Drew’s Comments (group member since Feb 04, 2009)

Drew’s comments from the Iris Murdoch group.

I recently re-read Under the Net, her first novel. I think it offers an fascinating insight into a time and a culture that have more or less disappeared. At the same time it's aged very well: the prose is vibrant, the descriptions vivid, and the metaphysics are quintessential Murdoch.
On a side-note I also read James Woods' How Fiction Works recently and he admonishes Murdoch for her overplotting. A better author would reduce rather than elaborate, he says. I must admit that I do agree to a certain extent, especially when I think of even some of my favorite Murdoch books, such as The Black Prince or The Message to the Planet. The former is dense and pungent, a cramped London tale, while the latter is bright and airy, a (mainly) country yarn. But both are plotted to the point of hypercombobulation (pardon the neologism) - either something you detest or just enjoy the ride, I suppose. Generally I fall into the latter category but sometimes it does feel rather like someone (Dame Iris for example) is trying to imprint a tremendously complex tatoo on my consciousness.

Welcome to the Iris Murdoch group, a space to discuss and celebrate Dame Iris's life and work. I've been enjoying her books for the past decade, and whenever I don't know what to read next, I can always turn to one of her novels. What really makes her stand out for me is the wonderful confluence of linguistic and stylistic fluidity (she's as readable as Evelyn Waugh), with thematic and philosophical density (she's as deep as W.G. Sebald).

Among my favourites novels are: Under the Net, The Bell, The Black Prince, The Message to the Planet and The Sea, The Sea. What are your favourites?