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The Sea, the Sea

by Iris Murdoch, Mary Kinzie (Introduction)

3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 5,392 ratings · 391 reviews

Charles Arrowby, leading light of England's theatrical set, retires from glittering London to an isolated home by the sea. He plans to write a memoir about his great love affair with Clement Makin, his mentor both professionally and personally, and to amuse himself with Lizzie, an actress he has strung along for many years. None of his plans work out, and his memoir evolve...more

Paperback, 495 pages

Published March 1st 2001 by Penguin Classics (first published 1978)

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Mar 20, 2010 notgettingenough rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: will-be-regretted-on-my-deathbed

Of course you are going to want to know why I’m not reading another page of this book. Of course, you are going to want to know why, should I ever find myself near to Murdoch – and I mean Iris, whose crimes against humanity already strike me as not so far away as you might think, from the other one’s – and should I have a loaded shooting device at hand, I will ask her, donning an insincere smile intending to look pacific, what the capital crime punishment is hereabouts. Of course I will be think...more

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Jul 14, 2010 Lavinia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, fiction

Truth be told, I was scared of the book. Scared of its length, scared I might not like it enough to finish it (I'm very frustrated when I can't finish books - I always feel it's my fault).

Thank goodness Murdoch really knows how to write, I actually loved reading "The Bell" a couple of years ago and I promised myself I'd keep on reading Murdoch. But I never knew which one to continue with, and, yes, I was scared of their length :). And I chose this one because it was mentioned in a really nice in...more Truth be told, I was scared of the book. Scared of its length, scared I might not like it enough to finish it (I'm very frustrated when I can't finish books - I always feel it's my fault).

Thank goodness Murdoch really knows how to write, I actually loved reading "The Bell" a couple of years ago and I promised myself I'd keep on reading Murdoch. But I never knew which one to continue with, and, yes, I was scared of their length :). And I chose this one because it was mentioned in a really nice interview with Murdoch's translator into Romanian and her friend for 25 years.

What's new here (possibly in some of her other novels too, no idea!) is that Murdoch writes from a man's perspective (Charles Arrowby, retired theatre figure in his sixties). Some say she did that because she wanted to write like a man / be treated like a male writer. Seriously? The woman had published about 18 novels before this one, one would think she must have tried that already, don't you think?

I both loved and hated Charles throughout the novel. Of course he's self-absorbed / self-deluded / obsessed / despotic but he cooks the lightest and most rustic meals ever, he's in deep love with cheese and wine and he doesn't mind living a secluded life in his isolated, rusty house near the sea.

There are a lot of things going on, which disturb Charles' peace and quiet; past and present mingling together, twisting with his mind, playing tricks on him, friends who love and loathe him equally. Not one thing that was in a certain state at the beginning remains the same at the end. Well, maybe the sea. Buuut, I would have loved the book even if Murdoch hadn't done anything else but describing Charles every day, cooking, sipping wine, going swimming and mending his house - this is how much I liked it. By the way, if a director thinks about turning the book into a film, I hope they'd consider Alan Rickman for Charles' part.

P.S. Really nice portrayal of the characters - James Arrowby deserves an entire novel to himself!(less)

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Jul 18, 2009 K.D. Oliveros rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I bought this book from Booksale Baguio in April 2009 for P30. After reading the book, I thought I would not mind paying P800.00 to read such a wonderful novel. This is included in the 501 Must Read Books and a finalist in Man Booker Prize.

I like the way Dame Iris Murdoch developed her characters and the way she introduced them in the plot. I read this in 5 working days (Monday to Friday) and did most of the readings a home (some in the gym while resting). In the morning, I put the book by my si...more I bought this book from Booksale Baguio in April 2009 for P30. After reading the book, I thought I would not mind paying P800.00 to read such a wonderful novel. This is included in the 501 Must Read Books and a finalist in Man Booker Prize.

I like the way Dame Iris Murdoch developed her characters and the way she introduced them in the plot. I read this in 5 working days (Monday to Friday) and did most of the readings a home (some in the gym while resting). In the morning, I put the book by my side and while driving in the morning's traffic, I think about what I read the night before. It's like running the images in my mind again and thinking of what will happen next. It is like I am watching a telenovela and it was made possible by Dame Iris Murdoch because of her vivid and suspenseful approach in storytelling. The way she described the sceneries and even the food is just engaging.

The story is about Charles Arrowby and the narrative is in a journal form. Charles is a retired stage actor/director who retreated to the seaside after retirement. When I was in the first few pages, I got confused because I thought that the narrator is female (because Dame Iris Murdoch is female). It is just surprising to read a woman reading in male's perspective (sans the usual melodramatic approach of most female writers). Of course with the exception of Nicholas Sparks a male author who is a male drama queen!

One little disappointment (although not enough to deduct a star from the rating) I have about the novel is the reason given by Charles Arrowby on how he accepted his passion to get back Hartley or Mary.

"One can be too ingenious in trying to search out the truth. Sometimes one must simply respect its veiled face. Of course this is a love story. She was not able to be my Beatrice nor was I able to be savedby her, but the idea was not senseless or unworthy.... The past buries the past and must end in silence, but it can be a conscious silence that rests open-eyed. Perhaps this is the final forgiveness that James spoke of."

These lines appear on pp 502 which is the third to the last page of the book. Just about 5 sentences that explained the obsession that Charles Arrowby showed in almost all the pages of the book since she met Hartley again after so many years upon graduation from high school. At some point, I thought that it was just crazy (Charles Arrowby was trying to bring back his virility since he could not accept being old) and Hartley was just a lunatic. But these were not the main messages at all. It was about undying love and forgiveness.

In 2002, I saw the movie IRIS starring Kate Winslet (the young version) and Judy Dench (old version) and when I saw the book I picked it up right away because I like the movie. Dame Iris Murdoch got Alzheimer's Disease. In the movie, she lost her mind, would not recognize his partner-lover and would not clean her house and herself. It was a well-acted movie for a well-respected literary master.

Bravo, Dame Iris Murdoch! (less)

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Dec 21, 2008 julieta rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: brits

Murdoch´s characters are never likable people, they are usually, childish, selfish, obsessive and awful and you can hardly like them at all. But that is what makes her novels so fun. She always knows how to tangle you up in their troubles, lies, betrayals, and tragedies, their ambivalence and doubt,and she gets me at every turn. Charles Arrowby, the main character in this book is no better than any of them. He is en egotist who is impossible to sympathize with because his troubles seem so banal....more

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Jan 08, 2012 Jesse rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: brit-lit, read-in-2011

I found this both repelling and compulsive, and the more repulsed I became the less capable I seemed of putting it down. I was hooked just several pages in, enamored with the elegant, elegiac tone of Charles Arrowby's attempts at composing a memoir/diary after exiling himself to a remote seaside home to live in monastic isolation. Via Arrowby, Murdoch's prose takes on a sea-like quality, the ebb-and-flow of memories and musings churning together present and past to the point where the edges of r...more I found this both repelling and compulsive, and the more repulsed I became the less capable I seemed of putting it down. I was hooked just several pages in, enamored with the elegant, elegiac tone of Charles Arrowby's attempts at composing a memoir/diary after exiling himself to a remote seaside home to live in monastic isolation. Via Arrowby, Murdoch's prose takes on a sea-like quality, the ebb-and-flow of memories and musings churning together present and past to the point where the edges of reality and unreality begin to blur imperceptibly. I settled in for what I fully expected to be more or less an intelligent and eerie psychological thriller.

But just as it was not meant for Arrowby to enjoy his solitude, so I was quickly jumbled out of any conceptions that I was in for a graceful memory piece. Suddenly figures from Arrowby's past begin showing up uninvited at his doorstep, culminating with the unexpected reappearance of a lost first love, setting off a string of increasingly erratic behavior that quickly threaten to become dangerous.

It took a while for me to adjust to such a drastic change of narrative trajectory, but as it went along I began to appreciate the grand guignol absurdity of it all. And it wasn't, I admit, until just about the very end that I realized how the incongruent-seeming opening does indeed set up nicely the rest of the novel: reported to be the premiere interpreter of Shakespeare of his day, isn't it natural, maybe even inevitable that Arrowby's life takes on an expansive Shakespearian theatricality?

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages."

-Shakespeare, As You Like It

And that kind of sums up my final response to The Sea, The Sea—creaky, isolated Shruff End is not the place of escape and seclusion Arrowby intends it to be, but is merely an empty stage upon which the figures of his past, present and possibly his future appear with a theatrical punctuality, reciting their lines, performing their small roles and disappearing again into the wings again until called upon again to reappear on cue around Arrowby as he plays his "many parts," from a wizened Prospero to a tragic Lear to a pathetically misguided attempt at Romeo and Juliet that quickly deteriorates into a truly horrific parody of Taming of the Shrew.

Did I enjoy The Sea, The Sea? I can't honestly say that I did. I'm not even sure that I liked it per se. But it did compel me to descend into a unique type of claustrophobic madness, creating a literary experience of a type that I've never quite experienced before, which is saying something indeed. My true reaction is suspended somewhere between three and four stars, but considering that the only other Murdoch novel I've read has continued to grow in stature in my memory, I gladly give the novel the benefit of the doubt and round my rating up.

The past and the present are so close, so almost one, as if time were an artificial teasing out of material which longs to join, to interpenetrate, and to become heavy and very small like some of those heavenly bodies scientists tell us of."(less)

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Nov 26, 2012 Johanna rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a good meditation on first love and the holiness we ascribe it after the fact. It muses on our responsibilities (romantic and otherwise) to ourselves and others, the notion of karma and comparison, what we learn from the various relationships we end up in and how well we behave ourselves. The writing is very good in parts, character development is amazing and the examination of the internal life is challenging. It is however at times farcical, hasty, uneven and the theme of mysticism is...more

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Aug 14, 2008 Alison rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Adults. Who love lunch and sea serpents.

Recommended to Alison by: Thanks for the rec, Torie, you knew this was right up my alley!

This is probably a 4.5. I was wary about reading Murdoch again after Under the Net, which I didn't enjoy at all. This one had everything that I love in life and don't often find united in a novel: elaborate planning for simple tasty lunches; the English seaside; ludicrous and highly improbable action (a sea monster? Can anything more awesome possibly show up in a heretofore realist novel?); and a lot of thought about how to be good and how to love.

One of my favorite things about this novel was t

...more

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Nov 22, 2007 Helen Foster rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have read a number of her books and I like this one the best even though the end section is implausible. The story is about a retired actor who moves from London to the Cornwall to live by the sea. Here, he becomes obsessed with his first girlfriend, who he sees, by chance in a local town.

Iris Murdoch's are like intellectual pscyhological soap operas and this has everything in it.

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May 28, 2012 Nancy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Charles Arrowby is a director/playwright/actor who has retired to a small, ramshackle cottage by the sea. He wants to write a journal and has trouble getting started, as he's also wandering around exploring his new surroundings, swimming, collecting rocks in the tide pools, and cooking ghastly meals that he thinks are delicious. It soon becomes clear that he is the most unreliable of narrators. He sees something in the sea that can only be a delusion, and he attributes it to an old experience wi...more

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Jan 02, 2011 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: i-ll-read-it-again

This is my first time reading Iris Murdoch, and I thoroughly enjoyed her! Her prose is lush, the characters are intense and flawed personalities who are far from perfect, but are perfect for who they are, and her humor is delightfully dark (velvety blue, nigh black)...hey, she writes my kind of book! It had the flow of a well-tuned engine that toured along at a steady clip that kept the pages turning. I dog-eared several places with awesome chunks of writing that I will want to revisit later. Th...more

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Jan 14, 2009 James rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: booker-prize, fiction, lincoln-park-group

"The novel concerns a retired theater director who moves to the seashore in order to contemplate his life. He recalls how an adolescent love which he greatly idealized prohibited him from committing himself completely to any of the important women in his life. Coincidentally, he meets the woman again and tries to resume his love affair but she won't have him..." Some evocative prose from Iris Murdoch. As she explores the potent mixture of power, illusion, and self-delusion in retired actor, play...more

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Mar 07, 2008 Trevor rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was my first time with Iris Murdoch. I was drawn to her simple yet ellaborate prose, her fine rhythm, all bolstered by her expertise in psychology.
Here we have the memoirs of Charles Arrowby. The story he tells is brutal and haunting, not always on the surface but mostly in the characters' psyches. These poor people should not be dealing with each other, but somehow out of their interaction comes a sense not just of redemption but also of transcendence. Arrowby is a despicable man--here he...more

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Sep 21, 2011 Leon Story rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is right up there with late Henry James, or perhaps Mann's "The Magic Mountain". Murdoch was a fine moral philosopher, and I would recommend to anyone that (s)he carefully read at least the first chapter of her "Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals" in order to better understand the philosophical underpinnings of this novel. The characters are unbearably self-absorbed, and beautifully drawn. The first-person voice of retired theatrical director Charles Arrowby will pursue you through your dream...more

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Aug 12, 2008 Lynda Rucker rated it 4 of 5 stars

I briefly considered putting this book down about halfway through because I was so fed up with the controlling, manipulative narrator and the utter passivity of his love object. I kept on because I was fascinated with how skillfully Murdoch managed not only the unreliable voice of the narrator, but the unreliability of all the characters. And it is, as one of my back cover blurbs promised, something of a page-turner. I'm glad I didn't give in to that brief urge because I liked this book a great...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Smcleish rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

Originally published on my blog here in March 2001.

Charles Arrowby, narrator of The Sea, The Sea, is an egoist; but, as he himself points out, does that make him so exceptional? Much of the novel is about how we control others, and how what we know of others is filtered through our own ideas and desires. Even his profession (theatrical director) is an aspect of this.

Now retired, Charles has bought himself a house by the sea. There, he begins an autobiogrphy, but soon discovers that one of the pe...more Originally published on my blog here in March 2001.

Charles Arrowby, narrator of The Sea, The Sea, is an egoist; but, as he himself points out, does that make him so exceptional? Much of the novel is about how we control others, and how what we know of others is filtered through our own ideas and desires. Even his profession (theatrical director) is an aspect of this.

Now retired, Charles has bought himself a house by the sea. There, he begins an autobiogrphy, but soon discovers that one of the people living in the small town is his first love, who moved away in his teens and disappeared from his life completely. He becomes obsessed with her as a symbol of his lost youth and innocence, and, convinced that she still loves him, he even goes to the length of kidnapping her.

Like most of Murdoch's writing, The Sea, The Sea is about relationships. Charles is at the centre of quite a complex network of these, as part of a rather "luvvie" group of theatre people, most of whom have at one time or another been lovers. All these past actions affect their current interactions, and in particular Charles' understanding of what they do. (It is not, however, altogether clear that Charles is an honest narrator.)

The novel has other strands to it. Two which are quite closely related are the supernatural and the symbol of the sea. The former just occurs in touches, as when Charles believes his house to be haunted. (Part of this is the activity of an ex-lover, but she refuses to admit responsibility for all the occurrences which lead him to think this.) Even when not being directly mentioned, on the other hand, the sea is present in the novel as something vast, incomprehensible and certainly uncontrollable: sometimes drawing Charles in and sometimes threatening his life. In the context of the novel, its meaning must be connected to the fact that much of what surrounds us is actually beyond our control. This is why the ideas of the supernatural and the sea, as used by Murdoch, are closely related.

The Sea, The Sea is powerfully effective, really catching the reader up in the drama of the relationships it deals with, and leading us to take a new look at how we treat others, and how we understand others. It is a huge achievement. (less)

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Sep 23, 2012 Mr. Italo Perazzoli rated it 4 of 5 stars

The sea, the sea is a tale of a self satisfied retired man.

Charles Arrowby is a successful playwright and director, during his working life he lived in London.

For many reason he decides to write his memoir in a remote location washed by the sea he will be haunted by the philosophical meaning of masks wore during his plays.

During his voyage he will discover his true personality made of egotism, selfishness and the meaning of love which is interpreted by Mary Hartley Fitch and Lizzie.

“But now the...more

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Aug 28, 2012 Ebblibs Thekstein rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I love Iris Murdoch's work but I have to admit it is a highly specialised taste and I am sure that this her 19th novel and the 1978 Booker Prize winner will not appeal to all (probably an understatement). This long novel follows in a journal style (loosely based on a journal entry style with some poetic/novelistic license) the sorrows of one Charles Arrowby, a retired theater director/actor/playwright who attempts to get away from the crowds of london to a remote cottage by the sea but is seemin...more

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Jul 26, 2012 Amerynth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books, fiction, read-2012, jealousy, obsession, booker-prize

Iris Murdoch's "The Sea, The Sea" is the tale of Charles Arrowby, a narcissistic actor/director who retires to Shruff End, a gloomy seaside home to write his memoirs. His peace and quiet is quickly interrupted by a bevy of girlfriends past, including a chance encounter with Mary Hartley Smith, his first love.

Arrowby is at once smitten and obsessed with Hartley and the book becomes a complicated tangle of jealousy, obsession and possibly even madness. The line between reality and fiction (in Arro...more

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Jun 27, 2012 Chris Walker rated it 3 of 5 stars

I know two grown men who left what seemed to be perfectly good long term relationships to be with their childhood sweethearts, causing mayhem for their other family members, so I was intrigued by this novel about a man pursuing his childhood sweetheart, wanting to find out the reasons why the novelist thought he did so and the result. Charles Arrowby is a thoroughly irritating man - but his childhood sweetheart is no great shakes either, apart perhaps for her loyalty (not seen this way by Charle...more

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May 04, 2012 Lisa Louie rated it 4 of 5 stars

'Don't take anything personally' is the second agreement that we should make with ourselves according to Don Miguel Ruiz in his self-help book, The Four Agreements. We are all trapped within our own “dreams,” or our own “bubbles” as an acquaintance of mine once put it, and as such we cannot perceive the thing-itself, the truth as it really is. We can only see our own projections of each other, and we treat each other accordingly. Therefore, I cannot take your behavior personally--meaning, I can'...more 'Don't take anything personally' is the second agreement that we should make with ourselves according to Don Miguel Ruiz in his self-help book, The Four Agreements. We are all trapped within our own “dreams,” or our own “bubbles” as an acquaintance of mine once put it, and as such we cannot perceive the thing-itself, the truth as it really is. We can only see our own projections of each other, and we treat each other accordingly. Therefore, I cannot take your behavior personally--meaning, I can't take it on and make its supposed message stick to me as a true reflection of who I am and what I deserve. Let me admit up front that I embrace this premise with relief . It is liberating to believe that I am not responsible for other people's condescension or their hurt feelings when I do not appear to esteem them as highly as they think they deserve. But once I begin to operate on this premise, a number of ethical problems come to light. If I lay hands on your person, whether by physical or other material means, then am I still excused from owning any responsibility because I am only acting according to the logic of my dream while you are acting according to yours? In other words, are all dreams equally invalid and thereby equally innocent? These are the questions that Iris Murdoch's novel, The Sea, The Sea illustrates and explores in depth.

The Sea, The Sea, is the masterful psychological depiction of a distasteful man in the autumn of his life, trapped within his own universe. He makes moral choices based upon his fantasy that Fate has offered him an opportunity to redeem his licentious, desultory life. Charles first inhabits this fantasy when his childhood sweetheart, Hartley, crosses his path in the seaside village to which he has retired after leaving his career in theater. We learn that Charles regards Hartley as his only true and pure love. In his psyche, he has erected her as both idol and singular proof that he is not as wretched as everyone, including himself, believes. So he pursues her, even though she is married, stalking her cottage and eavesdropping upon her arguments with her husband. As a biased witness to a marriage, an institutional state with which he has no personal experience, Charles interprets what he sees and hears according to his own desires, and then he acts upon them. What he does is unconscionable, but Murdoch's mastery revealed here is that his actions seem utterly understandable, even reasonable, given the laws of his internal universe which Murdoch fleshes out so adeptly.

This story and its execution are an exquisite example of the utility of the novel form in a time when the novel is being eclipsed by memoir. By the end of novel, Murdoch has led me to consider a rather complex moral philosophical problem in depth, and wonders of wonders, in imagining Charles' dream and seeing its consequences through Charles' eyes as narrator, I am able to approach an answer. I can affirm that while all dreams might be equal in their fictions, they are not innocent because they have actual consequences for other people. Truth be told, I couldn't stand Charles, and by the close of the 10+ page epilogue, I was thoroughly repulsed by having had to listen to him for so long. For this reason, I didn't love the book. But Murdoch's execution of this particular meditation is finely wrought and thoroughly impressive. The effort I spent suffering Charles' voice and dreaming his dream was well worth it.(less)

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Mar 14, 2012 Courtney H. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookers

The Sea, The Sea, much like Oscar and Lucinda, is one of those books that I appreciated for being excellent literature but without enjoying it as much as I might have hoped. My main stumbling block was the main character, Charles Arrowby. I have no quibbles with Murdoch as a writer; she is obviously
gifted. She manages to be both blunt and mysterious -- she writes clear prose that shows but does not tell (neither she nor her characters lecture us). She creates characters and scenes of depth and l...more The Sea, The Sea, much like Oscar and Lucinda, is one of those books that I appreciated for being excellent literature but without enjoying it as much as I might have hoped. My main stumbling block was the main character, Charles Arrowby. I have no quibbles with Murdoch as a writer; she is obviously
gifted. She manages to be both blunt and mysterious -- she writes clear prose that shows but does not tell (neither she nor her characters lecture us). She creates characters and scenes of depth and layers. I actually really enjoyed the larger cast of characters that Murdoch assembled for this book: sometimes not very likeable, true, but they were quirky, engaging, intriguing, and fun to read about; and then of course, some were also terribly sad. Murdoch seems to excel (at least in this novel) at creating characters with shadow lives and emotions behind facades (sometimes a couple layers of them); and at making you second-guess what is actually the character's true emotions or intentions. Arrowby's lost love, Mary Fitch -- found by coincidence alone, apparently -- is a great example of this, particularly given that she is fed to us through Arrowby's rather twisted lens and memory. Murdoch also paints an an amazingly rich portrait of a possibly haunted house on that rugged coastline, and peppers it with a few possibly supernatural/possibly overworked imagination/possibly human caused unexplained events (some of which are ultimately explained; some of which are not). Murdoch weaves these moments into what is othewise an all-too-human plot, pushed forward by Arrowby, the famed director, and the odd assortment of sordid characters who follow him to the (failed) reclusive house he purchased and intended to hide away in.
But always I had to deal with Arrowby, the central character, the person through whom most of the action is funneled, whose point of view is fairly unreliable, due to his unshakeable faith in his own
view of the world and the people around him. But he does wield enormous influence, the ability to pull people (women) to him, to break up lives and the contentedness of people who thought they finally outgrew him; and that was wearying to read about, in part because the woman were awful and weak, and partly because Arrowby was SO grating you couldn't figure out why a teenage Mary would be drawn to him, never mind this circle of characters pulled from varying levels of success in London's theatre scene. Sleeping with him, fine. But they seemed genuinely attached to him and unable to break away, and I could not figure out why. He was dull, he was self-absorbed, he was intentionally manipulative, and he was sure that he could push and pull people into submission, force them into the roles he assigned to them. He couldn't of course, and the process of trying often got people hurt, but still they let him try. It was frustrating to read.
I get, of course, that Murdoch wrote Arrowby this way on purpose. And perhaps my exhaustion was due, in part, to the fact that I got to The Sea, The Sea after reading a succession of books with unlikeable, self-absorbed characters who had not a hint of awareness of a world that did not revolve around them. It is, of course, the fact that Arrowby is Arrowby that makes the plot work. Was he something other than what he was, things would have developed differently. Murdoch does not hide the ball about who he was, and if in those first few pages I developed hopes for who Arrowby might be or might come to be, those disappointments are on my shoulders, not Murdoch's. But still. It gets a little trying to read a 400+ page book when the entire time you want to punch the main character in the face, even if you spend those pages also appreciating the beautiful writing, the rich, intricate atmosphere that Murdoch creates, and the other characters to which she introduces us.(less)

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Nov 21, 2011 Lorraine rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Sea, the Sea—what a powerful image it creates in this book. In Iris Murdoch’s novel the sea can kill and the sea can save. Water and swimming are significant symbols in this novel. Charles Arrowby, an aging theatre director and actor retires to a creaky old house on a rocky area by the sea, He wants to get away from London life and simply watch life unwind before his eyes. He decides to write his memoir,

In the beginning of the novel he begins his journal rambling and muddling through all kin...more The Sea, the Sea—what a powerful image it creates in this book. In Iris Murdoch’s novel the sea can kill and the sea can save. Water and swimming are significant symbols in this novel. Charles Arrowby, an aging theatre director and actor retires to a creaky old house on a rocky area by the sea, He wants to get away from London life and simply watch life unwind before his eyes. He decides to write his memoir,

In the beginning of the novel he begins his journal rambling and muddling through all kinds of details, some of which are funny and some of which struck me as absurd. Having to stick to it for the first 100 pages, I later could see how Murdoch used these introductory journal type entries to tell us about Charles. We first see Charles as he sees himself. So be patient in the beginning and the remaining 400 pages are worth the read.

Charles is obsessed by being rejected some forty years ago by his childhood sweetheart Hartley. He has made a myth out of this so-called love, and so he decidedly suffers all his life with this pain. In the meantime he treats women very poorly in all of his relationships. He ignores all the harm he has brought on people and now decides to peacefully contemplate his life peacefully—unknowing that all e has done will come to haunt him. His whole reality is perverted. He is egotistical and sometimes almost mad. He makes a bizarre attempt to kidnap his Hartely after he finds her living near him by the sea. He assumes she has been miserable all her life and wants to be with him.

Charles is a disagreeable and distasteful person, yet at times as a reader I could really feel sorry for him, thanks to the author. Over the course of the novel we meet a number of his friends all who fall in and out of love and are equally as confused as he is. It’s a complex novel that deals with random chance, mortality man’s sense of supremacy, and love as a force with no logic, or its own logic. Charles tragic comic journey reveals the beauty of the world, but which he views with confusion and anxiety, never able to see this beauty or appreciate it. Glad I read a book by Murdoch, and yes, I will try another, now that I understand her worldview and style of writing.
(less)

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Nov 10, 2011 Nigel rated it 4 of 5 stars

I had wanted to read this book for a while having understood that it was probably Murdoch's best book and had been nominated for the Booker Prize. However I always erred towards some of her other more approachable books. Anyway this year I took the plunge and bought it. The edition I bought had a 20 page introduction by some academic which very nearly put me off. If you buy that version don't let it put you off.
I've read the book and really enjoyed it. For me it is about love, what it is, what i...more

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Aug 19, 2011 dina rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I started it, I was quite skeptical as it struck me rather self-consciously affected, but by the end I was completely won over - it was hilarious and very clever. There are ideas in it that I still come back to frequently, and it might be the best writing yet on the incongruity and unfathomable nature of human relationships, compounded by all the social constructions and projections that surround us - variously uncontrollable, intentional, or miscalculated. We are doomed to only know our ow...more

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May 10, 2011 Laila rated it 2 of 5 stars

Tedious! I may have enjoyed this book better were it about 200 pages shorter. At its current length, I think old Murdoch is really indulging herself. I can see that she is an excellent writer (in her descriptions of the sea and the delightfully simple food paragraphs) but I was overwhelmed by the histrionics and general inability to make the reader care about any of these ridiculous and unbelievable characters. Her prose reminds me of watching American movies made 40-50 years ago, you know, the...more

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Sep 20, 2010 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Oh, such mixed feelings about this book. Had you asked me my feelings about this novel half way through reading it, you would have seen my face scrunch up in frustration and I would say, “spare yourself from this novel which is strictly the ramblings of a completely self-absorbed and delusional idiot man for whom you will have no sympathy.” BUT…having finished it I can honestly say if you are able to get past the first two hundred pages (either for being a glutton for punishment or attempting to...more

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Dec 02, 2009 Kara rated it 5 of 5 stars

From the opening passage, this book enveloped me. Everything: Murdoch's language, the beautiful construction of her story, the vividly presented backdrop, the scathingly subtle black humor, the ease in which she depicts the self deceptions of the spiritual life and the difficulty in navigating the line that separates imagination and fantasy and the ease in which she voices her male narrator.

Charles Arrowby, is a parodically self absorbed, vain, womanizing cretin. A successful theatre director,...more

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Sep 11, 2009 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While reading this book I constantly went back and forth between really liking it and really not knowing what I thought about it. The narrator is a fascinating man (Charles). He is a retired actor, and quite full of himself, who retires and moves to an old castle-like home on the sea. The description of his day to day life is simple and very interesting (I love his discussions of food and swimming).

But then things become increasingly outrageous as he runs into a past love and is joined at his ho...more

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Dec 31, 2010 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1001-books-read, 20th-century, booker, britain

The narrator of The Sea, The Sea is Charles Arrowby, an unreliable narrator extraordinaire! He's an aging actor/director, who decides to retire to peaceful solitude by the sea, a fantasy beloved of so many. He buys a horrid little house called Shruff's End which is besieged by damp and void of amenities such as electricity and heating. Still, in summer the sea is lovely, and the weather is warm, and all seems well...

Murdoch's specialty is irony, and before long the reader becomes aware of Charle...more The narrator of The Sea, The Sea is Charles Arrowby, an unreliable narrator extraordinaire! He's an aging actor/director, who decides to retire to peaceful solitude by the sea, a fantasy beloved of so many. He buys a horrid little house called Shruff's End which is besieged by damp and void of amenities such as electricity and heating. Still, in summer the sea is lovely, and the weather is warm, and all seems well...

Murdoch's specialty is irony, and before long the reader becomes aware of Charles's egocentric view of the world. It takes only a little longer to realise that he is subject to delusions and powerful obsessions. He thinks that the whole theatrical world will be at his door disturbing him - and when they fail to turn up - he goes up to London to invite them!

Alas, they all come at once, the very weekend he plans to abduct his childhood sweetheart from her husband. Hartley Smith, now Mary Fitch, was as innocent childhood love (or so he tells us), and when she 'just happens' to live in the same village, his love for her is rekindled and he determines to rescue her from her 'brute' of a husband (who turns out to be handsome, and rather heroic, having done something very brave in the war).

By now, about half way through the book, the reader isn't sure whether any or all of the visitors are an illusion. Is Hartley real? Is she some other woman he has attached his fantasies to? Absurdity piles up on absurdity. Are we really meant to believe that Charles keeps Hartley locked in one room while he sleeps in another, content with minor fondlings? That James, Gilbert, Lizzie, Peregrine and Titus are all sleeping in serious discomfort in this bizarre household so that they can help him in his crazy conspiracy? And mad Rosina, is she real?

Well, finer minds than mine may make something else of it, but I don't think so. I think that Charles is down on his luck and can't afford his old lifestyle as work dries up. He has a romantic view of solitude but loneliness, drugs and cheap wine work together to form a soup of wild delusions. I think he's incapable of having a relationship with anybody and that it's significant that most of the characters (if they ever did actually exist) 'disappear' one way or another.

Did I like the book? I think it's a bit long and could have done with some of the editing that Murdoch reputedly resisted. I became rather weary of Charles (as I think I was meant to do) but the interminable conversations with Hartley were irritating, and the ending was disappointing. I'd have liked Charles to get his comeuppance!

I finished reading and journalled this book on 19.7.03
(less)

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Jan 22, 2012 Fatma rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I almost don't know how to review this - because whilst I was reading it, and when I just finished it, I HATED it!

I thought it was too pompous, too long-winded, too philosophical, too self-indulgent.

Then I forgot about it for a while, and it popped into my mind about a month after I finished. I could now think of it from a 'bird's eye view' or something - I was literally imagining the creaky cold house on the hill by the shore, as though from above. I imagined Arrowby pottering around, pretendi...more

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About Iris Murdoch

Dame Jean Iris Murdoch

Irish-born British writer, university lecturer and prolific and highly professional novelist, Iris Murdoch dealt with everyday ethical or moral issues, sometimes in the light of myths. As a writer, she was a perfectionist who did not allow editors to change her text. Murdoch produced 26 novels in 40 years, the last written while she was suffering from Alzheimer disease.

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Quotes from The Sea, the Sea

“Then I felt too that I might take this opportunity to tie up a few loose ends, only of course loose ends can never be properly tied, one is always producing new ones. Time, like the sea, unties all knots. Judgements on people are never final, they emerge from summings up which at once suggest the need of a reconsideration. Human arrangements are nothing but loose ends and hazy reckoning, whatever art may otherwise pretend in order to console us.” — 27 people liked it

“emotions really exist at the bottom of the personality or at the top. in the middle they are acted. this is why all the world is a stage.” — 17 people liked it

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