About this title: In Murdoch's 15th novel, an aging novelist who has led a loveless life retires even further from the real world to write his magnum opus. Instead, he falls obsessively in love with a very young woman. The portrait of the artist is not only a gripping story of human relationships, but a profound consideration of love, death, and art.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. 0140039341 24967 PB: spine smooth, text clean, cover has slight shelf wear-allow up to 21 business days for standard USPS media m ai l. wt1lbpf. read more
Edition: Edition Unstated
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Viking Press/ Penguin, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1983
ISBN-13:9780140039344ISBN:0140039341
Description: Very Good- As issued No Jacket. Slight spine lean, corner bumps, pages age toning, handling creases to the covers, and other light to moderate shopwear. read more
Description: Very Good. 0670172863 Nice **HARDCOVER**--Exactly as described--EXACT ISBN MATCH-Dust Jacket has minor Shelf wear/rubbing. No tears, No personalizations, No marks in the text at all. Clean and Neat. read more
Binding: MASS MARKET PAPERBACK
Publisher: Penguin
Date Published: 1986
ISBN-13:9780140039344ISBN:0140039341
Description: VERY GOOD. COVER DIFFERENT THAN THAT PROBABLY PROVIDED BY PUBLISHER HERE! Minor reader and shelf wear; minor edge and corner wear; predominantly white covers clean; spine is NOT creased; binding tight; book lies flat and square; 1/2" high X 3/8" wide tan splotch (coffee? ) on first page middle outer edge which bled slightly to second page; otherwise, no marks. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Date Published: 2003-03
ISBN-13:9780142180112ISBN:0142180114
Description: Good. Good title in good condition. Pages are clean and tight. Covers show some shelf wear and bumping. Former library copy with usual stickers, stamps, and markings. Satisfaction guaranteed. If item not as described, return for refund of purchase price. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Warner Books
Date Published: 1/1/1974
Description: Good. B000ZHA2Y2 READY TO SHIP! -Some writing or highlighting. Still a very readable copy! Cover shows some wear. From a Pet-free, Smoke-free warehouse. We ship to APO, FPO & Internationally. Ships within 24 to 48 hours. All items are wrapped securely to protect during shipping. Questions? Please email us and we'll be happy to assist you. Check our feedback and buy with confidence! read more
"Murdoch has a lot of fun with her readers. The body is quite heavy and thought provoking, but it is the end that lingers. Any reader must re-read the forward after finishing the book, and then continue to mull it all over."
"I have tried to convince myself I am enjoying this one but I am not - it is utterly tedious and I want to throw it at the wall. It is putting me off IM for life. Maybe I am just in the wrong frame of mind - but I feel like I have wasted this week trying to get into this one and failing. I have reached page 204 by sheer force of will - but I can't stand any more of it. So I am calling it a day with this one at least."
"This one didn't grab me like other Murdoch novels have. The narrator--a very unhappy, critical guy--made it very difficult for me to like any of the characters."
"once again iris murdoch makes my head explode. each time i think i'm in the wrong place when i start: everything seems so conventional and normal, even boring: so british, and calling, and tea cups and all, and then, oh then, it just sort of explodes into sparks of clarity dancing around sordidness combined with philosophy -- its' meditations primarily on art, and love. i found several lengthy sections to type out, after the quote below, but cannot now bring myself to do so as the book has exhausted me. it has rung me out but i will not forget it. i do not say i like it, and yet, i cannot say i don't love it. with this, and the unicorn, murdoch has taught me much about suffering, and madness.
a quote from the narrator, which perhaps gives credence to those that align bradley pearson with humbert humbert in their minds.
"i felt that i was, at every instant, creating julian and supporting her being with my own. at the same time i saw her too in every way as i had seen her before. i saw her simplicity, her ignorance, her childish unkindness, her unpretty anxious little face. she was not beautiful or brilliantly clever. how false it is to say love is blind. i could even judge her, i could even condemn her, i could even, in some possible galactic loop of thought, make her suffer. but this was still the stuff of paradise because i was a god and i was involved with her in some eternal activity of making to be which was of sole and absolute value. and with her the world was made, nothing was lost, not a grain of sand nor a speck of dust since she was the world and i touched her everywhere.""
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