DDC/MDS
| 823.914 |
Publication
London : Chatto and Windus, 1964.
Original publication date
1964
Description
A family struggles for redemption after a funeral brings dark secrets to the surface in this novel from the Booker Prize-winning author of The Sea, The Sea. For the first time in years, Edmund Narraway has returned to his childhood home--for the funeral of his mother. The visit rekindles feelings of affection and nostalgia--but also triggers a resurgence of the tensions that caused him to leave in the first place. As Edmund once again becomes entangled in his family's web of corrosive secrets, his homecoming tips a precariously balanced dynamic into sudden chaos, in this compelling story of reunion and coming apart from Iris Murdoch, "one of the most significant novelists of her generation" (The Guardian).
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Available
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Collection
User reviews
LibraryThing member LadyN
This is my first venture into the writing of Iris Murdoch, and it has inspired me to read more.
Edmund, our narrator, has returned to his family home following the daeath of his mother. The story concerns a small cast of characters who have become trapped in their very insular world. Each has their
Ever present in the background is the eponymous "Italian girl". Despite playing little part in the foreground of the novel, she is a powerful presence of whom the reader is constantly aware. We know she will have an important role to play, but are never quite sure what that role will be.
I would not hesitate to recommend this book - especially to anyone who was looking for a short and easy read, but with beautifully created chatacters and a dense enough plot to intrigue and satisfy.
Edmund, our narrator, has returned to his family home following the daeath of his mother. The story concerns a small cast of characters who have become trapped in their very insular world. Each has their
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own source of escapism, which is at once as much a cause of destruction as it is of release.Ever present in the background is the eponymous "Italian girl". Despite playing little part in the foreground of the novel, she is a powerful presence of whom the reader is constantly aware. We know she will have an important role to play, but are never quite sure what that role will be.
I would not hesitate to recommend this book - especially to anyone who was looking for a short and easy read, but with beautifully created chatacters and a dense enough plot to intrigue and satisfy.
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LibraryThing member kfschmid
This book straight sucks. No, it is awful, take a lap awful. At least I only paid a dollar for it at a library sale.
LibraryThing member janeajones
Lovely writing, silly plot, complicated family, interesting philosophical musings. Overall, I enjoyed the book.
LibraryThing member lidaskoteina
as always, complicated lives, underlying joy despite tragic happenings. told in first person by male protagonist; i don't recall this "i-ness" in other murdoch books, but i'm no expert.
LibraryThing member frozenplums
Iris Murdoch has a beautiful grasp on the written word - her prose is worth reading simply for elegance and art. That being said, I found the story itself mediocre.
There were certainly some interesting twists and unexpected revelations, but it was wholly melodramatic. In its time it was probably
I would recommend this book first to writers trying to get themselves in a good creative place, and second to readers seeking a good story.
There were certainly some interesting twists and unexpected revelations, but it was wholly melodramatic. In its time it was probably
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quite risque with its focus on passion and adultery, but the deeply philosophical tone dimmed the brilliance somewhat for me. The main character, something of an unreliable narrator, was well done and certainly deserving of praise and admiration.I would recommend this book first to writers trying to get themselves in a good creative place, and second to readers seeking a good story.
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LibraryThing member thornton37814
The death of their mother brings Edward back to his ancestral home. He discovers Otto had moved out of the house but that cousin Flora is staying in his room. "The Italian Girl" (Maggie) is the nurse who was their mother's companion and their friend. The family has way too much drama, way too much
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adultery, and way too many Occultic influences for my taste. It this had not been such a short book that I was reading for a challenge, I would have abandoned it. I have another Murdoch in a to be read pile at home, but I'll be adding it to a give away pile. I have no desire to read anything else by this author. Show Less
LibraryThing member thornton37814
The death of their mother brings Edward back to his ancestral home. He discovers Otto had moved out of the house but that cousin Flora is staying in his room. "The Italian Girl" (Maggie) is the nurse who was their mother's companion and their friend. The family has way too much drama, way too much
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adultery, and way too many Occultic influences for my taste. It this had not been such a short book that I was reading for a challenge, I would have abandoned it. I have another Murdoch in a to be read pile at home, but I'll be adding it to a give away pile. I have no desire to read anything else by this author. Show Less
LibraryThing member Marse
My first Iris Murdoch novel. It's been a couple of years since I read it, and I can't say it made an impression. I do remember that I enjoyed reading it. Various members of a quirky family and the Italian girl, the housekeeper. Something about the matriarch dying, also a scene with someone dying by
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immolation. Hmmm. Probably should reread it, but nothing urges me to. Show Less
LibraryThing member messpots
This is a very poor effort by Iris Murdoch, and I found it almost unreadable. The prose is clumsy and leaden, and the characters are incompletely drawn. The story itself is badly handicapped by the incomplete characters: it is a story about the ham-fisted efforts of the narrator to cure an ailing
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and collapsing family, but exactly why the narrator fails, and why the family is mostly beyond redemption, is part of a back story that Murdoch never properly gives us. In the end, the story is hugely over-plotted, leaving the reader wondering where all this 'meaning' is coming from. The apple in the final scene was just too much for me. I found myself wishing that Muriel Spark had written this story: it would be lively and clear, with touches of humour. Or even Jane Austen: with one or two more houses, and a little more coyness about the sex, it's a perfect Austen story, even serving up a disturbing brother/sister pair, one of Austen's better devices. Show Less
LibraryThing member Castlelass
Protagonist Edmund returns to his family home in northern England for his mother’s funeral. He has been gone for many years, and at first thinks nothing much has changed. However, after speaking with his niece, he finds that the relationships among his relatives are much more complicated than
It harkens back to the gothic novels of the past, with the family’s mansion playing a significant role. The writing is atmospheric, projecting a dark and haunted impression, but avoiding supernatural elements. It is tightly focused, containing only six characters. The novel is named after one of the lesser prominent characters, the family’s long-time Italian servant. She floats around the fringes of the story, almost like a ghost. It contains an unreliable narrator and layered structure. It is not a traditional mystery by any stretch, but the family members’ secrets are eventually revealed.
I have now read three of Murdoch’s novels. My favorites are The Sea, The Sea, and The Black Prince. I liked this one but found the ending rather vague and unsatisfying.
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expected. He soon finds himself embroiled in an unfolding family drama. It harkens back to the gothic novels of the past, with the family’s mansion playing a significant role. The writing is atmospheric, projecting a dark and haunted impression, but avoiding supernatural elements. It is tightly focused, containing only six characters. The novel is named after one of the lesser prominent characters, the family’s long-time Italian servant. She floats around the fringes of the story, almost like a ghost. It contains an unreliable narrator and layered structure. It is not a traditional mystery by any stretch, but the family members’ secrets are eventually revealed.
I have now read three of Murdoch’s novels. My favorites are The Sea, The Sea, and The Black Prince. I liked this one but found the ending rather vague and unsatisfying.
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Physical description
213 p.; 21 cm