616. The Nice and the Good

The Nice and the Good
Iris Murdoch
1968
Around 350 pages

By now (and by "now" I mean 1968, because I am deeply disturbed), Iris Murdoch is an established writer. I read one review suggesting that the favorable reception she received from this novel was merely because people had gotten into the habit of praising the annual Murdoch work. People just dislike female artists who are consistently successful. This was a banger, just like everything else she wrote.

The story starts with the death of Joseph Radeechy, who appears to have died from suicide. His department head, Octavian Gray, asks the department's legal advisor, John Ducane, to investigate his death. Ducane discovers that Radeechy was a practicer of the magicks, and was being blackmailed. Ducane has a relationship with Octavian's wife, Kate, who lives at the Gray seaside country house with two other single women, Paula and Mary, and their children.

Murdoch takes a deeply philosophical approach to her writing, but never sacrifices the pacing of her story. I love how character driven the plot was, it makes even the most outrageous events seem plausible. I also love how introspective the characters are. This isn't necessary for a good story, but I enjoyed exploring the morality of their actions as the characters did the same thing.

I wouldn't have the faintest idea how to wrap a story like this up, but Murdoch handles it masterfully. And this isn't even her best novel yet!

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Shortlisted for the 1969 Booker Prize.

UP NEXT: Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Sounds like another laugh riot.