The Bell (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)
by Iris Murdoch
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recommended to Antiabecedarian by:
tallulah elvis poodle
recommends it for: all ha-ha curious types & friends of high school english teachers
recommends it for: all ha-ha curious types & friends of high school english teachers
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Read in November, 2007
I like Murdoch, she writes without inhibitions about such subjects as morality, sex and religions. The Bell has a special charm, combining the three subjects mentioned before. I really liked the way she portrays her characters, Michael, Dora and Nick, who, without any specific reason, became my favorite character.
***
imi place iris murdoch. scrie frumos, captivant si fara rezerve, neevitind subiecte precum moralitatea, sexualitatea si viata religioasa. clopotul e primul roman scris d...more
***
imi place iris murdoch. scrie frumos, captivant si fara rezerve, neevitind subiecte precum moralitatea, sexualitatea si viata religioasa. clopotul e primul roman scris d...more
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Read in September, 2008
I think I have read more ABOUT Iris Murdoch than I actually have read WRITTEN BY Iris Murdoch. This is my second Murdoch novel (the other was The Sea, The Sea -- which won The Booker Prize). She's a smart writer who gets into big issues - life, death, morals, religion.
In The Bell, we follow the story of a group of people living in a lay community that is associated with an Abbey. The community sustains itself by growing and selling produce. A perfect husband. An imperfect wife. A sinning sp...more
In The Bell, we follow the story of a group of people living in a lay community that is associated with an Abbey. The community sustains itself by growing and selling produce. A perfect husband. An imperfect wife. A sinning sp...more
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Read in January, 2008
I knew that I would love this book as soon as I read the first two lines of it: "Dora Greenfield left her husband because she was afraid of him. She decided six months later to return to him for the same reason."
This is the first Iris Murdoch I've read; if the others are anything like this one, I'll read those, too. Murdoch's telling of the events of a sticky hot summer in a religious community surrounding a convent in Gloucestershire is tactile, alluring, and full of wit and insig...more
This is the first Iris Murdoch I've read; if the others are anything like this one, I'll read those, too. Murdoch's telling of the events of a sticky hot summer in a religious community surrounding a convent in Gloucestershire is tactile, alluring, and full of wit and insig...more
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One of dame Iris's more accessible books - it has a compelling mystery around which her themes revolve.
A lay community of mixed-up people is encamped outside Imber Abbey, home of an order of sequestered nuns. A new bell is being installed when suddenly the old bell, a legendary symbol of religion and magic, is rediscovered. And then things begin to change. Meanwhile the wise old Abbess watches and prays and exercises discreet authority. And everyone, or almost everyone, hopes to be saved, ...more
A lay community of mixed-up people is encamped outside Imber Abbey, home of an order of sequestered nuns. A new bell is being installed when suddenly the old bell, a legendary symbol of religion and magic, is rediscovered. And then things begin to change. Meanwhile the wise old Abbess watches and prays and exercises discreet authority. And everyone, or almost everyone, hopes to be saved, ...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in March, 2008
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Read in March, 2008
I tend to love the idea of Iris Murdoch more than I do her fiction, but that won't stop me from reading more of it. The characters don't compel me, though the situations do (in this one, the re-discovery of a medieval bell by a lay community outside an enclosed order of nuns), and there's a sweet awkwardness to her prose and sprightliness of imagination that's difficult to resist. She seems to be enjoying herself more than I am most of the time, but you have to admire a self-proclaimed moralis...more
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Read in November, 2007
I hated--HATED--this book. Reading it was a drudgery and I only did it because I'm attempting to finish the 1001 Books list. The foreshadowing is overdone and too obvious, and the style completely wrecks any hint of a good plot. And come on now, is everyone in this book secretly in love with everyone else? Everything here is taken a bit too far...I don't recommend it to anyone and I will certainly never force myself to read it again. But ugh...four more Iris Murdoch to read for the list...H...more
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like brokeback mountain, but british, and better. in retrospect i do declare this was the best book i read in 2007! i find i keep thinking about it. i think of the characters living in fear and not having the courage to act out of love, and i think i don't want to be like that. what a good book, that can scare you into bravery.
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Such a great book! Second time around was no less impressive. Iris Murdoch tells a big story with a lot of plot, and it all just ropes you in the events as they unravel. I think Dora might be one of my favorite character in literature because she is self-doubting and extravagant and forgetful and real.
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Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men? Iris Murdoch, that's who. Not even evil as much as, say, a lifetime of chaos stemming from your stupid mistakes or the kind of cancerous secret that you don't wake up from. It was so brilliantly written that it hurt.
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If you haven't read anything by Iris Murdoch yet, and you don't quite know how to spend your summer, start with The Bell. The scenery is inviting, and the struggles of the characters are a perfect blend of humor, humiliation and profound change.
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I love this book. If only I could write sentences like the sentences in The Bell. Pure and simple and packed with a punch. Why didn't I give it 5 stars? Hmm, good question. I suppose the story didn't rock my world, but the writing did.
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in some ways my favorite of the iris murdoch books i've read. everything i've read of hers involves swimming (in the sea in The Sea, The Sea, in the lake in The Bell, in the river in Under the Net). can anyone tell me why?
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Read in March, 2003
I like Iris Murdoch books, yet two months after I read them, I can remember NOTHING about them, other than her characters usually think too much.
I'll instead take this opportunity to tell you to watch the movie Iris.
I'll instead take this opportunity to tell you to watch the movie Iris.
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Read in September, 2007
If you're looking for an easy introduction to Iris Murdoch, this is your book. Although it takes place decades ago, The Bell contains some fascinating, and very pertinent, commentary on modern religion.
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I remember reading this book, but I don't remember too much about it. I know there was a bell submerged in a lake and people were trying to remove it - very symbolic of something or another.
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Read in January, 2006
I read this book after seeing the movie Iris about the author. I really loved the writing in this book, and I thought the imagery was amazing. It's a dense read, but really intriguing.
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I loved this book when I read it -- a provocative meditation on the virtures of ignorance and knowledge. I'm not sure that it changed my mind, but it did make me think.
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Read in June, 2007
i love murdoch but i have a hard time really describing why. this is def up there with my favorites tho..the sea, the sea and sacred and profane love machine.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 4.03 (304 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.91 (288 ratings) number of reviews: 29
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"I know how much you grieve over those who are under your care: those you try to help and fail, those you cannot help. Have faith in God and remember that He will is His own way and in His own time complete what we so poorly attempt. Often we do not achieve for others the good that we intend but achieve something, something that goes on from our effort. Good is an overflow. Where we generously and sincerely intend it, we are engaged in a work of creation which may be mysterious even to ourselves - and because it is mysterious we may be afraid of it. But this should not make us draw back. God can always show us, if we will, a higher and a better war; and we can only learn to love by loving. Remember that all our failures are ultimately failures in love. Imperfect love must not be condemned and rejected but made perfect. The way is always forward, never back."
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