A note from the underground, Eurostar and a Belgian town
Philosopher Iris Murdoch wrote a novel called An Accidental Man . I read it so you don't have to. This book is hard to describe because there are many characters and the plot is quite chaotic. There is a lot of longing, desiring and loss along with plenty of disasters and a dash
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#Reading #Books #Literature #IrisMurdoch #bookstodon
Philosopher Iris Murdoch wrote a novel called An Accidental Man. I read it so you don't have to.
This book is hard to describe because there are many characters and the plot is q
... Show more...A note from the underground, Eurostar and a Belgian town
Philosopher Iris Murdoch wrote a novel called An Accidental Man . I read it so you don't have to. This book is hard to describe because there are many characters and the plot is quite chaotic. There is a lot of longing, desiring and loss along with plenty of disasters and a dash
📖 Read the full entry on Inkwell
#Reading #Books #Literature #IrisMurdoch #bookstodon
Philosopher Iris Murdoch wrote a novel called An Accidental Man. I read it so you don't have to.
This book is hard to describe because there are many characters and the plot is quite chaotic. There is a lot of longing, desiring and loss along with plenty of disasters and a dash of mental illness. Things resolve themselves to a certain extent by the end but it is not a great read. The book was first published in 1971 so it fits my age criteria, but whilst some seem to consider it a Great Book others think it is not even one of Iris Murdoch's best.
That said it does have a bit of depth and some ideas to think about. One idea that seems to animate several characters is that of Fate, in particular that the individual really has no agency and it does not make any difference whether a person takes one action rather than another.
One of the central characters has a moral quandary whereby they “have it made” in life with an apparently happy relationship, employment and prosperous future. At the first part of the novel they are asked to volunteer to take a costly moral stand which they reject saying that they have no need to put themselves through that pain. But by the end they have resolved that they actually do have to reject love, wealth and employment after all. Another character sees themselves as utterly at the whim of fate, unable to take any responsibility for the terrible things that keep happening to them (and which they clearly have some responsibility) and somehow succeeding in getting others to feel sorry for them. By the end they have happiness at the expense of others who have somehow been pressured to help.
I do not recommend reading this book. I do not think that a deconstructed personal philosophy where nothing you can ever do makes any difference is a good way to live and whilst this novel is trying to rewrite Crime and Punishment I think it largely fails.
