a very interesting novel. ms. murdoch explores the dark side of love(?) and relationships. the main character in the name of saving his first love, from what he believes is a terrrible marriage is very emotionally abusive. this book remains be of loltia, in that we see the main character in both novels as human even though their behavior is abusive ( )

The protagonist of The Sea, The Sea is Charles Arrowby, a famous director now living alone by the sea, trying to escape the drama of life in the theatre. Drama follows him to his seaside retreat, partially due to unbelievable coincidences and partly through his own meddling. He is a completely unreliable narrator. He's inconsistent, delusional, and deceitful. This is where the fun comes in for the reader! Rather then simply being led along by the narrator, the reader must work to infer what's really happening and reinterpret the events that Charles himself misinterprets. Since the novel is in his voice throughout, the truth is not revealed at the end like in a detective novel. The reader has to live with the same uncertainty that Charles himself deals with.

I found The Sea, the Sea to be extremely similar to another of Murdoch's works, The Black Prince. Neither Charles nor Bradley, the narrator of The Black Prince, are particularly endearing, but I had far more trouble relating to Charles. Bradley, at least, was distinguished by his normality. Charles, on the other hand, is not only rich and famous, but completely over the top. He thinks to himself, "This would be the reasonable thing to do," then just as the reader is nodding her head in agreement, he does the complete opposite. While amusing at first, it soon becomes rather aggravating. If this sounds like it would drive you nuts, as it did me, try giving The Black Prince a read instead. ( )

Actor and director Charles Arrowby retires to the sea following a successful career in the theatre. He choses the location from memories of a former lovers stories of her life in the area as a child before her move to London and life on the stage. However he has not long been living in the village before he meets another former love, his childhood sweetheart Mary Hartley Smith, who had promised to marry him but instead broke off their engagement and disappeared, shortly to marry another man. Charles declares that he still loves her and sets his sights on destroying her marriage to Ben. Matters are complicated further by the demands of two more ex-lovers turning up and declaring both love and hate for Charles and an odd collection of friends, relatives, enemies and total strangers arriving to stay at the house and some kind of sea monster lurking in the waves outside.

I did like this book but found it very odd too. I'm not entirely sure why it won the Booker Prize. Charles was not a likable character and I can't say that any of the others were likable either. I loathed Lizzie for being such a soppy wet pushover and Hartley for being so weak. I also did not believe much of Charles's narration of events, he's an untrustworthy witness to his own life and to the lives of the others in the book.

The coincidences were a bit unbelievable too. Charles's lover Clement inspired him to move to the area where it just so happens another former girlfriend has moved to in retirement, his old chauffer is the brother of the man who owns the village pub, the adopted son of Mary and Ben suddenly decides to track Charles down right when it is most convenient for Charles to befriend him.

It has taken me awhile to get through the book, which was very different to the book I imagined it would be, but I do want to read it again at a later date and hopefully get more from it that I did at this first reading. ( )

This book sucked me in. I couldn't stop reading, even though Charles Arrowby's obsession with Hartely became annoying. His thoughts show how we can twist any evidence to fit our personal hypotheses. So why did I keep reading? I loved the description of the sea and the house and Charles' food preferences and the cars, etc. The plot twists, though extreme, were entertaining. I liked the blend of unusual plot and philosophy. I would have liked to know James better... ( )

1818 The Sea, The Sea, by Iris Murdoch (read 4 Dec 1983) (Booker prize in 1978) This book tells of a nutty guy whom I did not like who lived by the sea and tried to force his teenage girlfriend to leave her husband and come with him. The story just did not seem very interesting to me--I could not empathize with anyone therein. I don't know that I will read anything else by Murdoch, even though she has been called "the best British woman novelist writing today." Her first novel appeared in 1954 and I have never read anything of hers before. This book lists 18 previous novels. Will she be studied in English Lit in years to come, as George Eliot is? [I did subsequently read some other books of hers, though never with wild appreciation.] ( )