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  <title><![CDATA[The Black Prince (Penguin Classics)]]></title>
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  <description><![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]></description>
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        <name><![CDATA[Iris Murdoch]]></name>
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      <review>
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    <name><![CDATA[Maureen]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Canada]]></location>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
  </title>
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  <average_rating>3.91</average_rating>
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  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded. <br/><br/> &quot;Fertile invention is put to the service of an expansive sense of character; and since the book also has Miss Murdoch's usual narrative energy and intellectual weight, it is the best novel she has written in years.&quot; (<em>The New York Times Book Review</em>)]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
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    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[ben, who will either love it, or hate it, but might find it of value in either case.]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at>Mon Dec 22 21:38:04 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Nov 30 17:43:27 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Dec 22 21:38:04 -0800 2008</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[once again iris murdoch makes my head explode. each time i think i'm in the wrong place when i start: everything seems so conventional and normal, even boring: so british, and calling, and tea cups and all, and then, oh then, it just sort of explodes into sparks of clarity dancing around sordidness ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/38980347">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/38980347]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/38980347]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>45959550</id>
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    <name><![CDATA[Christin]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Chapel Hill, NC]]></location>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
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  <average_rating>3.91</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>345</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
</book>

    <rating>1</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Feb 10 13:36:22 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Feb 10 13:50:44 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Granted, I did not pick this book, but I did blindly and eagerly consent based on the fact that I had heard of Murdoch's work and as a result of my experience with other British/Irish women novelists being so rich and rewarding, assumed I would love it.  Oh, folly!  Iris Murdoch is a philosopher (an...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45959550">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45959550]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45959550]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>11276322</id>
    <user>
    <id>121019</id>
    <name><![CDATA[jordan]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Portland, OR]]></location>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
  </title>
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  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>380</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>1</votes>
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  <read_at>Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Dec 30 09:33:42 -0800 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Nov 30 16:05:14 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I wish I had read this (as well as <em>The Sea, The Sea</em>) my last year of undergrad, while I was taking intro philosophy courses and could better synthesize Murdoch with moral philosophy and Plato.  Or, I wish I remembered all of it.  Or had time to reread it...at least the <em>Phaedrus</em>.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/11276322]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/11276322]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>4838645</id>
    <user>
    <id>82944</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Bob]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[New York, NY]]></location>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
  </title>
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  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120182.The_Black_Prince</link>
  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>380</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Aug 20 18:37:36 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Aug 20 18:52:34 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Martin Amis (in his more or less essential collection &quot;The War Against Cliché: Essays and Reviews 1971-2000&quot;) refers to this as one of her best. In it (or with it), Murdoch plunges full-scale into the realm of the Nabokovian unreliable narrator and even, I think, tips her hat directly to ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4838645">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4838645]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4838645]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>63316276</id>
    <user>
    <id>804942</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Ali]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Birmingham, The United Kingdom]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/804942-ali]]></link>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
  </title>
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  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448s/120182.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120182.The_Black_Prince</link>
  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>380</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
</book>

    <rating>1</rating>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Jul 13 13:10:27 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Jul 17 14:00:50 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I have tried to convince myself I am enjoying this one but I am<br/>not - it is utterly tedious and I want to throw it at the wall. It is putting me<br/>off IM for life. Maybe I am just in the wrong frame of mind - but I feel like I<br/>have wasted this week trying to get into this one and failin...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/63316276">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/63316276]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/63316276]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>71709642</id>
    <user>
    <id>2752944</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Corinne]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Bristol, CT]]></location>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
  </title>
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  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448s/120182.jpg</small_image_url>
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  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>380</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at>Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Sep 18 15:41:59 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Sep 18 15:41:59 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Murdoch has a lot of fun with her readers.  The body is quite heavy and thought provoking, but it is the end that lingers.  Any reader must re-read the forward after finishing the book, and then continue to mull it all over.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/71709642]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/71709642]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
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    <name><![CDATA[Tara]]></name>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
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  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>380</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
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    <rating>5</rating>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Feb 22 08:21:13 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Apr 15 18:33:17 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This book is fantastic. It uses some pretty clever literary devices, but instead of it all being the tool of some pretentious artist, it's kind of about something bigger. It's great. The scene where one of the characters flips out and falls on the floor is tremendous. Iris Murdoch has some books whi...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/16080531">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/16080531]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/16080531]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>20135438</id>
    <user>
    <id>1078977</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Marie]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Cambridge, MA]]></location>
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  <id type="integer">120182</id>
  <isbn>0142180114</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142180112</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">30</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448m/120182.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448s/120182.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120182.The_Black_Prince</link>
  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>380</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
</book>

    <rating>0</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Mon Apr 14 10:39:54 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Apr 14 10:39:54 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[One of the best books by one of the best novelists of the 20th century. The story of the heinously bitter and unreliable Bradley Pearson is rich with complexity of character and situation. Between the bitterness and the self-justification, answers to the questions about &quot;what really happened&quot;...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20135438">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20135438]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20135438]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>16001378</id>
    <user>
    <id>927175</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Elizabeth]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Flagstaff, AZ]]></location>
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  <isbn>0142180114</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142180112</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">30</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448m/120182.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448s/120182.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120182.The_Black_Prince</link>
  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>380</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Feb 10 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Feb 21 10:46:36 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Feb 21 10:50:04 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This book sat on my shelf for 6 months.  Finally, in an attempt to clean out my house and return over-due borrowed items, I picked it up.  And didn't put it down!  This book covers the entire gamut of the feelings of love, from initial infatuation, the spiritual well-being of love's first throes, an...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/16001378">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/16001378]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/16001378]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>12135140</id>
    <user>
    <id>760831</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Donna]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Halifax, Canada]]></location>
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  <isbn>0142180114</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142180112</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">30</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448m/120182.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448s/120182.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120182.The_Black_Prince</link>
  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>380</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Jan 10 02:37:20 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Jan 10 02:37:37 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Loved this.  First half hilarious romantic comedy, light-hearted, silly, fun.  Second half deadly serious romantic tragedy.  Well done.  <br/>	<br/>FAVOURITE QUOTE:  “Eternally you escape my embrace.  Art cannot assimilate you nor thought digest you.  I do not now know, or want to know, anything...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/12135140">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/12135140]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/12135140]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>709379</id>
    <user>
    <id>31502</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Kate]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[London, The United Kingdom]]></location>
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  <isbn>0142180114</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142180112</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">30</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448m/120182.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448s/120182.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120182.The_Black_Prince</link>
  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>380</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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        <shelf name="own" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Apr 13 12:53:32 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Jun 07 10:53:14 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Murdoch is a pretty amazing writer.  She manages to juggle lots of Big Themes at once, but elegantly, and although I occasionally felt a bit out of my depth (she's incredibly intellectual, sometimes densely philosophical), there were other moments of sheer mirth, or intense emotion, that kept me in ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/709379">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/709379]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/709379]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>5439389</id>
    <user>
    <id>13449</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Izzy]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Brooklyn, NY]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/13449-izzy]]></link>
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  <isbn>0142180114</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142180112</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">30</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448m/120182.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448s/120182.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120182.The_Black_Prince</link>
  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>380</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Aug 31 13:47:26 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Dec 17 08:07:41 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[A bit like Lolita, if Evelyn Waugh were a woman and had written it.  The book jacket called it a thriller, which I didn't believe at first because it seemed both too mannered and too farcical (there's a lot of scenes in which people toss other people's belongings out the window) but ultimately it di...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5439389">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5439389]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5439389]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>42559167</id>
    <user>
    <id>1091786</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Kelly]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Minneapolis, MN]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1091786-kelly]]></link>
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  <isbn>0142180114</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142180112</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">30</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448m/120182.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448s/120182.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120182.The_Black_Prince</link>
  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>380</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
</book>

    <rating>1</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Sat Jan 10 08:02:19 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Feb 10 21:07:29 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[This one didn't grab me like other Murdoch novels have. The narrator--a very unhappy, critical guy--made it very difficult for me to like any of the characters.  ]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42559167]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/42559167]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>30346025</id>
    <user>
    <id>142980</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Rachel]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Provo, UT]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/142980-rachel]]></link>
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  <isbn>0142180114</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142180112</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">30</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448m/120182.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448s/120182.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120182.The_Black_Prince</link>
  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>380</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[Mark]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Sat Aug 16 20:11:33 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Jan 13 11:05:31 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[So, a little bit into this book I was thinking of giving up on it, but I'm glad I didn't... <em>The Black Prince</em> really picks up in part two. The characters aren't exactly loveable, but the ending post scripts calling into doubt the narrator's reliability (although, granted, not as subtly as Nabokov's <em>P...</em><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/30346025">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/30346025]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/30346025]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>14199136</id>
    <user>
    <id>44640</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Lillian]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Richmond, VA]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/44640-lillian]]></link>
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  <isbn>0142180114</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142180112</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">30</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448m/120182.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448s/120182.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120182.The_Black_Prince</link>
  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>380</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
</book>

    <rating>0</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
            <shelf name="currently-reading" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Thu Jan 31 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Jan 31 14:48:14 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Jan 31 16:10:56 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Hilarious so far, and plus, I want to be Iris Murdoch because when she got married they bought a country house and were &quot;famous for their happiness and domestic squalor. Stuart Hampshire remarked of their appearances together that they reminded him of Hansel and Gretel.&quot;  Amazing.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/14199136]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/14199136]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>32238263</id>
    <user>
    <id>1449267</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Lauren]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Cuyahoga Falls, OH]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1449267-lauren]]></link>
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    <book>
  <id type="integer">120182</id>
  <isbn>0142180114</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142180112</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">30</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448m/120182.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448s/120182.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120182.The_Black_Prince</link>
  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>380</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Sep 07 06:18:51 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Apr 20 18:59:06 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Was a bit intimidated by the thought of this, my first Murdoch, but found her really fluent reading -- engrossing, sinister tale, maybe will be my choice for best use of the 'unreliable narrator,' a sometimes tiresome device. Every sentence delicious.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32238263]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32238263]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>3273502</id>
    <user>
    <id>196037</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Jrobertus]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Austin, TX]]></location>
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  <id type="integer">120182</id>
  <isbn>0142180114</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142180112</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">30</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448m/120182.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448s/120182.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120182.The_Black_Prince</link>
  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>380</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
</book>

    <rating>0</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at></read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Jul 19 11:02:50 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Jul 19 11:02:50 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[i only read about half of this novel.  she is an acknowledged story teller and wants, here, to deal with weighty issues of mortality and art, but i did not  care a lick for the characters and so the vehicle went no where.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3273502]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3273502]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>23244090</id>
    <user>
    <id>1196930</id>
    <name><![CDATA[thecrx]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Brooklyn, NY]]></location>
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  <text_reviews_count type="integer">30</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448m/120182.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448s/120182.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120182.The_Black_Prince</link>
  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>380</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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        <shelf name="read" />
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Tue Jul 08 15:40:42 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu May 29 13:37:13 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Jul 08 15:40:42 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[My 5th Murdoch, and really hitting the spot. During the Pale Fire-ish forward I thought I wouldn't be able to get into it, but now things are unfolding with the usual delicious brilliance. ]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/23244090]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/23244090]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>16283865</id>
    <user>
    <id>938311</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Tommy]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Takoma Park, MD]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/938311-tommy]]></link>
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  <isbn>0142180114</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142180112</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">30</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448m/120182.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448s/120182.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120182.The_Black_Prince</link>
  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>380</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
</book>

    <rating>2</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="read" />
          </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Tue Jan 16 00:00:00 -0800 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Feb 24 18:39:36 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Feb 24 19:38:00 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Murdoch is a difficult author for me. I have trouble caring about any of her characters and don't like her style, but somehow when I finish I'm strangely satisfied.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/16283865]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/16283865]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>5706185</id>
    <user>
    <id>326967</id>
    <name><![CDATA[Barbara]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Brooklyn, NY]]></location>
    <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/326967-barbara-galletly]]></link>
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  <isbn>0142180114</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780142180112</isbn13>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">30</text_reviews_count>
  <title>
    <![CDATA[The Black Prince]]>
  </title>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448m/120182.jpg</image_url>
  <small_image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171821448s/120182.jpg</small_image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120182.The_Black_Prince</link>
  <average_rating>3.94</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>380</ratings_count>
  <description>
    <![CDATA[Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.]]>
  </description>
  <published>1973</published>
</book>

    <rating>3</rating>
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  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Wed Oct 24 17:11:54 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Wed Sep 05 08:41:45 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Oct 09 10:56:25 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[it takes a long time to get through a murdoch, but i think it's really going to pay off sometime this month when i finish.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5706185]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5706185]]></link>
</review>
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