Reviews

A Word Child by Iris Murdoch

benpawson's review

dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

knkoch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I knew this book would take me ages but I’ve finally finished it

Agony. I am left thinking of the contradictions of agony. We attempt to avoid pain and suffering, of course, but we also construct it for ourselves. Maybe we find it delicious, self-indulgent; maybe to luxuriate in pain gives greater relief to pleasure. Or maybe we believe (through religious instruction) that good suffering can purify us, wash away sin and mistakes, or act as penance.

Does suffering ever lead to good, for us or those in our lives? Certainly Hilary’s misery, the center of this story, spirals out and impacts his closest associates, even as he treasures his guilt as a thoroughly private pain. And the two people he suffers for, Gunnar and Kitty, are so remote and inscrutable.

I suffered a little in reading this, honestly. Hilary is a deeply unpleasant main character to contemplate, and this story was not as funny or energetic as others by Murdoch I’ve read so far. Yet just as I found with The Sea, The Sea, it was in describing the plot to other people that I felt that deep hook in me, that marveling process begin. This is a novel of ideas far more than images (though Murdoch gives out plenty of images of yellow London smog, yuck). I did find it instructive, especially in the way that guilt sometimes leads us to feel so indebted to those we’ve wronged that we deserve to be used as instruments at their hands. Absolution is a weighty idea I’m still so far from grasping, but this is a great exploration of one approach to it. 

Also, I enjoyed some classic Murdoch character tropes here, especially that of the middle-aged woman who laughingly refuses to listen to or take seriously the mopey, tortured male characters usually present. Godspeed to you, Laura Impiatt. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism

I did not love the exoticism around Biscuit’s character, and the way her race (South Asian) seemed to feed into her strange role and treatment in the story. Weird and not great!

sarahannegibson's review

5.0

Worth the price of admission just for the gorgeous descriptions of London weather. I mean...

"Fog had swept over London during the night, not one of the thick great fogs, but something more like a sea mist, greyish, not brown, and carrying suspended in its gauzy being cold globules of water which lightly covered the overcoats of early Londoners with a spider's web of moisture which, in the warmth of tube trains and offices, turned the said overcoats into steamed puddings."

amongthefaithless's review

dark emotional funny reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

catherinejsamson's review

i don’t see why people say this is their favourite but i like it just as i like all the others

rosiedouce's review

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

thediverswife's review

reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

karencarlson's review against another edition

3.75

 Left to my own devices, I would have dragged through this novel as a festival of narcissistic navel-gazing with a few key events dispersed at wide intervals throughout. Fortunately, I indulged in the plentiful online resources analyzing the book.
I was particularly interested in three academic articles: one comparing the main character to Wittgenstein's shift from Tractatus to Investigations; one employing cognitive linguistics to show the character's moral growth in the book; and one which didn't even mention this particular novel but delved into Murdoch's philosophy of un-selfing in a way I could easily see in the book.
As a result, I actually ended up enjoying a book I could have hated. It's a technique I've used before when I'm reading above my head: when I'm stuck, I get help.
FMI see my blog post at A Just Recompense. 

vintage_cottage_books's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

bartendm's review

5.0

My first Iris Murdock book and now I am a definite fan. Hilary is a despicable person in so many ways, yet Iris Murdock allows you to inhabit his world, feel a little sympathy for him, but even better, understand him. This is one of those books that you think about all the time when you are not actually reading it. Cannot wait for it to end, but are dying to see the end. She is a master writer and has amazing insight into the human psyche.