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Title: The Green Knight by Iris Murdoch ISBN: 0-14-024337-2 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: January, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (5 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Green Knight & the Golden Buddah
Comment: Iris Murdoch's "The Green Knight" is a rather talky, long book that unfolds sputteringly. That said, the territory she covers and the characters she creates do stay with us. Despite the matrimonial ending of the book, it left me not altogether satisfied, perhaps a modern novel where we see that life has some victories and some defeats and is ultimately imperfect. The book is difficult to begin as Murdoch throws over 11 new characters at you in the first 30 pages. Not only that, but some of them have real names and nick names and place names and dog names and some are dead; so it begins quite puzzling as to who is who, and what the relationships are.
The central image is that of the green knight from King Arthur. We are introduced to glimpses of the mysterious stranger who invades the house (another name) called Clifton and social group that lives and visits there. The 3 daughters are fairly interesting young women, fairly traditional people each with a unique quirk. Moy is the artistic one; Sefton the brain; and Aleph is the beauty. Of course with beautiful young women, there are going to be a swarm of young men. Harvey is one of the most perplexing, injured early in the story, he spends the rest of the novel overcoming the injury and his virginity. Clement is also a quite interesting character, the actor who becomes so wrapped up in events that he doesn't particularly care about acting. I was amazed by his continuing dedication to his brother Lucas who apparently wanted to kill him. It didn't quite make sense to me that he was so oblivious to this bad intent. Lucas was also a puzzle. I thought he would be the villain, but instead Murdoch neutralizes him and then makes him disappear. Peter Mir who comes to have such an impact on the group as the green knight or the golden Buddah, represents justice and enlightenment. He comes into the story late and leaves early; so it is his impact on the group for which Murdoch aims. Other characters are interesting. The gay Bellemy who wants to become a priest has a long correspondence with Father Damian who we come to know only by letter. Bellemy is a character that never seems to find a center of gravity, always looking to someone else for a sense of completion. Louise is the mother who continually predicts that her youngest daughter is going crazy. Anax is a dog who has a life and intelligence all his own. The other smaller characters such as Harvey's mother Joan, Tessa, and Emil swirl about making the story complex, perhaps lifelike.
In the end, these were great characters that I enjoyed sharing time with, but in a rather untidy story with loose threads and unexplained results, somewhat like life. Enjoy!
Rating: 3
Summary: questions unanswered
Comment: I have read both the editorial and customer reviews of this novel and admit to being perplexed.
I agree with the reviewer that said the novel was hard to get into....in fact, after falling asleep over the first section several times, I resorted to searching local libraries until I found the audio version of the novel on 16 cassetes! That got me into the story in a flash and then I was hooked....until I got to the numerous fantastical elements of what was already a marginally plausible plot.
I thoroughly enjoyed the story of Peter Mir and his quest for justice as well as friendship with Lucas' family and friends. I held out hope of Peter's success, but the story that resulted is very far from any I had in my head. I was left shaking my head in dismay.
One of the customer reviews refers to an interview with Iris Murdoch regarding her beginning-middle-ending philosophy of literature. I too would like to have a novel tied up better than many modern novels are, but the ending of this novel is so pat that I keep wondering how she ever got it by her editors. Unlike the customer review that said the ending made him/her feel satisfied, I found the ending so unsatisfying that it altered my overall review of what, until then, had been a delightful, if marginally believable, book to listen to.
It was very helpful to listen to the audio version with a wonderful British reader....just fabulous how the narrator did the voices and conveyed the story as though she knew the characters intimately.
I read the novel for a book club that is yet to meet. It will be interesting to see what this most critical group thinks of it. For my part, although I survived the experience, I would not recommend it except as an audio and, even then, only to a person who can accept a saccharin ending.
Rating: 4
Summary: Beautiful- that's what I said when I was finished
Comment: A beautiful finish to this novel. It was spotty in parts, and I frequently wondered if early 90's British teens and early 20's talked and thought like that, but the finish was so well-rounded, so unexpected that I am left with a wonderful taste in my mouth.
The going is slow initially- I was reminded of D.H. Lawrence's "Women in Love" because I just *didn't like those people*. I really didn't. I couldn't stand Joan, didn't like Bellamy, thought Harvey was vapid, and the Cliftonians unreal. I stuck around long enough to get to know them, and changed my attitude about some of them. I even became so involved that I was cheered by some of the mistakes being made right- especially when it came to the dog. I wanted to help correct things, and to influence people.
At times, I wondered who the novel was about. Was it Peter? Kind of- Peter transformed people, or so we assumed. (but did he?) Maybe it was the Cliftonians because they featured prominently? No, overall, events happened to them, but they didn't cause them. I thought for awhile that it was about Lucas, and in a way it was. Lucas was quite a force for "the family", even though he was so rarely present. The novel even starts with his absence. But how could a novel be about an absent person? It doesn't matter though- it is about any of them and all of them. The marriages may have been a contrivance, but they were nice, some made sense, and others leave us with a lot to wonder about.
Iris Murdoch is a wonderful writer, and weaves a beautiful web with unexpected moments. Even when I forget the action of a novel, I remember the feeling she left me with.
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Title: The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch, Mary Kinzie ISBN: 014118616X Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 27 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Nice and the Good by Iris Murdoch ISBN: 0140030344 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: December, 1978 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Unicorn by Iris Murdoch ISBN: 014002476X Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: January, 1987 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: A Fairly Honourable Defeat by Iris Murdoch, Peter J. Reed ISBN: 0141186178 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 27 February, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch, Martha C. Nussbaum, P. A. Loxias ISBN: 0142180114 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 25 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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