It’s a generational thing, maybe. My professor adored her, said she captured the post-war British intellectual mind like no other. To me, sometimes the characters feel like relics—all that smoking and drinking sherry and having affairs while talking about Plato. But the core dilemmas don’t age. The struggle between selfish desire and the call to be good, the difficulty of seeing others clearly, the fear of emptiness—that’s timeless. The spiritual search she portrays is dressed in 1950s-70s clothes, but the body inside is our own. We just have different distractions now.
The weather and landscapes are active participants. The sudden storm, the oppressive heat, the serene lake—they’re not just backdrop. They mirror or catalyze inner states, but they also represent an indifferent, beautiful reality that exists beyond human drama. A character’s spiritual progress can be measured by how they perceive the weather. At first, it’s just an extension of their mood; later, they might see it as something separate, glorious in its own right. The search involves learning to appreciate this otherness, to love the world for itself, not for what it symbolizes about your own journey. It’s a shift from pathetic fallacy to pure perception.
It's a wrestling match with the self, dressed up as philosophy or love. 'The Unicorn' is a gothic-ish tale where a woman is kept in a remote house, seen by others as a kind of saint or victim. The characters around her project their own spiritual longings onto her, turning her into a symbol. Their searching is a form of imprisonment—for her and for them. Murdoch brilliantly shows how our spiritual ideals can be violent, how the need for a martyr or a savior prevents us from seeing the actual, ordinary person. The real search might be about giving up those grand symbols and facing the mundane, difficult reality of freedom and responsibility.
Murdoch was a philosopher, and it shows. But she uses the novel to do what philosophy alone can't: show the gap between abstract ideals and lived human psychology. A character can give a brilliant lecture on Plato's Form of the Good and then go home and emotionally torture their lover. The spiritual search is the lifelong project of closing that gap, of making one's actions align with one's professed beliefs. It's alchemical work, turning intellectual understanding into ethical substance. Her novels are the record of that often-failed experimentation, and the rare, precious moments when it partially succeeds.
Huh. I don’t know much about Iris Murdoch, but this thread is making me want to read something of hers. All this talk about ego and attention hits home. Maybe I’ll start with 'The Bell' since a few people mentioned it. Is it really that good, or is it just, like, a bunch of sad people in a religious community being sad? Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’m just curious what the actual reading experience is like. Is it a slog or does it pull you in?
2026-07-21 08:51:08
11
查看全部答案
掃碼下載 APP
相關作品
Her Ultimate Salvation
Ellie Scott
10
15.7K
Amelie is an Alpha wolf. She lost her parents as a pup. She was poisoned at a young age, and it is believed this poison had an impact on her wolf. Amelie is bullied, rejected, and decided going rogue is her only choice. Will she be able to trust a second chance at happiness? Will her second chance mate be her ultimate salvation?
Note: Can be read as a standalone. Is a continuation of the Alpha Kate series.
Rita's Journey from Solitude to Spiritual Awakening
Louneda Love
10
1.9K
Whispers of Redemption is an enchanting tale that weaves together the threads of loneliness, tragedy, and spiritual awakening. Set in an era marked by challenges and limitations, the story revolves around Rita, a strong-willed and resilient young woman who rises above her tragic past to embrace a life of purpose and divine connection.
Chapter by chapter, readers delve into the depths of Rita's solitary existence, feeling her ache for companionship and love. Through her unwavering determination, she seeks solace in the embrace of nature, finding comfort in the whispers of the wind and the gentle rustling of leaves.
One fateful day, Rita's life takes an unexpected turn as Lumina, a mystical entity, responds to her heartfelt wish for a true companion. Lumina, a manifestation of divine grace, introduces Rita to a spiritual journey that transcends her earthly existence. Guided by Lumina, Rita discovers a profound love and connection with God, igniting a fire within her that empowers her to face the challenges of her era head-on.
As Rita's spiritual awakening unfolds, she finds herself not only falling in love with God but also becoming a beacon of hope and strength for those around her. Her unwavering faith and fearless nature inspire a community that once turned a blind eye to her loneliness. She becomes a force to be reckoned with, embodying the spirit of independence and fearlessness that defines her era.
Elena Moretti has always lived by the rules. Raised in the wealthy, devout heart of Rome, her life is governed by faith, family honor, and the unyielding rhythm of the Angelus bells. But when Rev. Matteo Romano returns from Paris to serve in her Trastevere parish, everything she thought she knew about devotion and desire is thrown into question.
Matteo is calm, refined, and seemingly untouchable — yet he carries a quiet fire, a dangerous intensity that Elena cannot ignore. Their connection begins with fleeting glances, subtle touches, and whispered words that blur the line between spiritual guidance and personal temptation. Each encounter pulls them deeper into a forbidden spiral, challenging Elena’s beliefs, igniting desires she has been taught to suppress, and threatening the lives they’ve carefully built.
As their clandestine bond strengthens, Elena discovers that desire is far more consuming than faith, and Matteo begins to confront the tension between duty and passion. But in a city steeped in tradition and scrutiny, secrecy is fleeting, and the cost of indulgence is devastating.
Sacred Obsession is a story of forbidden longing, dangerous temptation, and the consuming fire of a love that defies rules — a tale where passion and faith collide, leaving hearts exposed and fates uncertain.
Join Xandra and Liam on an exciting journey as they embark on a challenging investigation into the mysterious disappearance of seven young girls in North Carolina. As they delve deeper into the case, they uncover a complex network of lies and corruption within the local community. With each new discovery, their understanding of the situation becomes clearer, and they begin to realize that their destinies are intertwined in ways they could never have anticipated. Witness the captivating story of self-discovery and passion that unfolds throughout the Hidden Souls Trilogy.
Part One: Resurrection of Sin
Part Two: Descendants of Arcos
Part Three: Fury of Five
"You woke me up," a cold voice echoed from the shadows.
Ivana gasped awake, heart pounding, unsure if it was a dream—or something far more dangerous.
~~~~~~~~~~
Years ago, Ivana should have died in her mother’s womb—until a mysterious seer performed a forbidden ritual to save her.
The price? The unborn child had to be betrothed to a god, bound to him for life without her parents ever knowing the true cost.
On Ivana’s eighteenth birthday, her parents mysteriously vanished without a trace, leaving behind only a notebook filled with strange symbols and cryptic warnings.
Now, years later, her search for answers leads her to Egypt, where she joins an archaeological team investigating a newly uncovered chamber. Deep inside, they break a seal that should have remained untouched… and awaken the very god she was promised to.
A god who despises humans.
With divine wrath rising, ancient secrets unraveling, and a bond she never asked for tightening around her fate, Ivana must confront the truth:
The answers to her parents’ disappearance begin with the god she was forced to belong to.
She was the temptation they prayed against—and the salvation they didn’t see coming.
The story centers on a woman who’s done playing nice. After a betrayal that shattered everything she thought she knew—marriage, motherhood, self-worth—she sheds her shame, steps into her desire, and discovers power in places she was once told were sinful. Her past doesn’t define her. Her pleasure doesn’t shame her. And she’s not asking for permission anymore.
I’ve always been struck by the religious vocabulary in her secular moral exploration. Words like 'grace', 'attention', 'pilgrimage', 'saint'. She secularizes these concepts to describe moral achievement. A moment of 'unselfing' is a moment of grace. The novels track these fleeting, earned moments of clarity amidst the muddle of life. 'The Bell', with its lay religious community, is explicitly about this, but even her most secular books frame the moral quest in these almost spiritual terms.
The food! It sounds trivial, but meals in Murdoch are rarely nourishing. They're awkward, poorly prepared, interrupted, or used as weapons of control. Sharing food is a basic moral act, and her characters constantly botch it. The refusal of a meal, the serving of rotten food—these are tiny, telling acts of moral failure. It's a brilliant, subtle way to ground these high-flying philosophical themes in the most mundane human rituals. Free will is exercised at the dinner table, often poorly.