The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch

Murdoch’s Booker winner begins as a memoir of a retired actor, Charles Arrowby, who has moved from London to live by the coast.  He records his daily life, including his particular simple style of eating, and reflects on times and people past.  This gives the foundation on which to build the plot that unfolds which is based around the discovery of his childhood sweetheart, who had disappeared from his life, is living in the coastal village with her husband.  There ensues an almost farce-like storyline with various old friends of Charles turning up with larger than life characters who partake in the drama that unfolds.  However, there is a sinister undertone touching on domestic abuse within the marriage.  Charles therefore feels as though he is rescuing her when he kidnaps her but it is all rather uncomfortable as she doesn’t want to be rescued. 

Murdoch’s descriptions and depictions of the setting and the characters are excellent and have great immediacy.  However, I did find the internal dialogue of Charles and his introspections rather self-indulgent and they become rather tiresome.  His deliberations are extensive and lead to confusion and questionable decisions and conclusions which lead to further complications.  The relationships between the various characters are rather dysfunctional and far from conventional, with all of the marriages being seemingly unhappy due to affairs and occurrences.  There seems a underlying message that one can never truly know another person, echoing Shakespeare’s “All the world’s a stage”, heightened by the fact that many of the book’s characters are “players” by profession and they seem to thrive on the intrigue created by the various dramas.

The sense of unknowing is highlighted by a theme of spirituality running through the novel as Charles’ cousin has Buddhist beliefs and there are various unexplained phenomena that occur in the course of the story.  Moreover, there is significant interaction between the characters and nature, demonstrated by the behaviour and sounds of the sea and the impact of the weather which seems to influence events.

There were really enjoyable elements to this book, with anticipation built up about what was going to happen next.  However, these positive aspects were diluted somewhat by the endless internal monologue of the protagonist.  However, I am looking forward to reading other books by Iris Murdoch, which includes a copy of ‘The Bell’ which I’ve had in my ‘To Read’ pile for a while…  Not long now before I am unleashed upon literature beyond the realm of the Bookers…!