Iris Murdoch : The Saint and the Artist

Few contemporary writers have elicited such diverse critical opinion as Murdoch. Some praise her as Britain's finest living novelist; others see her work as mere highbrow entertainment. Conradi's is a celebratory study that examines why Murdoch is both entertaining and significant. While her comic early fiction has usually been most highly praised, Conradi persuasively argues that the darker, later novels are her finest achievement. He also skillfully relates Murdoch's fiction to her moral philosophy (an evolution through existentialism to a curious admixture of Buddhism and Platonism). Only the best work is thoroughly discussed here, but Conradi does try to interlace the novels' various themes. An enlightening study of a most important writer. Laurence Hull, Cannon Memorial Lib., Concord, N.C.Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.