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Title: The Nice and the Good by Iris Murdoch ISBN: 0-14-003034-4 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1978 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: An Exploration of Self-Myths
Comment: Murdoch explores how people's actions are driven by their self-images and personal mythologies. The vanities, fears or ambitions that dominate the way our lives unfold vary all over the place - from the need of the protagonist to "think well of himself," to the craving for love, the desire to serve humbly, or the need to forget something awful. Murdoch lets these motivations play out through her plots, which are really extravagant thought experiments. She focuses in particular on our secrets, the various reasons we have for hiding them, and the ways in which we slip into self indulgence and self-justification.
Some may find this approach a bit artificial and intellectual, but I felt that although the situations might be somewhat contrived, the character's responses and actions rang true. I found the book very readable, and it met my main criterion for a novel - it taught me something new about why people act the way they do.
Rating: 2
Summary: Over-rated
Comment: This is my first (and possibly last) Iris Murdoch novel. Although I'm not a fan of the mystery genre, I was looking forward to reading it. The central plot involving the suicide or possible murder of a civil servant involved in black magic is surpisingly uninteresting, the pace plodding and the 'revelation' predictable. The periphary characters are heavy-handed from the all too free-spirited civil servant couple to the all too anguished Dachau survivor. The only sub-plot of interest involves an adolescent crush which also gives the book its rare suspense. The coincidentals of the plot are absurd to the point of being Dickensian and the story ties up altogether too neatly (and happily) although I did enjoy the final irony of the love-sick teenagers. I'll stick to Cormac McCarthy for my debate on good, evil and the nature of man
Rating: 5
Summary: Brilliant.
Comment: I will do by best to convey in words how wonderful is this novel. This is the first work by Iris Murdoch that I have read, and I am fascinated. Her style of writing flows simply and beautifully, like a slow, undulating melody that one never wants to end. I became completely absorbed in the characters and the plot, with its unexpected twists and complex layerings of character relationships. Her character descriptions sometimes border on psychological analyses, but they are not boring nor are they misplaced. In short, I REALLY liked it.
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Title: The Bell (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) by Iris Murdoch, A. S. Byatt ISBN: 0141186690 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 27 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Black Prince (Penguin Classics) by Iris Murdoch ISBN: 0142180114 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 25 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Sacred and Profane Love Machine (Penguin Books) by Iris Murdoch ISBN: 0140041117 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 March, 1984 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: The Unicorn by Iris Murdoch ISBN: 014002476X Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 1987 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: A Severed Head by Iris Murdoch ISBN: 0140020039 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 1976 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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