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The Sea, The Sea

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The Sea, The Sea

By: Iris Murdoch, Daisy Johnson - introduction, John Burnside - introduction
Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

VINTAGE CLASSICS MURDOCH: Funny, subversive, fearless and fiercely intelligent, Iris Murdoch was one of the great writers of the twentieth century. To celebrate her centenary Vintage Classics presents special editions of her greatest and most timeless novels.

‘I saw a monster rising from the waves.'

Charles Arrowby has determined to spend the rest of his days in hermit-like contemplation. He buys a mysteriously damp house on the coast, far from the heady world of the theatre where he made his name, and there he swims in the sea, eats revolting meals and writes his memoirs. But then he meets his childhood sweetheart Hartley, and memories of her lovely, younger self crowd in – along with more recent lovers and friends – to disrupt his self-imposed exile. So instead of 'learning to be good', Charles proceeds to demonstrate how very bad he can be.

Winner of the Man Booker Prize 1978.

© Iris Murdoch 1978 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

 Classics Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Small Town & Rural World Literature Funny

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Critic reviews

It isn't all brainy fantasising in Murdochland; there's wild swimming, appalling sandwiches, death, madness and sex.
How bloody good her novels are – how intelligent, how lucent, how divinely crazy. They’re fun – I’d forgotten that
Dazzlingly entertaining and inventive
One of the most ambitious tours de force in many years... There are pages one races through to see what happens. She is a virtuoso at description
There is no doubt in my mind that Iris Murdoch is one of the most important novelists now writing in English...The power of her imaginative vision, her intelligence and her awareness and revelation of human truth are quite remarkable
A fantastic feat of imagination as well as a marvellous sustained piece of writing
It was the first book I read by this brilliant author, and encouraged me to go on and read almost all her others. It is at times incredibly funny, moving and mysterious. Murdoch creates drama in the real world with flawed humans and yet there is also a spiritual layer that creeps up on you
Just like the sea, this novel ebbs and flows, at times fast-paced and full of action, at others reflective… a mesmerising and addictive read
The Sea, The Sea is both a novel entirely about the era in which it was written and one that reflects – at an angle – the place and time we are living in… it is a joy to read: a rollicking story that seems endlessly to be building towards some awful, hilarious, frightening conclusion
All stars
Most relevant
Didn't think one of my favourite Murdoch novels could be topped by reading, but this audio book surpasses all expectation....the philosopher's pupil next PLEASE

Worth the wait !

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Talk about bringing a tale to life in an ocean full. REG is a maestro.

Sheer bliss from start to finish

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This has to be the most memorable and remarkable story that I have ever read. The characters will stay with me, and the descriptive writing is a joy.

My next step? To seek out Iris Murdoch's other novels; it will be a treasury of literary achievement if they are anywhere nearly as good as "The Sea, The Sea".

Blown away by this outstanding novel

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Loved the storyline and the variety of characters involved, entertaining and enthralling, well worth read.

A complex and intertwining story

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Iris murdoch capturing all the subtleties and sledgehammers of the human ego in relation to others and the self. A well known theatre director embarks on a solitary life in a lone house by the english shore. A unexpected meeting with his first love wakes hidden feelings as the house starts to positively seethe w characters from his past as consequences play themselves out.

Fascinating book perfectly narrated

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