EBOOK
About
Iris Murdoch (1919–99) was a British writer and philosopher. Her twenty-six novels include the Booker Prize–winning The Sea, the Sea. Avril Horner and Anne Rowe are the coeditors of Iris Murdoch: Texts and Contexts and Iris Murdoch and Morality.
For the first time, novelist Iris Murdoch's life in her own words, from girlhood to her last years
Iris Murdoch was an acclaimed novelist and groundbreaking philosopher whose life reflected her unconventional beliefs and values. But what has been missing from biographical accounts has been Murdoch's own voice-her life in her own words. Living on Paper-the first major collection of Murdoch's most compelling and interesting personal letters-gives, for the first time, a rounded self-portrait of one of the twentieth century's greatest writers and thinkers. With more than 760 letters, fewer than forty of which have been published before, the book provides a unique chronicle of Murdoch's life from her days as a schoolgirl to her last years. The result is the most important book about Murdoch in more than a decade.
The letters show a great mind at work-struggling with philosophical problems, trying to bring a difficult novel together, exploring spirituality, and responding pointedly to world events. They also reveal her personal life, the subject of much speculation, in all its complexity, especially in letters to lovers or close friends, such as the writers Brigid Brophy, Elias Canetti, and Raymond Queneau, philosophers Michael Oakeshott and Philippa Foot, and mathematician Georg Kreisel. We witness Murdoch's emotional hunger, her tendency to live on the edge of what was socially acceptable, and her irreverence and sharp sense of humor. We also learn how her private life fed into the plots and characters of her novels, despite her claims that they were not drawn from reality.
Direct and intimate, these letters bring us closer than ever before to Iris Murdoch as a person, making for an extraordinary reading experience. "Anyone who misses the regular appearance of new Murdoch novels will find plenty to enjoy and admire in these letters. They pitch us back into her cerebral yet vaguely surreal and magical intellectual world."---Dwight Garner, New York Times "[A] compulsively readable volume."---Daniel Johnson, Standpoint "Readers come closer to Iris Murdoch--the writer, the friend, the lover, the person--than either Peter Conradi's official biography or [John] Bayley's memoirs allowed. . . . It's this Iris Murdoch--compulsively discursive, doggedly happy--who dominates Living on Paper and fills it with the kind of smart, nimble-footed small talk that is always the principal joy of reading letter collections."---Steve Donoghue, Christian Science Monitor "[A] treasure trove…. The letters are fervent, philosophical, frenetic and witty; they suggest sources, from her own life, for the varied portraits of obsessive desire in her novels."---Rivka Isaacson, Independent "My favorite read of 2016. . . . But what about those weird novels? A Severed Head? The Bell? Bruno's Dream? The Nice and the Good? The Sea, the Sea? And so-the-so-on? Addictive, hilarious: pure intellectual crystal meth. If, like me, you've read them all, you'll hoover these letters up at once."---Terry Castle, Artforum "Engrossing and frequently moving." "Perhaps the best thing about Living on Paper is the portrait of Murdoch that emerges."---Becca Rothfeld, The Nation "An intimate view of the prolific British novelist and philosopher. . . . With their deep knowledge of Murdoch's life and work, the editors have produced an authoritative, readable, and informative volume that contextualizes the writer's vibrant, intense, and sometimes slyly witty correspondence. . . . An impressively edited, sharply revealing life in letters." "[A]n unprecedented exposure of the heart and mind of a major novelist and thinker (the author of 26 novels and three major works of philosophy) and a woman who lived a life of unusual inte
For the first time, novelist Iris Murdoch's life in her own words, from girlhood to her last years
Iris Murdoch was an acclaimed novelist and groundbreaking philosopher whose life reflected her unconventional beliefs and values. But what has been missing from biographical accounts has been Murdoch's own voice-her life in her own words. Living on Paper-the first major collection of Murdoch's most compelling and interesting personal letters-gives, for the first time, a rounded self-portrait of one of the twentieth century's greatest writers and thinkers. With more than 760 letters, fewer than forty of which have been published before, the book provides a unique chronicle of Murdoch's life from her days as a schoolgirl to her last years. The result is the most important book about Murdoch in more than a decade.
The letters show a great mind at work-struggling with philosophical problems, trying to bring a difficult novel together, exploring spirituality, and responding pointedly to world events. They also reveal her personal life, the subject of much speculation, in all its complexity, especially in letters to lovers or close friends, such as the writers Brigid Brophy, Elias Canetti, and Raymond Queneau, philosophers Michael Oakeshott and Philippa Foot, and mathematician Georg Kreisel. We witness Murdoch's emotional hunger, her tendency to live on the edge of what was socially acceptable, and her irreverence and sharp sense of humor. We also learn how her private life fed into the plots and characters of her novels, despite her claims that they were not drawn from reality.
Direct and intimate, these letters bring us closer than ever before to Iris Murdoch as a person, making for an extraordinary reading experience. "Anyone who misses the regular appearance of new Murdoch novels will find plenty to enjoy and admire in these letters. They pitch us back into her cerebral yet vaguely surreal and magical intellectual world."---Dwight Garner, New York Times "[A] compulsively readable volume."---Daniel Johnson, Standpoint "Readers come closer to Iris Murdoch--the writer, the friend, the lover, the person--than either Peter Conradi's official biography or [John] Bayley's memoirs allowed. . . . It's this Iris Murdoch--compulsively discursive, doggedly happy--who dominates Living on Paper and fills it with the kind of smart, nimble-footed small talk that is always the principal joy of reading letter collections."---Steve Donoghue, Christian Science Monitor "[A] treasure trove…. The letters are fervent, philosophical, frenetic and witty; they suggest sources, from her own life, for the varied portraits of obsessive desire in her novels."---Rivka Isaacson, Independent "My favorite read of 2016. . . . But what about those weird novels? A Severed Head? The Bell? Bruno's Dream? The Nice and the Good? The Sea, the Sea? And so-the-so-on? Addictive, hilarious: pure intellectual crystal meth. If, like me, you've read them all, you'll hoover these letters up at once."---Terry Castle, Artforum "Engrossing and frequently moving." "Perhaps the best thing about Living on Paper is the portrait of Murdoch that emerges."---Becca Rothfeld, The Nation "An intimate view of the prolific British novelist and philosopher. . . . With their deep knowledge of Murdoch's life and work, the editors have produced an authoritative, readable, and informative volume that contextualizes the writer's vibrant, intense, and sometimes slyly witty correspondence. . . . An impressively edited, sharply revealing life in letters." "[A]n unprecedented exposure of the heart and mind of a major novelist and thinker (the author of 26 novels and three major works of philosophy) and a woman who lived a life of unusual inte