The Unicorn
by Iris Murdoch
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
discuss this book
There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »
friend reviews (0)
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
lists with this book
Where's the love? Add this book to your favorite list.
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 177)
My theory is that anyone who reads this novel without first seeing the name of the author, would recognise just how bad it is.
Did anyone get anything out of this book about power, guilt or captivity? This book failed not only in capturing truth about any of these subjects, but also in producing convincing character studies. Marian is a husk, and while Effingham is more complicated, the author doesn't place him in a setting where his character can be examined.
The second half of the book ...more
Did anyone get anything out of this book about power, guilt or captivity? This book failed not only in capturing truth about any of these subjects, but also in producing convincing character studies. Marian is a husk, and while Effingham is more complicated, the author doesn't place him in a setting where his character can be examined.
The second half of the book ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2005
Elizabeth, isn't this the book we read aloud to each other on that camping trip in the Owens Valley? Boy, was that surreal!! Almost anything would have seemed surreal in those mountains and deserts, but this tale of gothic castles, craggly cliffs, and wet marshy bogs - the surreality was really over the top.
This has got to be one of the weirder novels I've ever read, although I'm not exactly a connossieur of "weird," I admit (Elizabeth is). But, hey, both the trip and the book were...more
This has got to be one of the weirder novels I've ever read, although I'm not exactly a connossieur of "weird," I admit (Elizabeth is). But, hey, both the trip and the book were...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Has a copy to sell/swap
—
Read in December, 2007
recommends it for:
people who want a waste of time
There are so many gaps and and pointless thoughts in here to make you want to throw it out the window. It should have been more of everything it wasn't. It reminds me of those bubble brainstorms that I was taught to do in 3rd grade. The only reason I read completely through it was a hope of mine that the story would all come together, but I was left dissappointed.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2008
Kate recommended this one to me as a starter Iris Mudoch. So far, I'm really enjoying it.
ETA:
In the end, I'm glad I read it, but I'm not sure I'm in an Iris Murdoch place in my life right now.
ETA:
In the end, I'm glad I read it, but I'm not sure I'm in an Iris Murdoch place in my life right now.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
3 comments
Please read the small pocketbook paperback edition with rounded corners. Lots of turned screws and gothic castle-y places. This was my first Iris Murdoch book. I would lose my Murdoch-virginity to this book again, if I had to do it all over again. Why doesn't anyone ever talk about this book? Why?
Like this review?
yes
1 comments
Read in August, 2007
I'd seen this book on our shelf for a couple of years now (Tim must have picked it up at a library book sale), and finally picked it up a week ago. I was surprised at how quickly I engaged with the story, and its surprisingly dark twists on the Gothic novel. A good read, as it were.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
My first (and so far, only) Murdoch novel. I was pleasantly surprised by the twist after the happy ending, which I since learned is basically Murdoch's central philosophy. Well done, applying your philosophy in an amusing, rather than stern, way.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Like a mix of PG Wodehouse and English country house mystery on West End stage, with religious symbolism (unicorn=purity) thrown in. Unsettlingly creepy, but subtle and thought-provoking.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2008
recommended to Carole by:
Megha (with reservations)
A very well written, intriguing yet disappointing book. The first half was so well written that I continued to find something that never happened. I will read Murdoch again.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in November, 2006
I almost gave up on this strange gothic mystery/philosophic novel until the chapter where everyone turned gay. Iris, you know how to keep me reading.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
recommends it for:
Nobody
I've heard a lot of good things about Iris Murdoch & this is the only book I've read by her. It was not a very good first impression. It was mind numbing and depressing; I got so fed up with the characters that it was actually satisfying when almost all of them bit the dust at the books conclusion.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
6 comments
Read in July, 2007
The end falls apart a bit, but Iris is a hero of mine and the novel is a successful bit of gothic storytelling.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Fantasy; British countryside metaphysical journey of redemption and tragedy; the necessity of love and faith.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2008
recommended to Jenna by:
found it in my aunt's bookshelf
A bunch of sexually repressed, drunk, bisexuals with nothing much to do in an isolated English mansion...
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2007
Is it fantasy? Mystery? Romance? My first Iris Murdoch--now I'm on to my second.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Murdoch's writing is to be admired, but this is a slow story.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
