A review by ken_bookhermit
The Sacred and Profane Love Machine by Iris Murdoch
4.0
The second book in my quest to read Iris Murdoch's oeuvre to completion, The Sacred and Profane Love Machine (whose first edition cover absolutely fucking rips, compared to the edition I have) lured me in with its evocative title. And just when I thought I am going to read IM's bibliography in order (barring my introduction to her via [b:The Sea, the Sea|11229|The Sea, the Sea|Iris Murdoch|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1302898449l/11229._SY75_.jpg|1410491]), which meant starting with [b:Under the Net|11324|Under the Net|Iris Murdoch|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388423609l/11324._SY75_.jpg|3257831] (1954). The Sacred and Profane Love Machine Was published in 1974, which means 20 years of literary growth has occurred from here to the first. That's assuming she wrote her novels in a linear way, of course.
I like embarking on books knowing what to look for, and knowing the dual nature of the sacred and the profane, I figured this would be a prominent factor in the narrative. Sure enough, it has something to do with adultery. Blaise is in a relationship with two women: Harriette (the sacred) and Emily (the profane). And beyond that is further sources of said duality: the two sons (Luca and David) and Monty's "split" selves presented through Milo and Magnus. But the primary idea of the double forms of love as assigned to the two women is too easy (as Martin Amis put it). One can have both the sacred and the profane in either love.
The "egoism and moral failing" of Blaise is indeed prominent throughout the story. To the point where I felt cheated by the turn of events at the end of the novel. Though I'm trying not to gauge this in terms of what occurs in plot and instead considering it in a stance of the symbolic, I can surmise that the novel's outcome is largely for Emily's character, not Blaise.
What interests me in an overarching sense is the function of the "machine" which IM frequently speaks of, and is present in the novel's title. In the novel, there are many allusions to a non-specific "machine": once during Blaise and Emily's conflict: about ceasing to be human to be a machine; Monty's mother (Leonie) and her "great machine of maternal love"; of dreams as deep cause, "of machinery"; Monty's internal monologue regarding the "machine" that will allow him to avoid reality (as a mental operation?); and Blaise in his monologue about the "machinery of [Harriet's] forgiveness".
This is an overarching concern because the "machine" is also mentioned in my all time favourite quote of IM from [b:The Sea, the Sea|11229|The Sea, the Sea|Iris Murdoch|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1302898449l/11229._SY75_.jpg|1410491] as "the great useless machine of my love".
On a vapid note, I kept flipping and flopping on whether to rate this as three or four stars (3 because Blaise is a jackoff, 4 because IM's philosophy and literally everything else). I settled on 4 thanks to the ending. Edgar is my favourite character from this lot.
I like embarking on books knowing what to look for, and knowing the dual nature of the sacred and the profane, I figured this would be a prominent factor in the narrative. Sure enough, it has something to do with adultery. Blaise is in a relationship with two women: Harriette (the sacred) and Emily (the profane). And beyond that is further sources of said duality: the two sons (Luca and David) and Monty's "split" selves presented through Milo and Magnus. But the primary idea of the double forms of love as assigned to the two women is too easy (as Martin Amis put it). One can have both the sacred and the profane in either love.
The "egoism and moral failing" of Blaise is indeed prominent throughout the story. To the point where I felt cheated by the turn of events at the end of the novel. Though I'm trying not to gauge this in terms of what occurs in plot and instead considering it in a stance of the symbolic, I can surmise that the novel's outcome is largely for Emily's character, not Blaise.
What interests me in an overarching sense is the function of the "machine" which IM frequently speaks of, and is present in the novel's title. In the novel, there are many allusions to a non-specific "machine": once during Blaise and Emily's conflict: about ceasing to be human to be a machine; Monty's mother (Leonie) and her "great machine of maternal love"; of dreams as deep cause, "of machinery"; Monty's internal monologue regarding the "machine" that will allow him to avoid reality (as a mental operation?); and Blaise in his monologue about the "machinery of [Harriet's] forgiveness".
This is an overarching concern because the "machine" is also mentioned in my all time favourite quote of IM from [b:The Sea, the Sea|11229|The Sea, the Sea|Iris Murdoch|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1302898449l/11229._SY75_.jpg|1410491] as "the great useless machine of my love".
On a vapid note, I kept flipping and flopping on whether to rate this as three or four stars (3 because Blaise is a jackoff, 4 because IM's philosophy and literally everything else). I settled on 4 thanks to the ending. Edgar is my favourite character from this lot.