Reviews

Somehow Iris Murdoch turns this tale of a bunch of horrible, selfish, vile, odious characters into an incredibly addictive read. Even more amazing is that she had me caring about every character by the end. I don't know how it happened but bravo.

The fact that this doesn't even rate in the top 10 books on her author page at Goodreads has me excited to read more of her work.

Amusing side-note: I was reading this in a waiting room when I turn to the chapter titled "THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF JEW" written in a large, bold header. I turned to the bloke next to me who was reading over my shoulder and he looked a little embarrassed. I tried to explain that I wasn't a Nazi but I'm not sure that he was buying it. The casual racism in older books always makes me half laugh/half cringe.

zofoklecja's review

Go to review page

3.0

What a strange little book

halflegheather's review

Go to review page

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.75

nobodyatall's review

Go to review page

5.0

The characters are all annoyingly useless and flawed, react badly to every situation they've worked themselves into and make you despair for them. Far more realistic than anything else I've read recently.

If you can cope with the horrible people then it's an excellent book.

robin3000's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

skyealexandra's review

Go to review page

emotional mysterious 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

3.75

A solid and enjoyable book that was fast paced and interesting enough to get me out of the bit of a reading slump I've been in, but simultaneously a book I'll probably never think about again.

belovedsnail's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark hopeful fast-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

5.0

Again, this is a re-read for me. I liked parts both rather less and rather more than on the first reading. Perhaps on the more hopeful books by Murdoch

Content Warnings

More...