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The Black Prince

Vintage Classics Murdoch Series

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The Black Prince

By: Iris Murdoch, Sophie Hannah
Narrated by: Anthony Howell
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Vintage Classics Murdoch: Funny, subversive, fearless and fiercely intelligent, Iris Murdoch was one of the great writers of the 20th century. To celebrate her centenary, Vintage Classics presents special editions of her greatest and most timeless novels.

Every artist is an unhappy lover. And unhappy lovers want to tell their story.

Ex-tax collector and author of two unpopular novels, Bradley Pearson wishes to devote his retirement to writing a masterpiece. But the doorbell and the phone keep ringing and every ring brings with it an ex-wife, a friend in need, a sister in trouble or a young woman seeking a teacher and so dusty, selfish Bradley is plunged into the muddles and mysteries which will end in his doom.

Winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize 1973.

©1973 Iris Murdoch (P)2020 Penguin Audio Classics Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Thriller & Suspense Fiction Funny
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the reading conveys a wonderful sense of the characters, by a versatile and sympathetic actor

well read, in every sense, thanks to the narrator.

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Excellent narrator. Quality of writing mostly great but a little overblown and heavy at times

Fantastic ending.

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Quite a long listen but very thought provoking and the conclusion will leave me thinking about this book for a while. The narrator was really excellent, I’m not sure I would have made it all the way to the end if I had been reading the book or if the narrator hadn’t been so good.

Excellent narration

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I guess I enjoyed disliking the self absorbed, anxious, arrogant protagonist as an unreliable narrator

Hmmmmmmm

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This book is like a time capsule from early 1970's middle-class literally life which is interesting. It's structure is unusual (to me at least) and contains a really complex dislikable central character who has difficulty and sometimes hard to believe relationships with everyone in this life, particularly females. I found it very tough to get through to times as its hard to root or empathise with any characters. My conclusion is that Murdoch is a bit too highbrow for me, its clever but too close to smug and pretentious in the same way Martin Amis can be. Just tell us a good story...

Brilliant narration btw

Challenging, fascinating and disturbing

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