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A review by karencarlson
A Word Child by Iris Murdoch
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.
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.