A review by bunnieslikediamonds
The Nice and the Good by Iris Murdoch
4.0
I recall reading some Murdoch in my teens and not particularly liking it. I've since thought of her as one of those writers I've tried and rejected, which is really not true at all. Of course I didn't like her at seventeen, I was busy making mixed tapes. So when this filthy, stained copy of The Nice and the Good beckoned to me at the library, I took it home, and now I'm all excited. It was good! Does that mean all her writing is good? Do I have a multitude of good novels left to discover? Is this the beginning of a Murdoch era?
There's a large cast of characters in this novel, and they're all falling in love with each other, having affairs and trying to end them. John Ducane, the main character, is one of those infuriating people who spend all their time mulling over how to be good, instead of just being good. You know, the kind who tries to leave his lover but chickens out because he doesn't want to hurt her poor fragile feelings. So he throws her a mercyfuck and then feels really bad about it. As if your feeling bad somehow makes you a good person, Ducane! It doesn't! Um, yeah, I really hate that kind of condescending reasoning. But Murdoch is so excellent a writer that she makes Ducane more nuanced than that, and in the end I found him fairly sympathetic.
Oh, and she also weaves in a plot about a suicide at the ministry where Ducane works. Turns out the poor guy had been enjoying satanic rituals in the basement involving naked girls and dead pigeons, and now Ducane has to clean up his mess. Yup, dark rites in the midst of all the lovey-dovey and sexy times, and it works really well.
Now, there's a lot more to the book than that, but I'll let others delve into the delicate moral and philosophical dilemmas presented in it. I'm still a little embarrassed over this late discovery, and will go see what to read next.
There's a large cast of characters in this novel, and they're all falling in love with each other, having affairs and trying to end them. John Ducane, the main character, is one of those infuriating people who spend all their time mulling over how to be good, instead of just being good. You know, the kind who tries to leave his lover but chickens out because he doesn't want to hurt her poor fragile feelings. So he throws her a mercyfuck and then feels really bad about it. As if your feeling bad somehow makes you a good person, Ducane! It doesn't! Um, yeah, I really hate that kind of condescending reasoning. But Murdoch is so excellent a writer that she makes Ducane more nuanced than that, and in the end I found him fairly sympathetic.
Oh, and she also weaves in a plot about a suicide at the ministry where Ducane works. Turns out the poor guy had been enjoying satanic rituals in the basement involving naked girls and dead pigeons, and now Ducane has to clean up his mess. Yup, dark rites in the midst of all the lovey-dovey and sexy times, and it works really well.
Now, there's a lot more to the book than that, but I'll let others delve into the delicate moral and philosophical dilemmas presented in it. I'm still a little embarrassed over this late discovery, and will go see what to read next.