Iris Murdoch discussion

Hello,

I was wondering which books you would suggest reading first. I did read The Unicorn and wasn't sure but I really want to give Murdoch another go.

I've never known anyone not like 'The Bell', try that.

Maybe to start with her first published novel ''Under the Net''?

Thank you, I will start with THe Bell but certainly add Under the Net to my reading list. I'm also quite interested in reading The Waves, The Waves

My personal favorite is The Black Prince.

And I found The Black Prince one of the hardest to get through. In addition to the The Bell and Under the Net I liked "The Book and the Brotherhood" and "Messge to the Planet".

I would recommend "A Fairly Honourable Defeat" or "The Nice and the Good". All the mature Murdoch concerns are there, the stories and characters are still tight. In later novels ("The Green Knight"), you'll find a good 100-150 pages of wandering about in an Iris Murdoch landscape with a bunch of Iris Murdoch characters who simply aren't going anywhere. It's an occupational hazard for a famous novelist, I suppose. By the time the late novels showed up, she was so well-regarded that her editors wouldn't tell her to knock it off with all the characters and get on back to the story.

I definitely suggest you start right with The Sea, The Sea.