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Iris Murdoch

    15 de julio de 1919 – 8 de febrero de 1999

    La novelista británica de origen irlandés Iris Murdoch exploró cuestiones éticas y morales cotidianas, a menudo a través de la lente del mito. Como escritora meticulosa, protegió famosamente sus manuscritos de cambios editoriales. Sus novelas profundizan en las complejidades de la moralidad humana y el libre albedrío, ambientadas en mundos vívidamente realizados. Murdoch aspiraba a conectar con un amplio público a través de narrativas cautivadoras, profundidad filosófica y la atmósfera única de sus paisajes ficticios.

    Iris Murdoch
    The Message to the Planet
    The sovereignty of Good
    Living on Paper
    Existentialists and Mystics
    Impedimenta - 204: Monjas y soldados
    Una Derrota Bastante Honrosa
    • Una Derrota Bastante Honrosa

      • 435 páginas
      • 16 horas de lectura

      Hilda y Rupert Foster son un matrimonio ya maduro, feliz y acomodado, de la clase media inglesa, que se apresta a celebrar su 20º aniversario de boda, convencido de que pocas parejas han logrado una compenetración y amor mutuo como el que ellos mantienen, a pesar del paso de los años. Hilda es una mujer sensata que disfruta como ama de casa, y Robert un funcionario con visos de filósofo a punto de terminar un libro. La fiesta de conmemoración de su aniversario, a la que solo asisten Simon, el homosexual hermano menor de Rupert, con Alex, su actual pareja, se verá interrumpida por la llegada de la hermana menor de Hilda, Morgan que, tras haber abandonado a su marido hace ya un tiempo, regresa ahora de Estados Unidos destrozada por la ruptura de su relación amorosa con Julius, un amigo común a todo el círculo de los Foster. Julius, por su parte, también ha regresado a Inglaterra, y se deja ver en el entorno de sus amigos. Personaje ambiguo y mefistofélico, urdirá un juego que, en realidad, se convierte en un experimento cruel para todos los afectados. Como en otras ocasiones, la autora aborda la fragilidad de los lazos amorosos y las uniones matrimoniales, así como la vanidad y la capacidad de autoengaño de los seres humanos.

      Una Derrota Bastante Honrosa
      4,0
    • Impedimenta - 204: Monjas y soldados

      • 600 páginas
      • 21 horas de lectura

      Set in London and in the South of France, this brilliantly structured novel centers on two women: Gertrude Openshaw, bereft from the recent death of her husband, yet awakening to passion; and Anne Cavidge, who has returned in doubt from many years in a nunnery, only to encounter her personal Christ. A fascinating array of men and women hover in urgent orbit around them: the "Count," a lonely Pole obsessively reliving his &eacutemigré father's patriotic anguish; Tim Reede, a seedy yet appealing artist, and Daisy, his mistress; the manipulative Mrs. Mount; and many other magically drawn characters moving between desire and obligation, guilt and joy. This edition of Nuns and Soldiers includes a new introduction by renowned religious historian Karen Armstrong.

      Impedimenta - 204: Monjas y soldados
      3,6
    • Existentialists and Mystics

      • 576 páginas
      • 21 horas de lectura

      Best known as the author of twenty-six novels, Iris Murdoch also made significant contributions to the fields of ethics and aesthetics. Collected here for the first time in one volume are her most influential literary and philosophical essays. Tracing Murdoch's journey to a modern Platonism, this volume includes incisive evaluations of the thought and writings of T. S. Eliot, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Simone de Beauvior, and Elias Canetti, as well as key texts on the continuing importance of the sublime, on the concept of love, and the role great literature can play in curing the ills of philosophy. Existentialists and Mystics not only illuminates the mysticism and intellectual underpinnings of Murdoch's novels, but confirms her major contributions to twentieth-century thought.

      Existentialists and Mystics
      4,2
    • Living on Paper

      • 688 páginas
      • 25 horas de lectura

      'Love is the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real' This selection of Iris Murdoch's most interesting and important letters gives us a living portrait of one of the twentieth century's greatest writers and thinkers. Here for the first time is Murdoch in her own words, from her schoolgirl days to her last years. The letters show a great mind at work - we watch the young Murdoch struggling with philosophical issues, often unsure of herself; witness her anguish when a novel won't come together; observe her involved in world events and exploring sensuality. They are full of sharp humour and irreverence. They also reveal her personal life, the subject of much speculation, in all its intriguing complexity: her emotional hunger and her tendency to live on the edge of what was socially acceptable. Gradually, we see how this fed into her novels' plots and characters, despite her claims that her fiction was not drawn from reality. Quite apart from giving these valuable insights, her letters bring us closer than ever before to Iris Murdoch as a person. They make for an extraordinary and intimate reading experience: she is wonderful company.

      Living on Paper
      4,1
    • Iris Murdoch once observed: 'philosophy is often a matter of finding occasions on which to say the obvious'. What was obvious to Murdoch, and to all those who read her work, is that Good transcends everything - even God. Throughout her distinguished and prolific writing career, she explored questions of Good and Bad, myth and morality. The framework for Murdoch's questions - and her own conclusions - can be found here.

      The sovereignty of Good
      4,1
    • The Message to the Planet

      • 563 páginas
      • 20 horas de lectura

      Iris Murdoch's 24th novel, a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller, explores the meaning of life in a story of love and betrayal, faith and doubt. "Murdoch works with an intellectual daring most writers only dream of."--The Philadelphia Inquirer

      The Message to the Planet
      3,8
    • The Sandcastle

      • 320 páginas
      • 12 horas de lectura

      A sparklingly profound novel about the conflict between love and loyalty The quiet life of schoolmaster Bill Mor and his wife Nan is disturbed when a young woman, Rain Carter, arrives at the school to paint the portrait of the headmaster. Mor, hoping to enter politics, becomes aware of new desires. A complex battle develops, involving love, guilt, magic, art, and political ambition. Mor’s teenage children and their mother fight discreetly and ruthlessly against the invader. The Head, himself disenchanted, advises Mor to seize the girl and run. The final decision rests with Rain. Can a “great love” be purchased at too high a price?

      The Sandcastle
      3,9
    • The Black Prince

      • 432 páginas
      • 16 horas de lectura

      Finding himself surrounded by predatory friends and relations - his ex-wife, her delinquent brother, a younger, deplorably successful writer, Arnold Baffin, Baffin's restless wife and engaging daughter - Bradley attempts to escape.

      The Black Prince
      4,0
    • Charles Arrowby, a well-known theatre director, has come to live in a lonely house beside the sea. However, his longed for life of simplicity and solitude is shortlived: the house appears haunted, a strange creature emerges from the sea, women from whom he intended to escape, reappear. The Sea, The Sea is a remarkable book, distinguished by the power and depth of Miss Murdoch's imaginative vision, a novel which has deservedly received high critical and popular acclaim.

      The sea, the sea
      4,0
    • The Sacred and Profane Love Machine

      • 368 páginas
      • 13 horas de lectura

      Swinging between his wife and his mistress in the sacred and profane love machine and between the charms of morality and the excitements of sin, the psychotherapist, Blaise Gavender, sometimes wishes he could divide himself in two. Instead, he lets loose misery and confusion and—for the spectators at any rate—a morality play, rich in reflections upon the paradoxes of human life and the nature of the battle between sacred and profane love.

      The Sacred and Profane Love Machine
      3,9
    • The Bell

      • 368 páginas
      • 13 horas de lectura

      Charming, indolent Dora arrives in their midst, and half-unwittingly conjures these submerged things to the surface.WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY SARAH PERRYVINTAGE CLASSICS MURDOCH: Funny, subversive, fearless and fiercely intelligent, Iris Murdoch was one of the great writers of the twentieth century.

      The Bell
      3,9
    • Edward gives his ingenuous friend, Mark, a drugged sandwich, a prank which ends tragically. Edward's subsequent guilt, self-hatred, and crisis of conscience are the focal point of the story.

      The good apprentice
      3,9
    • This is the story of the comic, relentless struggle for survival of Austin Gibson Grey, the accidental man. In this role we meet Dorina, Austin's estranged wife, Mitzi, his alcoholic landlady, and a selection of other women who involve themselves in Austin's fate, with hilarious and appalling results. schovat popis

      An Accidental Man
      3,8
    • Nuns And Soldiers

      • 544 páginas
      • 20 horas de lectura

      Gertrude has lost her husband and Anne, an ex-nun, her God. They plan to live together and do good works. The 'Count', a Polish man in exile watches over Gertrude with loving patience. Tim, a failed painter, plans with his punk girlfriend to live off his rich friends. Who will judge whom in this intricate pattern of love and deceit? schovat popis

      Nuns And Soldiers
      3,8
    • The Philosopher's Pupil

      • 560 páginas
      • 20 horas de lectura

      At an imaginary English spa, Professor Rozanov settles down to write his great book and his former student, George McCaffrey, decides their teacher-pupil relationship is a life-long one

      The Philosopher's Pupil
      3,9
    • The Nice and the Good

      • 368 páginas
      • 13 horas de lectura

      Iris Murdoch's richly peopled novel revolves round a happily married couple, Kate and Octavian, and the friends of all ages attached to their household in Dorset. The novel deals with love in its two aspects, the self-gratifying and the impersonal; - The Nice And The Good - as they are embodied in a fascinating array of paired characters. The Nice And The Good leads through stress and terror to a joyous and compassionate Midsummer Nights Dream conclusion, in which the couples all sort themselves out neatly and omnia vincit amor.

      The Nice and the Good
      3,9
    • The Time of the Angels

      • 368 páginas
      • 13 horas de lectura

      Carel Fisher is a priest who is experiencing doubt and beginning to feel hate for God. The novel explores the forces of good and evil, and studies a religious man transferring his faith from one force to the other.

      The Time of the Angels
      3,8
    • Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals

      • 520 páginas
      • 19 horas de lectura

      The acclaimed author of The Good Apprentice draws on the entire history of philosophy--and particularly on Plato and Kant--to formulate her own model of morality and demonstrate how thoroughly it is bound up with our daily lives. "An utterly absorbing book".--The Wall Street Journal.

      Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals
      3,9
    • Full of suspense, humor, and symbolism, this magnificently crafted and magical novel replays biblical and medieval themes in contemporary London. An attempt by the sharp, feral, and uncommonly intelligent Lucas Graffe to murder his sensual and charismatic half-brother Clement is interrupted by a stranger—whom Lucas strikes and leaves for dead. When the stranger mysteriously reappears, with specific demands for reparation, the Graffes’ circle of idiosyncratic family and friends is disrupted—for the demands are bizarre, intrusive, and ultimately fatal.

      The green knight
      3,9
    • Bruno's Dream

      • 320 páginas
      • 12 horas de lectura

        An old man struggles to make one last connection with his estranged son, before it’s too late   The elderly Bruno knows he is not far from death. One of his last wishes is to contact his estranged son, Miles, whose marriage to an Indian woman drove a decades-long wedge between father and son. When Miles comes back into his father’s life, Bruno must confront his guilt, and his family must overcome the tension that grew during his long absence.   Set against an enchanting London backdrop, Murdoch’s complex family drama is a poignant exploration of love, remorse, and the power of emotional redemption.  

      Bruno's Dream
      3,8
    • After his wife's death, Hugh contemplates returning to his former mistress. Randall's young daughter, Miranda, is adored by her Australian cousin Penn, but has attachments elsewhere. Impelled by affection, lust and illusion, these characters search for love within a tightly woven web. schovat popis

      An Unofficial Rose
      3,8
    • Henry and Cato is the story of two prodigal sons. Henry returns from self-imposed exile in America to an unforeseen inheritance of wealth and land in England. He is also returning to his mother. His friend Cato is struggling with two ambiguous intermingled passions, one for a God who may or may not exist, the other for a petty criminal who may or may not be capable of salvation. Cato's father and his sister Colette wait anxiously to welcome Cato back to sanity after his dubious escapades. Henry meanwhile confronts his mother, the unappeased furies of childish resentment, and various possibilities of revenge. He also wants to save his soul, and to save Stephanie, a tragic adventuress and an unexpected part of his inheritance. Henry's cool mother watches, Cato's impetuous sister intervenes. Can love here become a saving force, or is it condemned to be possessive and demonic? Beautiful Joe thinks that a determined man with a gun or a knife can get the money he wants and the girls as well; but perhaps he too is anxious to save his soul. A passionate pure devotion, like that of a 'young knight', inadvertently provokes the crisis. Blackmail, violence, and homicide take a hand, and both Henry and Cato return home at last.

      Henry and Cato
      3,8
    • Examining the trials and tribulations of Hilary Burde as he attempts to recover his soul from the misery of his troubled past, this novel is a complex exploration of the possibility and meaning of redemption, the nature of human memory, and the chances of love for the tarnished soul

      A Word Child
      3,8
    • Jake Donaghue, garrulous artist, meets Hugo Belfounder, silent philosopher.Jake, hack writer and sponger, now penniless flat-hunter, seeks out an old girlfriend, Anna Quentin, and her glamorous actress sister, Sadie. He resumes acquaintance with formidable Hugo, whose ‘philosophy’ he once presumptuously dared to interpret. These meetings involve Jake and his eccentric servant-companion, Finn, in a series of adventures that include the kidnapping of a film-star dog, and a political riot in a film-set of ancient Rome. Jake, fascinated, longs to learn Hugo’s secret. Perhaps Hugo’s secret is Hugo himself? Admonished, enlightened, Jake hopes at last to become a real writer.

      Under the net
      3,8
    • The Severed Head

      • 207 páginas
      • 8 horas de lectura

      As macabre as a Jacobean tragedy, as frivolous as a Restoration comedy, Iris Murdoch's fifth novel takes sombre themes - adultery, incest, castration, violence and suicide - and yet succeeds in making of them a book that is brilliantly enjoyable.

      The Severed Head
      3,7
    • Charles Arrowby, after retiring from the London theatre, moves to a remote seaside house to escape his tumultuous love life. However, he unexpectedly encounters his childhood sweetheart and becomes determined to disrupt her marriage.

      The Sea, the Sea. Winner of the Booker Prize 1978
      3,7
    • As macabre as a Jacobean tragedy, as frivolous as a Restoration comedy, Iris Murdoch's fifth novel takes sombre themes - adultery, incest, castration, violence and suicide - and yet succeeds in making of them a book that is brilliantly enjoyable.

      A Severed Head
      3,8
    • The Red And The Green

      • 336 páginas
      • 12 horas de lectura

      As the Easter Rebellion looms, tension mounts in the rain-soaked streets of Dublin. His relentlessly pious mother pursues her own private war with his stepfather, a man sunk in religious speculation and drink. Meanwhile Pat's Protestant soldier cousin, Andrew Chase-White, puzzles out his complex emotions about Ireland and the girl he loves.

      The Red And The Green
      3,7
    • The Italian Girl

      • 176 páginas
      • 7 horas de lectura

      Edmund has escaped from his family into a lonely life. One by one his relatives reveal their secrets to a reluctant Edmund: illicit affairs, hidden passions, shameful scandals. And the heart of all, there is, as always, the family's loyal servant, the Italian girl. schovat popis

      The Italian Girl
      3,4
    • WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY STEPHEN MEDCALFWhen Marian Taylor takes the post of governess at Gaze castle, remote house on a beautiful but desolate coast, she finds herself confronted with many strange mysteries. What kind of crime or catastrophe in the past still keeps the house under a brooding spell? schovat popis

      The Unicorn
      3,4
    • Jackson's Dilemma

      • 249 páginas
      • 9 horas de lectura

      En gruppe venner er samlet til middag et par dage før et bryllup, da den vordende brud pludselig meddeler, at brylluppet er aflyst. Jackson, en gådefuld og selvudslettende person, synes at være forklaringen

      Jackson's Dilemma
      3,0
    • Something Special

      A Story

      • 64 páginas
      • 3 horas de lectura

      Set in 1950s Dublin, this poignant story follows Yvonne, a spirited Irish woman who yearns for more than the conventional life awaiting her with her suitor, Sam. The narrative explores themes of love and repression, infused with Murdoch's characteristic wry humor and psychological depth reminiscent of Joyce's work. Accompanied by beautiful illustrations from Michael McCurdy, this previously unpublished tale offers a unique glimpse into the author's literary legacy, making it an ideal gift for romantics and literature lovers alike.

      Something Special
      3,0
    • Przeciw oschłości

      • 592 páginas
      • 21 horas de lectura

      Iris Murdoch, znana w Polsce głównie jako pisarka, była też wybitną przedstawicielką filozofii, przemawiającą głosem odrębnym na tle innych dwudziestowiecznych myślicieli. Prezentowany tom jest pierwszym w Polsce tak bogatym zbiorem jej esejów filozoficznych, dotyczących głównie etyki i metafizyki, a zwłaszcza ich związków z literaturą. Myśl Iris Murdoch - krytyczna synteza platonizmu z wątkami egzystencjalnymi - wyróżnia się racjonalnością, logiczną precyzją, celnością argumentu i dbałością o szczegół. Ogromna erudycja i przenikliwość diagnoz sprawiają, że jej głos filozoficzny pozostaje donośny i niezmiennie inspirujący.

      Przeciw oschłości
      5,0
    • Příběh ukazuje nečekanou, ale o to prudší krizi v rodině dosud poklidně žijícího anglického středoškolského profesora.

      Hrad z písku
      5,0
    • Námetom tejto knihy je láska. Všetky druhy lásky, láska ku všetkému, zrod lásky, dozrievanie, jej spevy, bakchanálie, jej prítomnosť v celom bytí.

      Milé a pekné lásky
      3,8
    • "Ученик философа" - знаковая трагикомедия выдающейся британской писательницы, признанного мастера тонкого психологизма. Жизнь курортного городка Эннистон тихо крутится вокруг купален и целебных источников. Тихо до тех пор, пока в город не возвращается самый знаменитый его уроженец - профессор философии Джон Роберт Розанов, ищущий приличного кавалера для своей красавицы внучки. А его некогда любимый ученик, давно променявший философию сперва на искусствоведение, а затем на пьяный дебош и беспорядочные половые связи, пытается понять, вправду ли он хотел утопить дождливой ночью законную супругу, или это ему лишь померещилось... Впервые на русском языке!

      Ученик философа (Uchenik filosofa)
      2,7
    • In guter Absicht

      • 717 páginas
      • 26 horas de lectura

      Edward Baltram wird von Selbstvorwürfen geplagt: Sein bester Freund ist nach einem Experiment mit Drogen auf tragische Weise ums Leben gekommen, und er gibt sich selbst dafür die Schuld. Auf der Suche nach Erlösung gerät er in einen Strudel sich überschlagender Ereignisse. Spielerisch wie immer lässt Iris Murdoch den Leser mit ihren Figuren durch einen Alptraum aus Liebe und Haß, aus Schuld und Sühne taumeln.

      In guter Absicht
    • Eine Mischung aus Slapstick und Tragödie Iris Murdochs Debütroman spielt in London, wo erfolglose Schriftsteller auf Beststellerautoren treffen, und Filmsternchen auf Philosophen. Jack Donaghue lebt hauptsächlich von Übersetzungen und vom Geld seiner Freunde. Als er Anna, eine verflossene Flamme, wiedertrifft, gerät Jack in ein Netz aus Liebesabenteuern und seltsamen Begegnungen.

      Unter dem Netz
    • První román angloirské spisovatelky, vytěžený ze světa londýnské umělecké bohémy. Hrdinou je londýnský intelektuál a bohém, flink s dobrým srdcem a zdravým lidským jádrem. Jeho život je nepřetržitým řetězem divokých dobrodružství a fraškovitých situací. V jejich průběhu zápasí hrdina se světem i sám se sebou o své místo v životě i ve společnosti a vyprošťuje se „zpod sítě“ klamných iluzí a lákavých nástrah. Autorka zde spojuje v jednolitý literární útvar humor s opravdovostí, fantastičnost s reálností.

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