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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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.

Books finished in 2026:

45. The Ganymede Takeover by Philip K Dick and Ray Nelson (1967)
44. Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov (1953)
43. Men At Arms by Terry Pratchett (1993)
42. Full Circle: A Life in Rebellion by Ben Morea (2025)
41. Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov (1952)
40. Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut (1962)
39. Wobblies! A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World (2005) Edited by Paul Buhle and Nicole Schulman with various authors
38. Foundation by Isaac Asimov (1951)
37. Clay’s Ark by Octavia E Butler (1984)
36. We Fight: Three Decades of Rebellion Against The Police 2nd Ed. by various authors (2020; 2025)
35. Rabbit, Run by John Updike (1960)
34. Mind Of My Mind by Octavia E Butler (1977)
33. The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and The San Domingo Revolution by CLR James (1938)
32. Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett (1992)
31. Escape From Freedom by Erich Fromm (1941)
30. Walking With The Comrades by Arundhati Roy (2011)
29. Wild Seed by Octavia E Butler (1980)
28. Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline (2020)
27. The Last Hero: A Discworld Fable by Terry Pratchett (2001)
26. Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P Newton with J Herman Blake (1973)
25. The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney (1955)
24. Granny Made Me An Anarchist by Stuart Christie (2004)
23. The Day of The Triffids by John Wyndham (1951)
22. Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson (1970)
21. Secolo Nuovo: Or the Times of Promise, A Novel by Fulvia Ferrari (2021)
20. Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Friedrich Engels (1880)
19. Working Class History: Everyday Acts of Resistance and Rebellion by Working Class History (2020)
18. The Diary of a Drug Fiend by Aleister Crowley (1922)
17. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett (1992)
16. The Red and The Black by Stendhal (1830)
15. The Book of Sand (1975) and Shakespeare’s Memory (1983) by Jorge Luis Borges
14. Anarchist Feminists In The Philippines From Etniko Bandido (~2016)
13. The Unseen by Nanni Balestrini (1989)
12. Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare: A Guide to the Armed Phase of the African Revolution by Kwame Nkrumah (1968)
11. Rights of Man by Thomas Paine (1792)
10. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (2011)
9. Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker (1911)
8. Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (1996)
7. Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett (1991)
6. The Nation On No Map: Black Anarchism and Abolition by William C Anderson (2023)
5. baedan - journal of queer nihilism - issue one (2012)
4. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson (1992)
3. They Will Beat The Memory Out Of Us: Forcing Nonviolence on Forgetful Movements by Peter Gelderloos (2024)
2. It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis (1935)
1. Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge (2006)

#bookstodon #books #read #reading #scifi #sciencefiction #nowreading #book #pkd

This novel is about a future Earth conquered by telepathic worms and divided by slavery and racism. Weird and druggy phase of PKD in full effect. Probably a bad choice to invent a slur for the future anti-Black racism and use it all the time. That aspect didn't age well, imo.

This focuses on telepathy and weird military weapons that affect the mind. Also has some quack psychiatry and solipsistic philosophy with a sensory deprivation tank involved.

It was pretty good but not amazing. Funny and strange, not mind-blowing.

Ray Nelson is best known for the cap with a propeller on top.