- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Group USA
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0140014454
- ISBN-13: 978-0140014457
- Product Dimensions: 19.7 x 13.1 x 1.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 227 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,428,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
What to do before you read this book,
By Schmerguls "schmerguls" (Sioux City, Ia USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Under the Net (Paperback)
The only reason I read this book was because it was no. 95 on the Modern Library panel's list of the 100 greatest novels in English in the 20th century. I had read Murdoch's The Sea, the Sea years ago (well, I finished it Dec 4, 1983, if you really want to know that) and had been underimpressed by it. I should have read the reviews on Under the Net on this site before I read it. That would have given me some clue to what I was supposed to expect and derive from the book. I am no student of Ludwig Wittgenstein, but if I had known that Hugo was supposed to be based on him, it might have made me more alert to what he did,e.g. But I read the book as I do any other, and I found it very unimpressive--and I know that is my fault, I suppose. So I guess what I am saying is that if existentialism, Wittgenstein, Sarte, Bellow, etc., don't get you very interested you might not enjoy this book. I found I was glad when I was nearing the end--tho I admit that the last ten pages I rather enjoyed!
4.0 out of 5 stars
A gimpse into the voyage of the will through the uncertain waters of human life,
This review is from: Under the Net (Paperback)
When fate seems like it's closing in, what will you choose to do? Will you be content to stay "under the net", or will you take control of your own destiny?This novel deals precisely with that question. It is a story of the search for personal meaning and truth in life, and an attempt at shining light upon the misguiding nature of many key concepts society holds for us as our only beacons. Throughout the course of the narrative, all the major paths to fulfillment, from love, to money, politics, work, and even rational thought in general, are seen for what they are and taken to their logical conclusions. After every kind of endeavour in each, the narrator (Jake) seems disillusioned and confused about what path to take, knowing only that all the paths he's so far tried are not for him. It is in this way of skipping about from prospective opportunity to opportunity that Jake has been living for quite some time, constantly building his hopes up, only to have them crushed within by his own realizations of the futility of each new pursuit. This seems doomed to go on indefinitely, and he is almost ready to give up on his self for good, until finally he comes to the decision to begin seeking for meaning down a path of his own definition, a path of fulfillment through self discovery. The book, in addition to pleasantly creating, with its vivid descriptions of London and Paris, the illusion of actually being there, more importantly brings to one's awareness the simple reminder that, while what the future holds for each of us is uncertain, what the self holds is always in our own hands.
3.0 out of 5 stars
not all that great,
By A Customer
This review is from: Under the Net (Paperback)
i don't understand what is so great about this book. i didn't learn anything new from it, and it was only mildly entertaining. i suppose it's good casual reading, if you're on a plane or something. it's more or less well written, but not spectacular by any means. of course, i don't find wittgenstein that great, either. the book is funny at times, though.honestly, after reading all the great reviews, i expected much more of this book. i was very dissapointed. i felt like i was watching some quirky hour-long t.v. show about the wacky adventures of aspiring authors - something fantastic, something that would never happen in real life; but if you don't take it seriously, then it's fine. this is the only book by iris murdoch that i've read, and i really hope it isn't her best. so buy it if you want to read something mildly amusing, but if you feel like reading something that is truly worth the effort, look elsewhere.
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