntricas hacen bien a las convencionales, simplemente porque pueden hacerles concebir que las cosas sean diferentes. Esto les proporciona un sentimiento de libertad. Nada es más educativo, a fin de cuentas, que el modo de ser de otras personas.”

Una novela temprana que no es de lo mejorcito de la autora, y aun así contiene muchos de los elementos que la han hecho grande.

Murdoch es un caso raro en la literatura. Su estilo, profundamente clásico, realista, como sacado del XIX, choca sorprendentemente con su forma de abordar los temas, con sus salidas de tono, con un humor que parece venir a decirnos que no hay que tomar muy en serio lo que cuenta ni ya, de paso, la vida entera. De ahí su querencia por los enredos, las situaciones inverosímiles, los elementos mágicos, las posiciones ridículas en las que con frecuencia coloca a sus personajes, por lo demás muy normales… Como un día leí a Ignacio Echevarría: “El modo más certero de cifrar el arte narrativo de Iris Murdoch consiste en describir sus novelas como “vodeviles” filosóficos, o morales.”

Porque sí, a pesar de toda esa supuesta trivialidad, sus novelas son profundamente morales.

“Imagina que vivir en un estado extremo significa, necesariamente, descubrir la verdad sobre uno mismo. Lo que descubre entonces es la violencia y el vacío. Pero mire más bien a los otros y anúlese a sí mismo al tomar conciencia de ellos. Si se preocupara realmente por los otros y dejara las puertas abiertas a cualquier herida que pudiera infligirle, se enriquecería de una forma que ahora no puede ni siquiera concebir. Los dones del espíritu no atraen a la imaginación… La verdadera libertad consiste en la ausencia total de preocupaciones por uno mismo.”

La abolición del ego es el gran principio moral de Murdoch y, por ende, la fundamental condición del artista. Una obra solo puede llegar a ser buena si el artista es moralmente bueno, esto es, si ha sido capaz de alcanzar el grado de humildad suficiente como para evitar toda subjetividad en su obra. Una posición que a mí se me antoja, cuanto menos, curiosa, pues entiendo el arte justamente al contrario, como una forma única y subjetiva de ver el mundo que nos permite a los demás contemplarlo desde una perspectiva desconocida. No solo eso, la idea que Murdoch tiene del arte y del artista se me antoja esencialmente imposible, tanto por el propio artista como por su público, al que también, por coherencia, se le deberá exigir la misma falta de subjetividad en el momento de enfrentarse a la obra.

El otro gran tema de Murdoch es el amor, aunque más bien su objetivo sea atacar con todas sus fuerzas a eso que podríamos llamar el enamoramiento, ese estado febril que nos perturba y tanto nos complica la vida, que nos nubla la razón y nos vuelve egoístas, que consigue que abandonemos matrimonios, hijos… en pos de una supuesta felicidad que inevitablemente se deshará tan rápidamente como un castillo de arena.

Otra cosa curiosa que tienen la mayoría de sus novelas, al menos las que yo conozco, es ese personaje dominante, de los que “raramente sacrificaba el ingenio al tacto”, y que son adorados y admirados por otros personajes más débiles que se someten a ellos con absoluta dedicación. Y digo que es curioso porque, como se dice en la novela, “Todo retrato es siempre un autorretrato”.

En fin, de todo esto encontrarán en “El castillo de arena”, una obra sencilla y entretenida que puede ser una buena entrada al universo Murdoch.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
This is Iris Murdoch’s third novel. It revolves around Bill Mor, a middle-aged teacher in a minor public school. He has a wife (Nan) and two children (Donald and Felicity). He also has some political ambitions; to stand as a Labour Candidate in a local parliamentary seat. He hasn’t yet had the courage to tell his wife as she will be opposed to this and generally gets her own way. Into this situation comes Rain Carter; a talented painter almost half Bill’s age. She is there to paint a portrait of the former headmaster. Rain and Bill fall in love with each other and Bill is then torn between his family and the prospect of happiness and a different life with Rain. There are twists, turns and workings out. There are elements of tragedy and comedy in fairly equal measure and Murdoch rather expertly makes it difficult for the reader to see where one ends and the other starts.
There are a number of oddities in this; I am no expert in the nature of human attraction, but it was not immediately obvious why Rain fell for Mor. He was indecisive and rather lacking in personal charisma; both are also quite unworldly and Mor seeks to avoid confrontations (mostly with his wife). Murdoch uses a number of literary devices to move the story along and to provoke thought; letters being read by those not meant to read them, accidental encounters and the mysterious tramp/gypsy whose appearance seems to be a precursor to trouble.
The characterisation is good and although the plot may be slow, it is never dull. The sandcastle of the title may be symbolic of the impermanence of hopes and dreams. All of the characters have lost something by the end, had some hope or other dashed. Murdoch does a very good job of illuminating the everyday hopes and despairs of ordinary people in a subtle and understated way. A good novel which reminds me that I must read more Murdoch.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘The Sandcastle’ (1957) was Iris Murdoch’s third published novel and is far less well known than the much later, much revered and Booker prize winning ‘The Sea, The Sea’.

‘Sandcastle’ tells the story of schoolteacher Mor, his wife Nan and Rain – the young woman who is tasked with painting a portrait of the school’s Headmaster and the subsequent disturbance and disquiet caused by her arrival. It is the story of a closed world and the impact of the outsider – Rain Carter and all she brings with her from the world outside. It is a story combining themes of love, desire, guilt, control, power, reality and fantasy. It is a story where reality, destiny and defeatism meet fantasy and a free and dream like state where seemingly everything just might be possible.

‘Sandcastle’ is a strong story and the narrative is well paced throughout. Murdoch’s characterisation is for the most part, outstanding and has a real feel of authenticity to it – especially the main protagonist Bill Mor. There is much ambiguity throughout ‘Sandcastle’ right up to the closing pages – providing the novel with much intrigue, mystery and interest concerning the possibilities that life offers, be they real and/or imagined.

Murdoch also includes sporadic elements of magical realism – which in one sense don’t feel at first as though they quite work, or sit well in the context of the rest of the story and it is not clear quite what they do add to an already driven narrative. And yet… it is these elements that do help develop and drive the novel’s overall intrigue, mysterious nature and air of ambiguity.

‘Sandcastle’ can be read on various levels – as a relatively straightforward love story, or on a much more metaphorical basis – indeed metaphor is strong throughout; the books title ‘Sandcastle’ itself being a case in point.

This is the first Murdoch that I have read thus far – but based on the strength of ‘The Sandcastle’ I will surely be endeavouring to search out more of Murdoch’s novels.

[Ivana Books Are Magic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Iris Murdoch is an exceptional novelist. I’m using a present tense despite the fact that she isn’t among the living, because I believe that in a way writers always live on- at least in their works. So, to me she still is a remarkable writer, even if she is not physically writing any more. Having finished this novel earlier this evening, I kept thinking about the reasons that make her so adapt and well suited for writing novels. One of these is surely her intellect.

That her intellect was quite remarkable, to that we can all agree. I’m not familiar with her philosophical work, but honestly I feel that I don’t need to be. I don’t need to know everything about her career as an academic in order to be able to fully appreciate her as a writer. Moreover, perhaps it is better not to dwell on it too much. That Iris had serious brain power is very apparent in her writing. No need to go any further than that. In fact, I think what makes her a great writer is that she is able to put all that aside. When she writes, Iris becomes, first and foremost a writer. That is to say, she is a true artist, one that is naturally and wonderfully lost in the world of her creation. Intellect is just one of her tools she employs as a writer.


So, what else makes her writing so remarkable? I suppose that many great novels can be said to have one important talent- that of making their characters come to life. Iris was certainly very good at that. She was such a careful observant of human beings, both as individuals and part of society. Iris understood just how complex a human being is, what an acute mess of profound and shallow all of us are. Sometimes what governs us is purely accidental. Sometimes we’re overcome by sometimes as banal as a passing emotion. We all change our mind more often than we would like to admit. Great decisions in life are at times made for banal reasons. Iris manages to capture that and somehow you can feel that she is capable both of restraining from judgement and making a slight fun of her characters.


This novel like many of her works, focuses on theme of adultery and marriage. The novel opens up with Mor having a conversation with his wife. Mor is a deeply unhappy middle aged man. He is (as one American sitcom had put it) married with children. What is interesting is that he doesn’t even realize that he is unhappy. He is married to a woman that terrifies him, but somehow he doesn’t question that. After all, aren’t men expected to do the right thing, to take care of their families? Fulfil their duties and obligations? Much has been said about the entrapment of women in a domestic life, but aren’t often men just as unhappy with their life? If you cut them, do they not bleed?


If you think that Nan, Mor’s wife is the bad guy here, you’re mistaken. Nothing so obvious and simple could take place in Murdoch’s novel. The tragedy is that Nan is deeply unhappy as well- on some level. That’s the thing. Aren’t all capable of being profoundly sad and remaining blissfully unaware of that? At some level we’re content to be content with less- that’s perhaps one of gravest tragedies of life.

Nan is a passive- aggressive manipulator, but that doesn’t mean she’s not depicted as human. How wonderfully human she is! A professional wife, one that doesn’t try to find any interest of her own, one that finds her comfort in feeling superior to other fussy people because she has no need to fuss. Nan imagines herself strong, but she is deluded. Haven’t we all sometimes? Nan doesn’t deeply care for her children, her feelings for them are all instinct, she will take care of their needs, do their laundry when they came back from school but that is where her care ends. It is obvious she doesn’t dwell on the content of their souls. Nan purposely builds her life around her husband because that is what gives her control over him and in that way makes her feel in control of her own life. How horribly depressive, but you can’t help feeling for her, especially as the novel progresses and she develops further as a character.

So, Mor falls in love with a young women. An exceptional young women. You would think her a femme fatale, but she is anything but. No, a femme fatale is not here- that would be too simple. Rain (that is her name) is an artist. I would hasten to add that it was a smart move to make her an artist. Not only did it gave the writer to explore the theme of art, but it added depth to the character of Rain. In reality, she is the one I felt for the most. Perhaps because she is so young. Age is not irrelevant as Iris knows very well.


What about other characters? There are quite a few of them and they are all wonderful. Iris creates her characters with such attention to detail. It always astonishes me just how real they seem. For example, the old headmaster of the school in which Mor is employed. He is the one that receives Rain, the painter in his home. He is a close friend of Mor’s, but he detest his wife. In fact, that is what the opening conversation between Mor and Nan is about, he is telling her about how school decided to commission a portrait of the old master. She is appealed by the idea and considers it a waste of money- we can see a bit of clever foreshadowing here, can’t we?

The other teachers from the school are quite interesting characters too. When it comes to other characters, I must especially mention Mor’s children. His son Donald is in his school while his daughter Felicity is away but she visits often. His relationship with them was very interesting. Despite him falling in love with other woman and being so lost in his feelings, you got this feeling that he is the one that deeply cares about them, not his wife- yet he is so awkward around them. The painfulness that Mor felt for not being able to connect to his children was much evident. A part of it surely comes from his own frustration with his life. Mor’s childen seem to be very intuitive, but that is actually a common trait in Iris’s writing. To me that intuitiveness of her young characters (teenagers and kids) always has a ring of truth in it. For aren’t the young ones often the most sensitive ones?

I will just say a few more words on the story itself. I didn’t reveal much in this review because I want you to enjoy the novel, so I will just say that I enjoyed the plot. Everything that happened felt very logical and well thought trough. I liked both the story itself and the way it was written. In my view, the execution and the ending were both flawless. Murdoch just has a way of everything falling into place. It is more than attention to detail. It is more than intellect, it goes beyond being smart. It is more than being a good interpreter of human psychology or knowing just how people’s brain work. It is writing, it is as much about letting go as it is about staying focused. It is talent. It is a definitive writing talent, one you can feel in your bones. It is not so much about interpretation of human psychology as it is a view into our souls. That is truly rare.

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mother read a couple of Murdoch books but never continued with this author because, as she put it, she found her work a bit too 'somber'. She also said that I would probably like them because I'm somber too.

I suspect what she was referring too was Murdoch's implacable insight - a quality which, as an online acquaintance puts it, is downright preternatural at times. Murdoch is uncompromising in her meticulous, scrupulous characterisations, presenting people as realistic and complex. It would have been easy for her to round off the edges of a basically sympathetic character or to pile on a more inimical characters' bad points, but Murdoch does neither. It is almost as if these are real people and she is painting an accurate, unweighted portrait of them.

So many fine things to treasure, so many memorable scenes and motifs, it's hard to summarise and I won't. This is a novel that has clear roots in the late 19th century tradition of realist, emotionally engaged, socially aware novels and yet is in itself fresh and gripping. Not somber but rigorous and therefore as exhausting as it is exhaustive and satisfying.

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Description: The quiet life of schoolmaster Bill Mor and his wife Nan is disturbed when a young woman, Rain Carter, arrives at the school to paint the portrait of the headmaster.

The setting is St. Bride's, described as a sound and reputable public school of the second class. The senior master, Bill Mor, is writing a work on the nature of political concepts. He is one of those dangerously good men dedicated to the truth. His wife, Nan, has a more sceptical nature, but she too is dedicated to an abstraction - the idea of marriage. They have two adolescent children.

There are tensions, but everything is in control until Rain Carter, a young artist, appears on the scene. Her presence has an electrifying and disastrous effect. The whole seemingly solid structure of the Mors' world is found to be precarious, for when Mor falls desperately in love with Rain Carter the collapse of their family life seems inevitable.

In the end patterns of order at least are restored; externally tragedy has been avoided, at whatever hidden cost. Miss Murdoch has written a masterpiece of high comedy, but it continues to haunt the mind.

A tideless sea. I can recall, as a child, seeing pictures in English children's books of boys and girls playing on the sand and making sandcastles - I tried to play on my sand. But a mediterranean beach is not for playing on. It is dirty and very dry. The tides never wash the sand or make it firm. When I tried to make a sandcastle, the sand would just run away between my fingers.

It would mislead others if I give this 4* as the plot is very thin, however, I thoroughly enjoyed Mor and Rain's angst. The symbolism is hob-nailed in at the denouement, yet the descriptive writing is sublime: Murdoch seems to of had the knack of writing so naturally, chatily.

3* Under the Net (1954)
3* The Flight from the Enchanter (1956)
3* The Sandcastle (1957)
5* The Bell (1958)
WL The Unicorn(1963)
O An Unofficial Rose (1962)
TR The Nice and the Good (1968)
5* A Severed Head(1971)
5* The Black Prince(1973)
5* The Sacred and Profane Love Machine(1974)
5* A Word Child(1978)
5* The Sea, the Sea (1978)

4* Existentialists and Mystics Writings on Philosophy and Literature
4* Living on Paper: Letters from Iris Murdoch, 1934-1995

[Chrissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

ETA: I forgot to mention this--Iris Murdoch's books are anything BUT cute or sentimental.

*****************************

Why do I consistently enjoy Iris Murdoch’s books? Her books keep my head busy; they provide food for thought. I enjoy analyzing why her characters behave as they do. Understanding how people communicate and relate to each other fascinates me. This is what is served up here! Murdoch is an expert at drawing relationships.

This story revolves around a middle-aged couple, Bill and Nan Mor. They have two teenage kids. The father is a housemaster at a boarding school. This is not a story about the abuse of kids in boarding schools. What a relief! St. Bride's, where Bill lives and teaches, is exemplary, a school where you would feel calm to send your kids. The focus is instead on personal relationships--existing between Bill and Nan and their kids, between them and a close friend trying to push Bill into a more active participation in politics and between Bill and others at the school. St. Bride’s headmaster, Demoyte, has retired. A new one has taken his place. To paint a portrait of Demoyte, a young artist has been hired. Her name is Rain Carter. We observe how Rain’s presence jolts the uneasy balance that had existed between Bill and Nan. The characters are few in number, but each is studied in depth.

What caught my attention? What did I find interesting to observe? We are told early on that of the couple, Nan is the stronger of the two. Bill seems closer to the kids, more involved in their lives. Observing how Nan gets her way intrigued me. Rather than talking and fussing and complaining, she makes a plan, a plan that requires her to behave in a not so nice way, but it will definitely work. You wonder if it’s good how things turn out. Ultimately, you think about the value of holding a family together versus following your dreams. What is best over the long run? What is the best means of getting your way? There are of course no definitive answers. These are decisions we all grapple with.

First, we study the characters to decipher who they are. Then it is up to us to figure out if we think the choices they have made have been right.

Art is another topic of the book. Does a painting reveal information not only about that which is portrayed but also about the artist who has painted it? This is proposed. Do we agree or not? If a portrait painting is to be really good, is it not necessary for the artist to know the subject well? How does one capture their essence? What is visible to the eye is often not enough. In the story there is an art professor, by the name of Bledyard. When he opens his mouth, pay attention!

As the book nears its end you marvel at how well you know the characters. At the fancy celebratory dinner to bid farewell to the old headmaster, to welcome in the new headmaster and to present Rain’s paining, we are given these words, “Each man protected himself from boredom after his own fashion—Sir Leopold by drinking and looking sideways into the top of Nan’s dress, Rain by suppressed laughter, Demoyte by bemused contempt, Mr. Pruit by talking to his neighbor and Bledyard by talking to himself.” Here is described what we now know these characters would do. In addition, do you see the humor? Have you not been at dinner parties where nobody wants to be there, where that which is required is to put on a front, where it is necessary to pretend those whom you actually dislike are friends?! In every instance Murdoch draws characters true to life. She understands how people relate to each other and has the ability to get this across in words. Murdoch aces in drawing relationships and characters that are real!

The story has a good ending and the title is a metaphor that becomes clear when the book is read. An imprint in dry sand leaves no lasting impression. Dry sand sifts through one’s fingers; it cannot be grasped.

Juliet Aubrey narrates the audiobook wonderfully. She uses perfect intonations for each character. She modifies her speed to fit the action taking place and the circumstances described. Her narration I have given five stars. It could not be improved. If you enjoy rapid narration you might want to increase the speed. Me? I want time to think through what characters say and do.

*******************
*The Black Prince 4 stars
*A Fairly Honourable Defeat 4 stars
*The Sandcastle 4 stars
*The Sea, The Sea 2 stars
*Jackson's Dilemma 2 stars
*The Good Apprentice TBR
*The Message to the Planet TBR
*The Bell TBR
*The Unicorn TBR
*The Time of the Angels TBR
*The Flight from the Enchanter TBR

[Daniela · Rating 3 out of 5]

In The Sandcastle Iris Murdoch takes on a small town where the community is centred around a school and its dependents. We have the teacher, the teacher's wife, the teacher's children. We have the current headmaster and the former headmaster. We have other pupils and other teachers. The only exception is the newcomer, a young woman who comes to paint the portrait of the former headmaster. As the odd one out, she's different, bringing the whiff of new life, other possibilities, with her.

What amazes me about Iris Murdoch is her command of scenes. She turns every small detail, every small scene into a momentous occasion. The banal and the everyday become extraordinary in her hands. She measures the tension just right, never too much, never too little. There's a moment where the teacher's wife discovers the teacher with the young painter: Murdoch writes this scene with such simplicity and ease that although everything we've been fearing for the past 100 pages has just happened, we're left wondering why we worried so much to begin with: there's nothing to fear from life.

Do yourself a favour: read Iris Murdoch.

[Jean-Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not often that a Murdoch novel can be compared to a walk in the country or a lazy Sunday afternoon, yet that is what this novel was. Murdoch lite, which isn't meant to be insulting.

It is Iris Murdoch's school novel, and all of the characters are so uncharacteristically (for Murdoch) pure of heart that it almost becomes annoying. The protagonist, William Mor, is a total pushover and consumes 90% of the page count despite the fact that the novel is narrated in the third person—sometimes to the novel's detriment. Mor is really just not that interesting. Murdoch is usually generous with a rotating POV and the normally well-rounded cast of supporting characters is somewhat scant in this one. There is a single all-consuming love affair (a second, briefly mentioned, is left unexplored), and what results is the most chaste romance in history. Indecision is the name of the game.

No character is engaged with a piece of writing, or with God, and any philosophical points tend to arise in the course of casual conversation. My first Murdoch to feature a spectral dog and tears of blood—probably the oddest chapter in the book. An ambiguous wandering woodlander and teenage witchiness reminiscent of I Capture the Castle. Overall lacking just a little in punch, but surely a testament to Murdoch's range as a writer.

[June · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first Iris Murdoch book I have read and I know it will not be the last. One word sums up The Sandcastle to me, and that word is WOW!! Loved it, loved it, loved it!

Set around a boy's school and its staff, we meet Mor, his rather forceful wife, Nan, and their two teenage offspring, Don and Felicity. This seems to be quite a dysfunctional family in a way, especially Felicity who believes she has a special "gift". Then enters into the story some of the school staff, Revvy Evvy, Demoyte, Hensman and the stuttering art master, Bledyard. Finally there is Rain, the artist who has been commissioned to paint the portrait of Demoyte, and who stirs things up amid St Bride's school at the same time.

I didn't find this book particulary sombre, but a real page-turner. I loved the characters, loved some of the comic moments of the story, loved the plot and loved the suspense. And who really was that gypsy tramp?

Would highly recommend, especially if, like me, this is your first encounter with Iris Murdoch.

[Josefina Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://edebiyatdanostalji.blogspot.c...

Yine oldukça değişik severek okuyacağınız bir eser.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another "tour de force" by one of my favorite authors.

4* Living on Paper: Letters from Iris Murdoch, 1934-1995
5* Iris: A Memoir of Iris Murdoch
5* Iris Murdoch: Dream Girl
4* A Severed Head
4* The Sea, the Sea
4* The Black Prince
4* The Bell
3* Under the Net
3* The Italian Girl
4* The Sandcastle
TR The Sacred and Profane Love Machine
TR A Fairly Honourable Defeat
TR The Nice and the Good
TR The Philosopher's Pupil
TR The Good Apprentice
TR The Red and the Green

[Jorge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Espléndido libro de la escritora irlandesa Iris Murdoch (1919-1999), lleno de equilibrio, proporcionalidad, dinamismo y profundidad. Equilibrio en el detalle de hondas introspecciones con diálogos, narración, acción, descripción y algo de intriga, ficción y mordacidad. El esquema narrativo de la autora se basa en frases cortas que hacen bastante ágil la lectura y que por lo general cada una de ellas está cargada de un mensaje que suele dar en el blanco para enfrentarnos de lleno con disyuntivas que implican valores morales.

La novela fluye ligera y con una tensión dramática casi continua, tensión dramática que la autora sabe matizar en ocasiones envolviéndola dentro de un marco esplendoroso constituido por la naturaleza: los robustos e inmóviles árboles, el suave susurro del viento, la luz que arrojan las estrellas sobre la superficie terrestre, las hojas otoñales encendidas por la luz de la luna, los tenues sonidos de los pájaros y el río cristalino que fluye a través de un espeso bosque.

Iris Murdoch plasma magistralmente amplios y agudos exámenes interiores que inquietan sobremanera al ser humano, pensamientos internos que no cesan de fluir en las conciencias de cada personaje, en especial del protagonista llamado William Mor. Pero sobre todo la novela destila sensibilidad con un toque de sabiduría y filosofía.

Como acotación al calce puedo mencionar que Iris Murdoch tuvo como maestro de Filosofía a Ludwig Wittgenstein y estuvo involucrada sentimentalmente Elías Canetti.

El narrador de esta historia, acerca de las desventuras y traspiés de una familia, es omnipresente, pareciera estar dentro del cuerpo y del alma de cada personaje y poseer la facultad de pensar, sentir y decidir en las voluntades de todos ellos. Al describir a cada personaje pareciera estarlo cincelado en el papel que está ante nosotros hasta descubrirnos a un ser humano de carne y hueso.

La historia cuenta, entre otras cosas, una azarosa relación de amor, que no de pasión, entre un hombre maduro, casado y con dos hijos, un hombre atado a la monótona vida cotidiana cuya libertad de acción y sentimientos pareciera estar suprimida o al menos encerrada dentro de una estrecha jaula cuyos barrotes son las convenciones sociales, la moral burguesa y esa brutal monotonía en que suele convertirse la vida.

Este hombre redescubre, casi sin quererlo, un mundo olvidado por muchos años; se reencuentra con el mundo joven y estimulante que le brinda una artista libre, una artista con una vida llena de abstracciones más que de convenciones, esto le hace confrontar su puritanismo prohijado por años y por la educación infantil que recibió con una nueva y estimulante situación que se convierte en una ordalía. Las sombras de esa educación pasada y esa vida monocorde lo han atrapado y perseguido por muchos años. Bastó tocar la mano de la joven pintora Rain Carter para encender de nuevo algo que permanecía adormecido en su interior desde hacía muchos años: su capacidad de emocionarse, olvidando que su vida está fuertemente enraizada a la tierra que lo sostiene y que no es fácil arrancar de tajo esa raíces.

El entorno que rodea al protagonista, magistralmente planteado por la autora, se va estrechando hasta casi ahogarlo o colapsarlo. William Mor decide asumir los riesgos y consecuencias que implica el dejar una vida ya hecha y pactada donde a cambio de cierta estabilidad y seguridad se pierde la ilusión, el interés y la emoción. ¿Habrá algo más importante que la emoción y la alegría en el ser humano?

Solamente el destino puede desbordar a esa deidad humana llamada voluntad que todo lo mueve y que casi todo lo domina y, así, la voluntad de Mor de permanecer en una vida entre el cielo y el infierno es arrastrada por el destino para llevarlo a uno de esos dos extremos. Y, ¿qué deberá hacer: elegir una nueva vida y borrar su pasado o abandonar y traicionar a la mujer y a los hijos que procreó? Las personas somos ondulantes y diversas.

También, la mujer de Mor llamada Nan tiene sus propias razones, dudas, debilidades y fortalezas que utiliza para sobrevivir de la mejor manera en esa relación con Mor, relación que fluye a través de las páginas del libro con un realismo que nos sumerge de lleno en la historia. De repente la vida de Nan, una vida llena de convenciones y comodidades se ve arrasada y amenazada por un torbellino que ella busca matizar o incluso esconder.

Una muy agradable sorpresa a cargo de Iris Murdoch, quien demuestra tener un grandísimo talento y una gran sensibilidad rodeada por un poderosos intelecto, características en las que basa su prosa para aleccionarnos acerca de las misteriosas interioridades humanas, así como de los resortes que se disparan en nuestro ser y que suelen surgir con mayor fuerza en situaciones extremas.

Pareciera que el sentimiento de culpa, el significado de la libertad, las convenciones sociales, las obligaciones que nos impone una vida burguesa, incluso la autenticidad, afectan la relación entre las personas y socava la personalidad de cada uno de nosotros.

La traducción de Flora Casas me ha parecido inmejorable.

[Elena Sala · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE SANDCASTLE (1957), unlike Iris Murdoch's first two novels, has a romantic storyline. Bill Mor, a middle-aged schoolmaster and his wife Nan have been married for many years but their marriage has been floundering for some time. Suddenly, a cool young artist, Rain Carter, arrives at the school to paint the portrait of the headmaster. Mor and Rain fall in love and they begin a chaste affair. There are, of course, moral complications. There is Nan to consider, and their two teenage children, nevertheless, Mor contemplates deserting them.

THE SANDCASTLE explores the connection between truth and moral virtue while it delves into subjects like art and politics, love and loyalty, creativity and selflessness. It is a light novel (by Murdoch's standards), with a predictable ending, however it is an engaging and entertaining place to start reading Murdoch, for readers so inclined.

3.5 stars.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot recall how many Iris Murdoch books I have read. They have all been amazing, and it has taken quite a bit of self-restraint to resist reading each and every one of her books, one after the other. But I have thus far succeeded because I like to space out the goodness.

The Sandcastle is a brief and straightforward novel about a family man who is unhappy with his marriage, and drawn toward a much younger woman who shows up in town for a spell. What I appreciated most about the book is the huge number of well drawn out characters. Not just the man, his (irritating!) wife and his would-be mistress, but also his children, their classmates, and the colleagues where he teaches. Even the minor characters are believable, and interesting, and I ended up caring what happened to each and every one of them.

[Ben Loory · Rating 5 out of 5]

iris murdoch continues to dazzle... still don't know how she does it... this is probably the "normalest" of the books of hers i've read-- it's almost completely "realistic"-- and yet somehow it too seems to glow from within with mystery and fantasy and hallucinatory detail and feeling and metaphysical import... love iris murdoch more than ever... i feel like i live her books more than read them...

[Jonfaith · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite Murdoch so far. There was an incessant current of vitality in the novel, even the henpecked and the discarded found itself surged and embraced. That's a feat in itself.

[Viktorija · Rating 5 out of 5]

After all, he thought, I can be guided by this. Let me only make clear what I gain, and what I destroy.

My very first Murdoch exceeded all my expectations. I frankly hardly know where to start, or even what I want to say. Funny, suspenseful, a loud, relentless hymn of creation and destruction. Rarely does one see such brilliant harmony between plot, character development, and hard work on developing the underlying themes. (The word "themes", naturally, said in Stephen Fry's voice)

There are so many things, subtle and not so subtle, that contribute to the way the story is put together perfectly...it feels like an extremely human, emotional text and an arcane treatise on wishing impossible things, both at the same time. In this way the book is much like a painting itself.

I thought of the plot as a bit of a landslide - the worlds of adults, of children, the private and the public, rolling, sliding towards the point of no return, colliding, changing.

Perhaps it is rather that we feel our own face, as a three-dimensional mass, from within - and when we try in a painting to realize what another person's face is, we come back to the experience of our own.

Art and its creation (the debate on how to paint a face) are juxtaposed with the forces that make and break the life of the individual (how to treat other people, love, religion, scruples). Rain is to leave after she finishes the portrait - so decisions are to be made on both counts. Just like the commissioned portrait must be finished, so must the protagonists decide how they are to leave the stage and how much they are prepared to leave behind.

Beautiful, descriptive, thrilling - a stroke of genius.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Initially I struggled with this book which unlike its two predecessors seemed to have a more staid, conventional narrative and a more leisurely pace. Bill Mor the schoolmaster who is the primary narrator has an unhappy marriage as the initial first chapter succinctly illustrates, and gets himself into a situation where disaster seems inevitable. As someone who struggles with tales where the narrator barrels towards failure or tragedy motivated entirely by his own actions, I was gnawing at my nails in discomfort.

However, once the expected event occurs the novel became eminently more enjoyable and more interesting. Other narrative voices than that of Mor start to come forth and makes the novel much more complex as we see the perspectives of Mor’s wife and daughter. I found it interesting that the three other narrative voices we get are all from the main female characters of the novel, Rain, Nora and Felicity, the three instigators for the story. The pace of the novel increases, the tension is ratcheted up, emotions get stronger and the scene with the tower and Mor’s son, for example, is heart racing.

Iris Murdoch has her usual wonderful set pieces, I particularly liked the entirely uncomfortable scene by the river with the car and she makes wonderful use of the weather to predicate or compliment what is going in the novel. Thunder and lightning in particular are used as precursors or accompaniments to the scene taking place, especially if it’s a tempestuous or amorous one. Perhaps that’s a cliché but in her building up of the oppressive heat and light of the summer, it works. We move from intense heat and driving rain to weak sun at the end of the book to match the tepid decision that Mor has made, all beautifully done.

There is also some interesting discussion of the notion of the portrait painting initiated by Bledyard who I found a faintly irritating oddball with his repetitive and ponderous speech. However, I liked the idea of the painting saying something about the artist not only the subject, as well as the comment that from all the famous portraits of the world, we know so little about the lives of the subjects behind the canvas.

In many respects, this is an almost conventional story of an affair where a man living in an unhappy marriage, meets a younger girl who makes him feel young and vibrant, they plan a wonderful future but the children/work/morality gets in the way. Yet the period in which this is written where ideas of morality and societal norms exerted greater pressures, as well as the way in which Iris Murdoch writes, lift this above the norm.

Murdoch writes so well of Mor’s dilemma and the way that he is stymied, unable to make decisions or move forward until he is forced to do so and even then, the catalysts and choices are instigated and made by the women around him, from Felicity’s innocent phone conversation to Nan’s speech and finally Rain’s desertion at the end.

The endings of the three Iris Murdoch novels I’ve read so far always seem so perfectly pitched. This ending where Felicity is crying despite an apparently happy outcome and repeating to herself, ‘Everything was alright now. It was all right. It was all right’ just serves to accentuate the fact that everything is not all right, although, as in Murdoch's first two novels, there is the feeling that eventually it will be, that people will pick themselves up and carry on in true British fashion.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story for Murdoch. Mor is a teacher and housemaster at St Bride's school. His wife Nan is a carping, controlling woman who has beaten her husband down with a superior attitude. They have a teenage son who attends St Bride's and a pubescent daughter at another private school. Because I have read Harry Potter, I am familiar with this English school scene.

A young female painter arrives at St Bride's where she has been commissioned to paint the portrait of the former headmaster. Mor falls in love with her, wants to throw away his marriage, and Nan must find a way to hold on to him. Because this is Iris Murdoch, there are plenty of hilarious, silly, and nail-biting scenes.

I hadn't quite noticed this before in her novels, but I see it now. Murdoch is no feminist. She is as hard on her female characters as she is on the men. She finds the absurdity in any human endeavor and tromps hard. But she also makes it clear how dearly we all hold to our purposes and our ways of life.

I am just blundering along in my reading of mid twentieth century English literature by women and so just beginning to glimpse what is going on. The major similarity I see between them (Murdoch, Muriel Spark, Doris Lessing, etc.) is a dedicated attempt to use intellect and philosophy as a means of going more deeply into human relations. To my thinking, that is a worthy aim.

[BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the book for the first time for my secondary school exams, early in 1982. Bought a copy some years later and read it again, as I really liked it.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much of what happens that is significant in this story (as in life) takes place in the minds of its characters in response to seemingly insignificant minutae. Murdoch has an amazing ability to capture the subtle shifts in thought or feeling which trigger an avalanche of responses from ourselves and from others. Which is not to say that the story is uneventful or merely cerebral.

I like also how supernatural elements are suggested throughout, but gently, giving you the sense that there is something larger at work here while allowing you to preoccupy yourself with the intricacies of the human condition, as they play themselves out in the novel.

Ultimately this is a very honest, human book. About characters not unlike ourselves who are genuinely doing their best to be good folks and make a coherent life out of life's strange materials. They don't always succeed, depending on how you judge it, but then neither do we.

[Dylan Kakoulli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ngl, I mainly picked this up because of the gorgeous cover (‘79 edition with a snapshot of the “Miss Lynn” painting by Claude Rogers -delightful)

And, while I wasn’t entirely disappointed with what lay ahead of me (aka the actual writing within), this definitely wasn’t my favourite (or strongest) of Murdoch’s I’ve read so far.

As always, The Sandcastle includes surreal, almost fantastical use of symbolism, interesting insights into the human psyche, and some highly problematic, socially elite, unsympathetic (and least the “main” cast of) characters.

This book is honestly the epitome of a “summer fling” -full of fleeting affairs within both the heart, and mind(s).

All in all a very middle class, very British, very (or at least fairly ((maybe like 85%)) mundane Murdoch.

2.5 stars

[Kurt Reichenbaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

An early novel by Iris Murdoch. I've enjoyed all of the novels by her that I've read so far, including this one. It's a pretty standard setup as far as plots go. The stolid husband and father meets a young and exiting artist type and falls hard for her. Will he chuck his family for her? I think the bigger question is why do exciting young artsy type women go for boring old schoolmaster types. It's kind of a fairy tale for men. Considering Bill is not the only middle-aged school teacher smitten with Rain, he's got competition. Not as weird a novel as The Severed Head, written close to this one. But Bill's teenage daughter Felicity is pretty weird and adds some nice flavor to the mix. Also, I liked Bill's wife Nan more than I did Rain. Go figure.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

All that Muriel Spark was somehow the appetizer to the four Murdoch's currently in my queue - don't you think Murdoch (or Margaret Drabble for that matter) are more deserving of the Nobel than Doris Lessing?

Finished this - a good 'un! - a pretty standard Murdoch plot in which one half (often it's both) of a long-married couple with teenage children gets distracted - the affair is tempestuous but doomed, drama is injected by one of the children getting into some life-threatening scrape (I'm serious - I've seen all this in at least one other of her books) - everything works out not necessarily for the best but at least resolved.

[Loretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very satisfying Murdoch read, for me. She captures the complexity and contradictions inherent in human nature and human relationships. I liked it a lot.

[Meg Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like this book was very British, and very 1960s style - a lot of words and details, not a lot of dialogue, VERY little action. Not my favorite style, personally.

[Shawn Mooney (Shawn Breathes Books)]

Yuck. I didn’t even need to read 10 pages before I wanted to throw the book across the room. Awkwardly expressed ideas promenading around as one-dimensional characters. No thank you. Nope.

[Amélie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probabil una dintre cartile al carei deznodamant il intuiesti inca din titlu. O carte scrisa foarte bine, cu personaje construite verosimil, actiune cu suficiente momente de tensiune incat sa te convinga sa duci cartea pana la final, desi ii intuiesti finalul.

Personal, niciunul dintre personaje nu mi-a trezit compasiune sau admiratie. Fiecare pare sa se remarce printr-o slabiciune de caracter ce-i pune-n umbra calitatile. Povestea in sine te face sa te intrebi continuu daca ar fi posibil ca acest castel de nisip sa dainuie si cine si cand hotaraste ca el sa se naruie. Raspunsul este ca insasi natura lucrurilor, hotarele deja puse ii condamna existenta, naivitatea de a cladi ceva fragil in calea a ceva mai puternic, care era acolo dintotdeauna.

[Karoliina Timonen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5/5