Susan's review
The Sea, The Sea (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)
by Iris Murdoch, Mary Kinzie
I really should NOT comment on your review, which I am sure is quite valid. However, I probably won't get to this novel until the 3rd week in June I will reserve my comments until then. My questions to you are what makes this a "modern", "Modernist" or couched in the domain of "modernity"?? Is it in the character's vague feeling of dislocation of identity or of voice? Since he is outside of the familiar domain of the theater, how is the confrontation of himself challenge or alter his preconceived notions of his identity? How has his self inflicted "exile" force him to renegotiate his relationships with time and place? Are these fair questions to ask? Are they framed in any coherent way? I ask because you seem to have gotten so far into this piece. More over, this seminar I have on 20th Century literature and how we conceptualize "modern", "modernism, "Modern(ist)" and "modernity"has me thinking about literature with a completely different set of eyes--and I am grateful for it.
I am just sorry this course is coming to an end. My only consolation is that possibly the conversation with my professor may continue. I am certain at least I can continue it with you???
Susan's review
The Sea, The Sea (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) by Iris Murdoch, Mary Kinzie
Susan's review
rating:
bookshelves:
started--couldn-t-finish
This is a story about a retired theatre director who moves to the sea to compose his memoirs. The first 100 pages I found an enjoyable portrait of a self-aggrandizing man facing recrudescent fears of banality and curious glitches of supernatural phenomena. By page 150 I realized the author had him in a didactic pillory. The style was also a bit prosaic for my tastes. Perhaps I'll return to it one day, but I'm currently on a merciless mission for aesthetic bliss.
I really should NOT comment on your review, which I am sure is quite valid. However, I probably won't get to this novel until the 3rd week in June I will reserve my comments until then. My questions to you are what makes this a "modern", "Modernist" or couched in the domain of "modernity"?? Is it in the character's vague feeling of dislocation of identity or of voice? Since he is outside of the familiar domain of the theater, how is the confrontation of himself challenge or alter his preconceived notions of his identity? How has his self inflicted "exile" force him to renegotiate his relationships with time and place? Are these fair questions to ask? Are they framed in any coherent way? I ask because you seem to have gotten so far into this piece. More over, this seminar I have on 20th Century literature and how we conceptualize "modern", "modernism, "Modern(ist)" and "modernity"has me thinking about literature with a completely different set of eyes--and I am grateful for it.
I am just sorry this course is coming to an end. My only consolation is that possibly the conversation with my professor may continue. I am certain at least I can continue it with you???