Published 1978 / Lenth 538 pages
The title of this classic novel by Iris Murdoch refers to the ancient Greeks’ cry at the end of the ‘march of the ten thousand’, when from atop Mount Theches they suddenly spy the glimmering sea in the distance. In such a spirit of hope does the central character of the book, one Charles Arrowby, former tyrannical theatre star, arrive at his own promised land by the sea: a peculiar, possibly haunted house called Shruff End, set on a deserted stretch of English shore. But as Charles fantasizes that he can escape his former life and thoughts, some come knocking unwanted, some he summons to him, and one he unexpectedly comes across in the village, appearing to him as an apparition from the past. Then James, his cousin and rival, arrives, and events take an ugly, murderous turn … Interweaved through the book are endless beautiful descriptions of the ever-present sea.
‘Arrowby … is a typical Murdoch creation, a compelling, fully realized character and at the same time a symbolic, Prospero-like figure who will explore the many ideas that Murdoch introduces into her narrative … The recognition of the value of the imperfect is a constant theme in Murdoch’s work, and The Sea, The Sea expresses a central part of her philosophy with astounding vigour and characteristic imaginative clarity.’ – The Observer
• Pervading the book is the wish to withdraw, to gain enlightenment through pure reflection. How serious do you think Charles’s various attempts at purity are?
• Do you find Charles as a central character likeable in certain ways, or is he ultimately selfish? Do you find him misogynistic? How does this affect your enjoyment of the book?
• Do the various ‘almost recipes’ through the book affect your reading of it? Do you take away anything from Charles’s description of the ‘precious gift’ of hunger?
• The book often attempts to speak to the inner mind, for example: ‘I thought, I must be ingenious, and the word “ingenious” seemed like a help to me. I must be ingenious and see to it that I do not suffer too much. I must look for some happiness, simply for some comfort, here, ingeniously.’ Do such attempts resonate with you?
• The Sea, The Sea won the 1978 Booker Prize and was one of the most successful of Iris Murdoch’s twenty-six novels, all of which have earned her acclaim as one of the English language’s greatest novelists of recent years.
• As well as writing novels, Murdoch was a fellow of Oxford University, where she taught philosophy. Before her death in 1999, she suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. Her husband, novelist John Bayley, wrote a memoir of their life together, Iris (1999), which was made into an Academy Award-winning film in 2001, starring Judi Dench and Kate Winslet as Murdoch.
• Offshore by PENELOPE FITZGERALD – another tale of life by the water, and winner of the Booker Prize in the following year, 1979.
• Holiday by STANLEY MIDDLETON – a story of marriages, deaths, shattered lives and reunited loves in an English seaside town.
• The Tempest by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE – The Sea, The Sea has strong echoes of this play.