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wanderlustsleeping's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
I'm not sure what to say about this book. I want to say it was interesting, but I don't know if I'd mean it.
I'm not sure what to say about this book. I want to say it was interesting, but I don't know if I'd mean it.
lauramolenaar's review against another edition
4.0
Eerste helft heel langzaam en de dialogen waren nogal kunstmatig af en toe, maar veel mooie thema's en in prachtig Engels.
caterpillarnotebooks's review against another edition
4.0
a lot to complain about in this novel but oh my god it was so stunning
eigendecomp's review
5.0
I thought I had it all figured out about the book, but then it morphed into something quite else.
forever_amber's review against another edition
5.0
Какво ли да кажа, освен че съм хвърлена в поредния шок. Класически Мърдокиански роман, даже бих казала опънат до крайност в ирационалността на инстинките, а така също и в бруталната произаичност на последиците. Човек трябва да има познания по философията на морала или поне смътна идея за доброто, злото и човешката природа, за да разбере този роман. Обичам писатели, в които са навлезли множество идеи от външния свят и другите хора, а Айрис е точно такава. Умна и сложна. Но същевременно е безскрупулен първоизточник на неподражаема нешаблонност и собствени философски възгледи за нещата, майсторски материализирани в чисто литературна форма чрез героите ѝ. Толкова силно я харесвам, защото не залага на събитията, а на чувствата и мислите на хората, които ги извършват и предизвикват. Страхотия!
evancdent's review
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
deea_bks's review against another edition
2.0
Murdoch is one of my favorite writers, but this book failed to impress me.
ls_cl's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A good introduction to Iris Murdoch - an exploration of the nature of love and hard decisions that is both grounded and philosophical and nice amounts. I loved the intertangled messiness of all the relationships, how they keep shifting, and the intensity with which the relationships come to life in her writing. Some beautiful (and drily funny) descriptions of characters and locations, with a deeply tense build, despite moments of sagging. I also really liked the nuanced romantic relationship between two central men - quite inspiring that it was written only two years of the legalisation of homosexuality in the UK!
read_to_read's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
brettcarl's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Iris Murdoch's A Fairly Honourable Defeat is an intriguing read that takes a philosophical look at morality, love and relationships, pretences and principles, as well as societal conditioning, its prejudices and widely-accepted rules.
Overall, I enjoyed my reading experience and admire Murdoch's intentions and approach towards the novel's themes, however this novel will not be for everyone for the very same reasons that I do admire, as the plot is essentially a series of conversations in which the characters debate the novel's themes - almost play-like-, something which could be boring or unappealing for some readers. Furthermore, I found the plot somewhat unsatisfying, due to the fact that the events felt incredulous at times, also the third act and conclusion of the novel was underwhelming to me as it was abrupt and whimpering in an effect, especially in relation to the characters.
Significantly, the novel consists a small ensemble of characters who are related in someway, some of siblings, others lovers/partners, and some of past/present colleagues, which fosters an intimacy between the characters and imbues the plot too. More importantly though, Murdoch creates distinct personalities for each of her characters, all of whom have differing morals, principles, inclinations and prejudices which are used to great effect in the novel in order to create conflict and tension, as well as explore the novel main themes of morality and love. However, whether or no the characters are complex/dimensional enough and whether they truly develop over the course of the story is questionable, it's not that the characters have no complexity or developments it's more the fact that this hardly expressed as they are, as stated already, conceived with the intention of being used to explore and discuss the novel's themes, so each characters purposefully has distinct personalities for just these reasons. Also, the characters are not entirely likeable either, but they are complex enough to be relatable or at least understandable which at least make their individual plots enjoyable to read.
Notably, while the themes and characters have distinct characteristics, the novel's setting could be further developed, especially considering not only how the would benefit the novel's plot, themes and characters, but also considering the novel was published in 1970 and the timeliness of socio-political events, such as the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967, I would of expected to see references ton these events as the book itself isn't shy about exploring politics and identities, but also it would of been nice to see aspects of 1970s England/London which would along which previous points I've just mentioned, would have benefited the novel and many of its individual aspects more.
Finally, Murdoch's prose was enjoyable to read thanks not only to its satirical edge and gutsy execution, as well as her skill at writing dialogue and characters, but notably the fact that her novel predominantly focused on philosophising on morality and love while also being an intriguing read is extremely commendable and I'm interested in seeing what her other writings are like.
Overall, I enjoyed my reading experience and admire Murdoch's intentions and approach towards the novel's themes, however this novel will not be for everyone for the very same reasons that I do admire, as the plot is essentially a series of conversations in which the characters debate the novel's themes - almost play-like-, something which could be boring or unappealing for some readers. Furthermore, I found the plot somewhat unsatisfying, due to the fact that the events felt incredulous at times, also the third act and conclusion of the novel was underwhelming to me as it was abrupt and whimpering in an effect, especially in relation to the characters.
Significantly, the novel consists a small ensemble of characters who are related in someway, some of siblings, others lovers/partners, and some of past/present colleagues, which fosters an intimacy between the characters and imbues the plot too. More importantly though, Murdoch creates distinct personalities for each of her characters, all of whom have differing morals, principles, inclinations and prejudices which are used to great effect in the novel in order to create conflict and tension, as well as explore the novel main themes of morality and love. However, whether or no the characters are complex/dimensional enough and whether they truly develop over the course of the story is questionable, it's not that the characters have no complexity or developments it's more the fact that this hardly expressed as they are, as stated already, conceived with the intention of being used to explore and discuss the novel's themes, so each characters purposefully has distinct personalities for just these reasons. Also, the characters are not entirely likeable either, but they are complex enough to be relatable or at least understandable which at least make their individual plots enjoyable to read.
Notably, while the themes and characters have distinct characteristics, the novel's setting could be further developed, especially considering not only how the would benefit the novel's plot, themes and characters, but also considering the novel was published in 1970 and the timeliness of socio-political events, such as the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967, I would of expected to see references ton these events as the book itself isn't shy about exploring politics and identities, but also it would of been nice to see aspects of 1970s England/London which would along which previous points I've just mentioned, would have benefited the novel and many of its individual aspects more.
Finally, Murdoch's prose was enjoyable to read thanks not only to its satirical edge and gutsy execution, as well as her skill at writing dialogue and characters, but notably the fact that her novel predominantly focused on philosophising on morality and love while also being an intriguing read is extremely commendable and I'm interested in seeing what her other writings are like.