murdoch is simply too wonderful!!! pages and pages of meandering, unnecessary descriptions and yet I didn’t find myself bored even once. plot was a bit ‘soap opera’ at times but such is typical for her writing. :)

 The Sea The Sea begins as an autobiography written by Charles Arrowby, a recently retired theatre director, but morphs into his journal of the eventful summer he spends in his new house by the sea, a summer where he unexpectedly reconnects with a former flame whom ***spoiler alert*** he kidnaps and holds against her will because…well because it suits him to do so and to believe he knows what is best for her. Arrowby is self-important, self-serving, probably delusional, misogynistic, and arrogant, clearly an unreliable narrator. Spending a lot of time in his head, sharing his every thought is not a pleasant experience and that’s because Murdoch has done an excellent job creating this unlikeable character. This book was long and could have been shorter, but that wouldn’t have reflected Arrowby’s personality. He seemed very much a man who liked the sound of his own voice and is convinced everyone else will as well. I got through the bulk of this via audio on a solo road trip. I’m pretty sure I would have struggled with it in print. 

 The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch 🌊
🌟🌟🌟✨
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I love my copy of this book - I picked it up second hand in Camden just before London went into tier 4 restrictions last year, and not only does it have an inscription (one of my fav things about second hand books!) but when I bought it I ended up having a lovely chat with the proprietor of the shop and his friend who owned another bookshop around the corner. It was such a nice normal thing that I didn’t realise I’d missed so much during the pandemic, and I feel like I’ll always associate it with this book. I can’t wait for bookshops to be open for browsing again soon!
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🎭 The plot: Charles Arrowby is a retired actor who moves to a secluded seaside cottage to write his memoirs. However, his solitude is disturbed by figures from his past and a strange sighting in the bay - plus the reignition of a romantic obsession...
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It’s hard for me to judge this book because unfortunately I went into a reading slump right in the middle of it, so my feelings about how enjoyable it is may be skewed. What I will say is that it is unbelievably well-written and well-characterised.
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Charles, the narrator, is a monster. He’s eccentric, manipulative, and delusional; he breaks up marriages and wilfully manipulates the people around him. He does some awful things and you’re never quite on his side against his chosen antagonists. However, you also don’t lose sight of the webs he is caught in, or the sincerity of his underlying need. This is a novel about grief and aging; about how we disconnect from our original conceptions of ourselves over the years, and perhaps inevitably become some kind of monster to other people, whether we know it or not. I admit to being a little impatient with Charles and his relentless self-delusion, but I was still very invested in his escapades as he tried to recapture his youth, and I think this was a very clever novel.
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🐉 Read it if you like eccentric and unreliable narrators and want to be transported to a seaside cottage - the descriptions here are beautiful.
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🚫 Avoid it if vanity or cruelty are turn-offs for you in a narrator, and if you’re sensitive to scenes of kidnapping or emotional abuse.