my best friend is reading The Black Prince and is adamant i should read it after her. i'm extremely keen to start with Murdoch, but is The Black Prince as good as any with which to begin? am taken by the idea of the Shakespearean, multifaceted breadth of her work. would you also maybe say she has an almost Millian idea of the good for people?
just as an unsolicited update, my friend also had a copy of The Bell which she gave me and i subsequently devoured in about three days. was utterly spellbound, mesmerised, ensorcelled, hooked; peels of delight rung out from every page.
found a first edition of Bruno's Dream today which i gave to my friend as thanks, and so much thanks to you both for gently evangelising about her to us all. such rich and complex writing, yet so utterly readable
something about attention as the greatest form of love has stuck in me, too, and doing, i hope, some good work. The Black Prince next i think. cheers
you've helped foster a complete convert. if anything else of hers is even half as good as this, i'm all in. partly for personal reasons i suppose, but one of the most affecting books i've ever read. thanks again
Henry, I read The Sea, The Sea because of your suggestion. First time Iris Murdoch reader. I ADORED it. Is there a transcript of this discussion anywhere? Please and thank you.
Thank you very much, I really enjoyed this discussion. I particularly enjoyed your dive in on the food of the book. I have a long running debate with a friend about Araby's recipes. I (gourmandising, impulsive, live-to-eat) contend the recipes must be parodic, and as comic material to demonstrate Charles's absurdity. My friend (healthy, cold-water-swimming, eat-to-live) holds that things like "boiled onions, simply served" are a great pared back aesthetic that makes sense to live by if you've moved to the coast to do nothing but swim all the time.
For "egg poached in scrambled egg" I'd suggest maybe a bain-marie. For omelette farcie, which I read about in Felicity Cloake's A-Z of Eating (I think she based it on a recipe of Daniel Boulud), you make a really foamy, custardy scrambled egg in a bain marie, you have to whisk it constantly, for ages, and then stuff the custard in a buttery omelette. Instead of the omelette, I think cracking the egg into the foamy egg custard, not stirring, covering and leaving for ten minutes might work nicely for "egg in egg". Personally, I'd then add shitloads of butter and flaky salt, but I doubt Araby or Murdoch would.
I found her fiction addictive and one of her strengths lies in portraying the characters’ foibles. I started reading her novels in my early 20s and re-read The Sea, The Sea recently. Along with Margaret Drabble her novels have been a greatly insightful read. So glad you are sharing her and I want to delve back into her stories.
my best friend is reading The Black Prince and is adamant i should read it after her. i'm extremely keen to start with Murdoch, but is The Black Prince as good as any with which to begin? am taken by the idea of the Shakespearean, multifaceted breadth of her work. would you also maybe say she has an almost Millian idea of the good for people?
Yes very good place to start
just as an unsolicited update, my friend also had a copy of The Bell which she gave me and i subsequently devoured in about three days. was utterly spellbound, mesmerised, ensorcelled, hooked; peels of delight rung out from every page.
found a first edition of Bruno's Dream today which i gave to my friend as thanks, and so much thanks to you both for gently evangelising about her to us all. such rich and complex writing, yet so utterly readable
something about attention as the greatest form of love has stuck in me, too, and doing, i hope, some good work. The Black Prince next i think. cheers
excellent! I love Bruno’s Dream!
you've helped foster a complete convert. if anything else of hers is even half as good as this, i'm all in. partly for personal reasons i suppose, but one of the most affecting books i've ever read. thanks again
i shan’t keep updating this, but happy to report i finished The Black Prince this morning. a stunning experience. onward through Murdochopia!
excellent! which one next? The Good Apprentice?
Henry, I read The Sea, The Sea because of your suggestion. First time Iris Murdoch reader. I ADORED it. Is there a transcript of this discussion anywhere? Please and thank you.
Thank you very much, I really enjoyed this discussion. I particularly enjoyed your dive in on the food of the book. I have a long running debate with a friend about Araby's recipes. I (gourmandising, impulsive, live-to-eat) contend the recipes must be parodic, and as comic material to demonstrate Charles's absurdity. My friend (healthy, cold-water-swimming, eat-to-live) holds that things like "boiled onions, simply served" are a great pared back aesthetic that makes sense to live by if you've moved to the coast to do nothing but swim all the time.
For "egg poached in scrambled egg" I'd suggest maybe a bain-marie. For omelette farcie, which I read about in Felicity Cloake's A-Z of Eating (I think she based it on a recipe of Daniel Boulud), you make a really foamy, custardy scrambled egg in a bain marie, you have to whisk it constantly, for ages, and then stuff the custard in a buttery omelette. Instead of the omelette, I think cracking the egg into the foamy egg custard, not stirring, covering and leaving for ten minutes might work nicely for "egg in egg". Personally, I'd then add shitloads of butter and flaky salt, but I doubt Araby or Murdoch would.
I found her fiction addictive and one of her strengths lies in portraying the characters’ foibles. I started reading her novels in my early 20s and re-read The Sea, The Sea recently. Along with Margaret Drabble her novels have been a greatly insightful read. So glad you are sharing her and I want to delve back into her stories.