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A review by tiborius
The Green Knight by Iris Murdoch
5.0
This book was a very pleasant surprise for me. Lately I have been picking up more books at the thrift store, simply based on the blurb and often I will look up the rating on here. The Green Knight was one such book.
Murdoch knows how to write a character. The perspective often shifts around between a few members of a small circle of friends in London, and all of these people seem to leap off the page. They are all certainly characters, yet they feel so much like people you could actually run into and meet. Murdoch does not over-describe their appearances, but does so enough that I had a clear picture in my mind for each of them.
Although there is a certain mystery in the plot, the book mainly revolves around the psychology of the people you meet. This may not be for everyone, but personally I do enjoy quite slow-burn stories and diving into characters’ thoughts and motivations. This is combined with numerous references to literature, art and spirituality, elements which I very much enjoyed but does not make it the most accessible read. It also expects that the reader has some basic knowledge of French, as French terms and sentences are not translated.
This is not to put potential readers off, as the story does in fact have many twists and turns that keep you on your toes, and made me at least, desperately curious to see where all this would be going.
In the beginning, I was a bit confused as to when the story was taking place. The way people live and dress initially made me think it was set maybe in the 1960s, only later it became clear to me that it was set in the early 1990s.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and would absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for something to cozy up with on a rainy afternoon.
Murdoch knows how to write a character. The perspective often shifts around between a few members of a small circle of friends in London, and all of these people seem to leap off the page. They are all certainly characters, yet they feel so much like people you could actually run into and meet. Murdoch does not over-describe their appearances, but does so enough that I had a clear picture in my mind for each of them.
Although there is a certain mystery in the plot, the book mainly revolves around the psychology of the people you meet. This may not be for everyone, but personally I do enjoy quite slow-burn stories and diving into characters’ thoughts and motivations. This is combined with numerous references to literature, art and spirituality, elements which I very much enjoyed but does not make it the most accessible read. It also expects that the reader has some basic knowledge of French, as French terms and sentences are not translated.
This is not to put potential readers off, as the story does in fact have many twists and turns that keep you on your toes, and made me at least, desperately curious to see where all this would be going.
In the beginning, I was a bit confused as to when the story was taking place. The way people live and dress initially made me think it was set maybe in the 1960s, only later it became clear to me that it was set in the early 1990s.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and would absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for something to cozy up with on a rainy afternoon.