Darkly delightful. A wonderful, heady concotion of farce, foul play and illicit fun in a long, hazy summer of love in London and Dorset, where the characters shuttle back and forth between their memories and each other at dizzying speed - and where somehow the loose ends do all get tied up at the eleventh hour, in a most gratifying way. Wilful decadence gives way to sadder and wiser men (and women) and to a miraculous resurge of redemptive optimisim and the final yearned-for triumphing of goodness. An exhilerating trip, with some dicing with death and a happy ending. Only Murdoch could make you believe it! ( )

From my 50 book challenge as "bookiemonster81":

This enjoyable novel had a lot of what I'm coming to find are typical Murdoch elements: fey, precocious children; large extended family-like structures in which everyone harbors ambiguous romantic-sexual feelings for everyone else; an atmosphere heavy with vague menace and mystery; the frightening power and strange beauty of the sea; even something as simple as twins--though in this case, less central to the plot--seems to be something of a fixation for this author.

She is one of my favorites, and I always enjoy reading her work. An author who pulls the reader in with writing which is by turns simple and beautifully surprising. I can see why these novels are unsatisfactory to some--in the end, not a lot ever really happens--but I haven't yet met a Murdoch I didn't like. ( )

I love the first sentence: "A head of a department, working quietly in his room in Whitehall on a summer afternoon, is not accustomed to being disturbed by the nearby and undubitable sound of a revolver shot." As with most of Murdoch's novels, there are many characters and various intertwined relationships, so it can be a bit hard to follow, but it's worth the slow read. There's humour with a touch of darkness. ( )

"The unexamined life is not worth living," says Plato. The capability for self-reflection is uniquely human, although I would not go so far as to say that therefore its exercise is imperative and definitive. (If that were the case, several other less savory characteristics particular to humans would have to be viewed the same way, just because animals do not indulge in that kind of behavior.)

Self-examination includes the investigation of motives and evaluation of results of actions and beliefs. It is through reflection that the opportunity for growth exists. But it is a fallacy to assume that just because someone reflects on their life that they will improve. The conclusions drawn need to be acted upon in order to effect change.

Iris Murdoch makes this point rather well in The Nice and The Good. The central character, Ducane, endlessly ponders not only the nature of "good" but also his character and conduct -- which he desires to be good; yet he is almost paralyzed by his persistent agonizing, in the end acting in ways that might be nice but certainly are not good.

She also demonstrates that while "nice" is frequently popular, "good" is not necessarily so.

Now, for all of you thinking that "it sounds like a really boring book; I should remember to give it a miss," let me add that it contains two suspicious deaths and an investigation, government secrets and several love triangles, a daring rescue, flying saucers, puppy love, travel to distant countries and magic pagan rituals, not to mention several different mysteries! ( )