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A review by johnclough
The Green Knight by Iris Murdoch
2.0
This had a lot of the ingredients for a great Murdoch story, and there were a few flashes of brilliance. On the whole, though, this one totally missed the mark. The characters all fell somewhere on the spectrum between unrelatable and intolerable, the writing often felt immature and self-indulgent, and exploration of concepts felt cursory and confused rather than incisive and profound. This is the opposite of what I expect from Murdoch, who's writing, right from her debut, was so alive and brilliant. To see that brilliance fade to occasional flashes was disappointing.
And yet, I can forgive Murdoch this misstep with ease. She was well into her 70s by the time she wrote The Green Knight - that she could still write something with any moments of brilliance at that point in her life is worthy of note. One of the biggest issues with the novel is how out of place it felt being set in the mid-90s. There were two summers of love between 1958 and 1993, but Murdoch was still writing about sex and relationships in almost the same way as she was in The Bell, from that year. Indeed, throughout the whole novel, it felt as though a liberal intellectual set from the 50s had time travelled to 90s London. What felt radical before felt extremely out of place in a city of rave music and HIV epidemics. I can't blame Murdoch for losing touch, though that does nothing to redeem The Green Knight.
And yet, I can forgive Murdoch this misstep with ease. She was well into her 70s by the time she wrote The Green Knight - that she could still write something with any moments of brilliance at that point in her life is worthy of note. One of the biggest issues with the novel is how out of place it felt being set in the mid-90s. There were two summers of love between 1958 and 1993, but Murdoch was still writing about sex and relationships in almost the same way as she was in The Bell, from that year. Indeed, throughout the whole novel, it felt as though a liberal intellectual set from the 50s had time travelled to 90s London. What felt radical before felt extremely out of place in a city of rave music and HIV epidemics. I can't blame Murdoch for losing touch, though that does nothing to redeem The Green Knight.