Alana Estelle

The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch was awarded the Man Booker Prize in 1978. The novel is centered around Charles Arrowby, a recently retired and somewhat well-known theater director/actor. He leaves London for a remote area by the sea, living in a dilapidated house where he can live in solitude and write his memoirs. However, his acquaintances still track him down and he unexpectedly is reunited with his first love. 

The initial plot of The Sea, The Sea sounds a bit like a soap opera, but Murdoch expertly weaves in greater themes such as love, guilt, idealized memory and romance, and a bit if existentialism/phenomenology into a very dramatic plot. 

The witty, sarcastic style was the first thing that caught my attention. Even as the narrative gets darker and at times, rather absurd, Murdoch maintains a bit of humor throughout the story. There are these little sentence here and there that made me chuckle and this helps to keep the mood of the novel a little bit lighter, even though there are some really twisted elements. 

Charles would loathe that I consider meal time the most optimal time for reading… There are so many descriptions of the ridiculous things that Charles eats throughout the novel that one could make an entire list of his meals. I found this rather entertaining. 

One of the major themes of The Sea, The Sea is this concept of “life” being the grand theater that art imitates. 

“This is why all the world is a stage, and why the theater is always popular and indeed why it exists: why it is like life, even though it is also the most vulgar and outrageously factitious of all the arts.”

Charles sees the theater/the arts as a way  manipulate the people in his life. He is constantly maneuvering the people around him for his own purposes and goals. This actually makes him a rather deplorable person, and yet this greater philosophical question arises: Don’t we all do this to some extent? Are we all playing roles and moving things and people around us to fit into the roles we want them to play, in the story of our choosing?

“…is one of those who have a strong concept of the life they want to lead and the role they want to play and lead it and play it at the expense of everyone, especially their nearest and dearest. And the off thing is that such people can in a sense be wrong, can as it were miscast themselves, and yet battle on successfully to the end, partly because their victims prefer a definite simple impression to the pains of critical thought.”

The Sea, The Sea also hones in on the idealization and memorialization of people, especially people from one’s past. Charles writes a lot about the people in his life, but he is an unreliable narrator; often Charles will discuss a person in his life, whether it’s his cousin James, his previous romantic partners, or his theater colleagues, but when these characters are introduced in the novel, their behaviors don’t line up with Charles’ descriptions. 

“Ask yourself, what really happened between whom all those years ago? You’ve made it into a story, and stories are false.”

As I mentioned, Charles is not a likable character, however he’s quite self aware and he does have a bit of a character arc, which I can always appreciate. Charles is not supposed to be likable and I believe that Murdoch tends to have main male characters that are just the worst. I find it interesting that most of Murdoch’s novels consist of her writing from the perspective of men. I would like to explore this concept more after I’ve read more of her work. 

Murdoch’s writing is also fantastic. The dialogue is quick and snappy, but there are also these gorgeous passages describing the sea and landscape. There are countless descriptions of the sea and references to The Odyssey (something else I’d like to go back and dive a bit deeper into), images of eels, sea monsters and reference to seals. All of these things mean something. This book is worth reading for the scenic descriptions alone. 

The Sea, The Sea is an enjoyable and dramatic novel. Murdoch’s writing is descriptive, relatable, and evocative. This is a chunkier book, but it’s not too heavy or dense, even though she is weaving in some more philosophical concepts (which makes sense, as she was a philosopher…). There were times I felt the plot was a bit repetitive, but it didn’t ruin the book for me and I look forward to reading some of her other novels. I also look forward to revisiting The Sea, The Sea and really diving into the imagery, because it’s all deliberate. 

Rating: 4/5 

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I tend to look forward to August because it’s arrival means that summer is almost over. August tends to be the hottest month of the year and once it’s over, cooler weather it around the corner. However, this does mean that we enter into the most active period of hurricane season, so there’s that…

I’ve got some exciting books on my reading list this month - two rolling over and two new books: 

• The Sea, The Sea - A friend and I will be doing our first buddy read this month of Iris Murdoch’s 1978 Man Booker Prizer winner, The Sea, The Sea. Neither us of have read Murdoch before and we are exciting to discuss this together. 
• Circe - I don’t think this novel needs an introduction. This book has remained popular since it’s publication in 2018. I was not interested in reading it at all upon it’s release - I’m that person who’s interest in something decreases the more it’s hyped up, I do not need to read what everyone else it reading, at the same time. However, after I reread the Odyssey this year, I decided to give this one a read, mainly for the purpose of some points that intrigued about what people said about Circe, about the writing style, etc. and I think it’ll be an interesting conversation to have. 
• At the Existentialist Cafe - Still moving through this at a glacial pace. Finally made it to Chapter 3. Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying it, but I have to be in the mood for it. I’m listening to it via Audible and then I go through my hard copy and annotate based on the notes I take on Audible. There is so much content packed into each chapter, I’m going slowly. 
• Crime & Punishment - I’m finally at the halfway point! Reading Dostoyevsky is always a slow burn and takes focus, so I don’t mind taking my time reading this one. I actually don’t have much of an opinion yet, for some reason - I think this is going to hit me later like A Tale of Two Cities did. I was like “Chuck… where are you taking me?” And then BAM he took me there and I had to stare at a wall for several minutes while I tried not to cry (and still ended up crying…). 

What are you reading this month? 

Happy Valentine’s Day! I have to admit, I often forget about Valentine’s Day. My sister off-handedly mentioned it the other day and I thought, “Huh, how are we almost halfway through the month?!” Granted, I never make a big deal over holidays - even my birthdays. I remember when I turned 18, I came down the stairs that morning and my mom said “Happy Birthday!” and I was confused for a few seconds. 

Now, that being said, I did decide to put together a quick post for today - any excuse to feature books and ballet is a win. What is it about broken in pointe shoes that is so pleasing to the eye? 

This year, I plan to read my first Iris Murdoch novel - not this particular novel, but this cover matched in this instance. I also plan to read this collection short stories, Subtly Worded by, Teffi. Teffi was a Russian humorist writer and I love witting commentary, so I’m definitely looking forward to reading this collection by Pushkin Press.  

What are some reads you’re hoping to get to this year? 

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I now have three of the six novels that Vintage published in this new collection. I will inevitably obtain the other 3, but I’m not pressed right now. I’ll be starting with The Sea, The Sea this year, which won the Man Booker Prize in 1978. I’ve heard that The Sea, The Sea is a challenging read; complicated, a bit stream-of-conscious, dense and elusive. I love a good challenge and I’m excited to read an author that’s new to me. 

Have you read any of Iris Murdoch’s novels?

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