Iris Murdoch
Iris Murdoch was a British novelist and philosopher, best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious.
Books
This list of books are ONLY the books that have been ranked on the lists that are aggregated on this site. This is not a comprehensive list of all books by this author.
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1. The Sea, The Sea
A successful and renowned London theatre director retires to a secluded house by the sea in an attempt to write his memoirs. His peaceful solitude is disrupted when he encounters his first love from decades ago and becomes obsessed with winning her back. As he spirals into self-delusion and madness, the narrative explores themes of love, obsession, and the subjective nature of reality.
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2. Under the Net
"Under the Net" is a novel featuring a struggling writer living in London who is forced to reevaluate his life after being evicted from his flat. He embarks on a series of misadventures, meeting a variety of eccentric characters and getting involved in a dog-napping scheme. Throughout his journey, he contemplates philosophical ideas about truth, art, and personal freedom, ultimately leading to his self-discovery and transformation.
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3. The Black Prince
"The Black Prince" is a captivating novel revolving around a middle-aged Londoner who falls passionately in love with the daughter of a close friend. As he navigates through the complexities of love, he experiences a profound transformation of character, leading him to question the nature of love, art, and personal identity. The story is told in a postmodern style, with multiple narrative perspectives, and explores themes of love, obsession, self-deception and psychological manipulation.
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4. The Bell
"The Bell" is a novel that explores the dynamics of a lay religious community living next to an enclosed order of nuns in the English countryside. The story is centered around the arrival of a new bell for the abbey, the discovery of an old bell in the lake, and the interplay between the community's members, their individual struggles, and their shared faith. The book delves into themes of love, guilt, sexuality, and the search for personal redemption.
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5. A Severed Head
In this novel, a London wine merchant is living a seemingly comfortable life with his wife when his world is turned upside down by a series of shocking revelations. His wife confesses to an affair with her psychoanalyst, who is also his best friend, and plans to leave him. As he grapples with this betrayal, he begins an affair with his sister-in-law, only to discover that she is also involved with his wife's lover. The protagonist is forced to confront his own selfishness and immaturity as he navigates this tangled web of relationships.
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6. The Unicorn
"The Unicorn" is a psychological thriller set in a remote coastal region of Ireland, where a young governess becomes entangled in the mysterious circumstances surrounding her employer, a woman seemingly imprisoned in her own home. As the governess delves deeper into the secrets of the house and its inhabitants, she becomes increasingly unsure of her own sanity and reality itself. The narrative explores themes of freedom, guilt, and the blurred lines between good and evil.
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7. Bruno's Dream
The novel revolves around an elderly man named Bruno, who is bedridden and obsessed with spiders and the nature of reality as he nears the end of his life. As he reflects on his past and contemplates his mortality, the story delves into the complex relationships and emotional entanglements of his family and close acquaintances. The narrative weaves through themes of love, infidelity, and the search for meaning, exposing the intricate web of human connections and the personal struggles each character faces. The protagonist's dreamlike introspections and the interactions among the ensemble cast reveal the profound impact of personal history and the nuances of human behavior.
The 9184th Greatest Book of All TimePurchase from Amazon -
8. An Accidental Man
The novel revolves around a man who, despite his best intentions, seems to cause harm and chaos wherever he goes. He is surrounded by a group of diverse characters, each with their own unique struggles and stories. The narrative explores themes of morality, responsibility, and the complexities of human relationships, with a focus on the impact of one man's actions on those around him.
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9. The Good Apprentice
The novel centers around a young man wracked with guilt after his involvement in a tragic accident that resulted in the death of his friend. As he struggles to come to terms with his actions, he embarks on a quest for redemption, seeking guidance from a variety of mentors, including a revered psychoanalyst and a spiritual father figure. Set against a backdrop of complex family dynamics and moral dilemmas, the story delves into themes of good and evil, the nature of sin, and the possibility of spiritual and psychological healing. The protagonist's journey is a deep exploration of conscience, responsibility, and the search for meaning in the aftermath of catastrophe.
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10. The Green Knight
"The Green Knight" is a philosophical novel that explores themes of morality, truth, and the nature of good and evil through the interconnected lives of its characters. The story revolves around a middle-aged woman and her three daughters who become involved with a mysterious stranger after he is accidentally injured by the woman's brother. As the stranger insinuates himself into their lives, the characters are forced to confront their own personal failings and the complexities of their relationships with each other.
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11. The Sovereignty Of Good
This philosophical work delves into the intricate relationship between morality and human perception, challenging the dominance of rationality in ethical discourse. It argues for the centrality of goodness as an objective reality that transcends subjective human experiences, emphasizing the importance of attention and love in moral development. Through a series of essays, the text critiques contemporary moral philosophy, advocating for a return to a more holistic understanding of ethics that acknowledges the transformative power of beauty and art in guiding individuals toward a deeper comprehension of the good.
The 14961st Greatest Book of All TimePurchase from Bookshop.org or Amazon -
12. The Sacred and Profane Love Machine
The book revolves around the lives of three main characters: a psychoanalyst, his wife, and his mistress. The psychoanalyst lives a double life between his wife and children and his mistress, who lives nearby with their son. The story explores themes of love, morality, guilt, and identity as it delves into the consequences of the psychoanalyst's actions on the lives of those around him. The narrative takes a tragic turn when the wife discovers the affair and the two families are thrown into a complex and painful situation.
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13. The Flight from the Enchanter
The book is a complex narrative of various characters' lives intertwined with one another. The central figure is a charismatic and manipulative man whose influence over a group of people leads to a series of events filled with confusion, love, betrayal, and self-realization. The story explores themes of power, control, and the struggle for personal freedom, offering a profound commentary on human relationships and the psychological complexities that define them.
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14. The Nice And The Good
In this novel, a complex web of relationships unfolds against the backdrop of a mysterious death at a government office, which prompts an investigation by a civil servant. As the story progresses, the lives of the characters intertwine, revealing their moral dilemmas, personal struggles, and search for love and goodness. Set in London and a remote coastal community, the narrative delves into themes of ethics, human nature, and the often blurry line between the nice and the good, challenging the characters to confront their own shortcomings and desires while navigating the intricacies of their interconnected lives.
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15. Metaphysics As A Guide To Morals
The book explores the intricate relationship between metaphysical concepts and moral philosophy, delving into how our understanding of reality and existence influences ethical thought and behavior. It examines the role of art, religion, and culture in shaping moral values, while questioning the nature of goodness and the human capacity for moral reasoning. Through a rich tapestry of philosophical discourse, the work challenges readers to consider the profound impact of metaphysical beliefs on the moral landscape, encouraging a deeper reflection on the pursuit of virtue and the complexities of human life.
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16. The Philosopher's Pupil
Set in the fictional English town of Ennistone, the narrative delves into the intricate web of relationships and moral dilemmas faced by its residents. At the heart of the story is the enigmatic philosopher John Robert Rozanov, whose return to the town stirs up old tensions and unresolved conflicts. As he interacts with a diverse cast of characters, including his former pupil George McCaffrey and George's troubled family, the novel explores themes of love, power, and redemption. Through a blend of philosophical discourse and rich character development, the story examines the complexities of human nature and the search for meaning in a world fraught with personal and ethical challenges.
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18. Yellow Bird
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19. Henry And Cato
In this compelling narrative, two estranged childhood friends, one a disillusioned priest and the other a wealthy heir, find their lives unexpectedly intertwined as they grapple with personal crises and moral dilemmas. Set against a backdrop of societal change, the story explores themes of identity, faith, and redemption, as both characters confront their pasts and seek meaning in their lives. Through a series of poignant encounters and introspective moments, they are forced to reevaluate their beliefs and the paths they have chosen, ultimately leading to profound transformations.
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20. The Message To The Planet
A frail, enigmatic philosopher unexpectedly becomes a quasi-messianic figure for a tangled circle of friends, lovers and rivals in contemporary England; his presence provokes jealousy, devotion and violence as others project spiritual longings onto him, exposing moral failings and hypocrisies and forcing characters to confront questions of freedom, love, and the nature of good and evil.
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21. The Book And The Brotherhood
A tightly observed novel about an intellectual circle formed at Oxford whose bonds are strained when one member completes a provocative manuscript that exposes buried rivalries, obsessions and moral compromises. As friendships and loyalties fray, romantic entanglements, jealousy and questions of artistic responsibility force each character to confront self-deception, power and the limits of idealism, creating a darkly comic yet penetrating examination of conscience and human fallibility.
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22. A Fairly Honourable Defeat
A darkly comic, psychologically acute tale about a tight-knit circle whose private lives are systematically destabilized when a charismatic outsider initiates manipulative schemes that provoke affairs, rivalries and a fatal unraveling; the novel probes love, power, moral responsibility and self-deception through sharp dialogue and philosophical insight, showing how petty jealousies and idealistic pretensions can produce unintended, devastating consequences.
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23. The Sandcastle
A middle-aged art teacher's orderly life in a provincial English town unravels when he becomes infatuated with a charismatic young woman, setting off a chain of betrayals, misunderstandings and emotional reckonings among his friends and neighbors; the novel probes love, jealousy, idealism and the moral ambiguities that shape human relationships.
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24. The Sand Castle
A quietly observant study of a middle-aged philosophy lecturer whose sudden infatuation with a much younger woman upends his comfortable domestic life and professional ambitions; as desire and jealousy collide with moral principle, the novel traces the disintegration of relationships, the compromises of public reputation, and the painful consequences of confusing idealism with possession, all rendered with psychological acuity and ironic compassion.
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26. A Word Child
A Word Child is a novel by Iris Murdoch. Published in 1975, it was her 17th novel. First published in 1975 by Chatto and Windus, A Word Child charts the trials and tribulations of the title character, the "word child", Hilary Burde as he attempts to recover his soul from the misery of his troubled past. Filled in the usual Murdoch style with an array of colourful, fully rounded characters who people Hilary's world, the novel is a complex and thoughtful exploration of the possibility and meaning of redemption, the nature of human memory, and the possibility of love for the tarnished soul. By turns stirring, witty, painful and joyous, the novel was received to great critical acclaim on its release.
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