|
| Under the Net (Vintage Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: Iris Murdoch
Publisher: Vintage Classics
Category: Book
List Price: £8.99
Buy Used: £0.01
You Save: £8.98 (100%)
New (22) Collectible (2) from £0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 88062
Media: Paperback
Edition: New edition
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.9
ISBN: 0099429071
EAN: 9780099429074
ASIN: 0099429071
Publication Date: June 1, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: **UK SHIPPED**SWIFT RELIABLE SERVICE** With friendly customer care! "Buy with confidence, Buy Book EcoLOGICal" Used - Good
|
| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-10 of 10 | | « PREV | | |
 Thoughtful comedy in fifties London February 4, 2001
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
This is existential slapstick comedy. 'Life will drag you which ever way fate decrees,' it seems to tell us, 'so you might as well enjoy the ride.' It's anti-hero Jake Donaghue is a likeable rogue who manages to come up smiling from a series of bizarre set piece comic situations in which he finds himself enmeshed: a Roman film-set and the kidnapping of an acting dog being two of the most unlikely. It is possible to overrate this book as some kind of philosophical treatise. That seems to have happened a bit since the sad death of its author. But in reality it is an enjoyable romp written by the young Iris Murdoch about a 1950s London which must have seemed full of fun and possibilities. It's a good read, and it will make you laugh, a strong enough reason to give it a go surely?
 What's Becoming of Being? January 29, 2001
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
I audibly laughed through half the scenes of this amazing first novel. It is a great thing to make someone laugh out loud while reading and this book did it continually. Whether it be the point where Jake Donaghue sits outside Sadie's flat listening to the "plot" against him with the neighbours poking him to see what he'll do or the superhero stunts of Jake and Hugo at the Roman set saving Lefty. I couldn't stop myself from laughing at the clever wit of the situation. But, what is amazing is that behind all of this there are deep philosophical thoughts at work, but the spaciousness of these thoughts never intrude upon the enjoyability of the story. It is similar in that way to Bellow's Henderson the Rain King, but the comedy in this is up a few notches more. The story is deeply routed in London (with a side-trip to Paris) and this location no doubt gives all the more joy to readers familiar to the area with its deep descriptions of particular sections and jabs at the reputations of others. Yet, this too did not detract from the book's enjoyability because of the eloquence of her descriptions. "When caught unawares," Jake reflects, "I usually tell the truth, and what's duller that that." The book is one long reflection and so, according to this line, we are thenceforth suspicious of all we are told. Many points of his memory are probably deeply exaggerated and this would explain some of the all too convenient coincidences. But, who cares? It's a good, entertaining story. Ultimately, Murdoch is presenting a rather ideal view of the independent will of the free spirit. Jake's hope is neatly set forth at the end. But the ideals of living in regards to work and love, wealth and fame seem to be given a manageable frame in which to work in. What Murdoch seems to be saying is that we must be swept along by the course of our own story and not be caught "under the net." The old argument which Bellow echoes also of Being and Becoming. Living, not without reflection, but containing the dialogue between oneself and existence within because once it is set out on paper it becomes a story, not life. "The substance of my life is a private conversation with myself which to turn into a dialogue would be equivalent to self destruction." Jake is learning to live more fully by instinct and self-forgetfulness. He is learning to allow other people's point of views into his own life. He finds that by constantly looking only within himself he isn't able to see anyone there. The being has left.
This is a book ahead of its time with its ironic anti-hero. May 22, 2000
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Under the Net seems like a book from the 90s, not 1954, with its theme that life is a bunch of meaningless events to which only the individual assigns meanings. In other words, any life is as good as another, depending on you. The hero Jake drifts through an apparently random existence desperately needing money, then turning it down when it is offered. Along the way he fixates on a woman he has known for years but suddenly has decided he is madly in love with. There's also a big dog involved. At the end he realizes life is going exactly the way it should be. I found it difficult to read because of British wordiness and the random chain of events, but it was worth it.
What a debut!!! June 15, 1999
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I almost gave the book five stars had it not been for some problems and unclarities in the plot. However, when one notices that this is Iris Murdoch's first novel these minor errors are understandable, and in this light I regard the novel as a very impressive debut. Murdoch manages to analyse some basic human conditions in this very funny (occasionally bordering on the surrealistic and farcical) book. We can recognise many themes which permeate Murdoch's later writing, for example influences from philosphy and psychology, and as such the novel should appeal to anyone interested in the basic nature of life. At the same time the novel also serves as an allegory of Murdoch's own role and selfhood as an aspiring writer. In sum the book plays on several strings and is exceedingly profound, and although the book makes wide use of symbolism, it is also fairly accesible. Bravo Iris Murdoch.
 Boring aimlessly written 'comic' book without humour June 13, 1999
2 out of 8 found this review helpful
If my memory serves me correctly it was said to be her first published work. If this is the case how it ever got into print amazes me. Distinguished by its lack of plot and moral the story drifts aimlessly and unconnectedly from one mediocre event to anther without the relief of any recognizable humour (it is said to be a 'comic' book). I can only hope that her subsequent work (samples of which I shall not be buying) surpassed it.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
