Review
“Iris Murdoch has imposed her alternative world on us as surely as Christopher Columbus or Graham Greene.” -- Sunday Times
From the Paperback edition.
From the Paperback edition.
Book Description
Introduction by Kiernan Ryan
Iris Murdoch’s first novel is a gem – set in a part of London where struggling writers rub shoulders with successful bookies, and film starlets with frantic philosophers. Its hero, Jake Donaghue, is a likable young man who makes a
living out of translation work and sponging off his friends. A meeting with Anna, an old flame, leads him into a series of fantastic adventures.
Iris Murdoch’s first novel is a gem – set in a part of London where struggling writers rub shoulders with successful bookies, and film starlets with frantic philosophers. Its hero, Jake Donaghue, is a likable young man who makes a
living out of translation work and sponging off his friends. A meeting with Anna, an old flame, leads him into a series of fantastic adventures.
From the Publisher
With a new introduction by Kiernan Ryan.
From the Back Cover
“Iris Murdoch has imposed her alternative world on us as surely as Christopher Columbus or Graham Greene.” -- Sunday Times
From the Paperback edition.
From the Paperback edition.
About the Author
Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin in 1919 of Anglo-Irish parents, grew up in London and was educated at Oxford and Cambridge. She is the author of 26 novels and several works of philosophy. She died in 1999.
From AudioFile
In Iris Murdoch's 1954 debut novel, Jake Donaghue is an engaging young writer. In his overintellectualized angst, Jake details a convoluted romantic impossibility--he loves Anna, who loves Hugo, who loves Sadie, who loves Jake. His betrayal of his best friend's trust, his emotional indifference in most of his relationships, and his failed first book eventually leave Jake in existential hell. Samuel West's performance is nicely understated. His intelligent reading turns Jake and Hugo's somber discussions of philosophy and metaphysics into exercises in wit. Jake offers that everything "is made up of moments, which pass and become nothing." West delivers Jake's discoveries, not as grim, but as the ramblings of a young artist in search of himself. Murdoch fans will be pleased. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
