Stay of Execution Book Report

Had Book Group today, where we discussed The Sea, the Sea, by Iris Murdoch. Five of the seven of us had read it; two hadn't finished. One found the book too dense and verbose to get into. It is dense and verbose, especially at the beginning, but the verbosity is an attribute of the narrator, I think, not of the author -- a deliberately crafted feature that tells us a lot about the protagonist.

I loved the book. It was dense, and slow, but there was a tension to it -- the narrator is at once highly believeable and an extremely detailed reporter of events, and in other ways quite unreliable in the conclusions he draws about the world and the filter through which he sees people. That created a tension that moved me through the book as I tried to resolve and understand the narrator. Reading I had to keep reconsidering the extent to which I could trust his conclusions. And although it begins slowly, the plot speeds up and in fact is quite dramatic, and surprising. The plot twists and the revelations in the book that have great meaning are also sort of wonderfully back-ended -- you think that by the time you're three fourths of the way through the book that you've got most of it out and have a pretty good sense of what's come before and who you're dealing with, but there are dramatic revelations and surprises and meaning-changing events yet to come. In the discussion of the book we found ourselves muffled, not wanting to talk about the book in front of the two people who hadn't finished it. The spoilers are essential pieces of the book, and their timing and revelation quite deliberate. One of the readers who hadn't finished said, "Well, what happens, basically?" and we all shook our heads -- it's a book that's impossible to summarize, I think. I will like reading it again so I can revisit the way it is plotted and crafted, and so I can see some of the things that appear and occur at the beginning with the light of understanding gleaned from the end.

It's really fun to read a book that's so clever and intelligently made. It's layered with allusions and meanings that are over my head, I imagine -- references to art and literature and myth and philosophy that I don't appreciate or understand, and that I'm sure would enrich the book for a reader with a better education than mine. But just noticing how the narrative choices and the structure supported the story and the flow of the plotting, and recognizing the intelligence and deliberateness underneath a compelling and tragic and comic story, well, it was very enjoyable. Worth a read, or two. And better still to do it with a friend or two, because there is a lot to talk about. I'll certainly read more Murdoch. I've read plenty of enjoyable books recently, but few where I could appreciate the craft quite so much.

Next book group book: The Seven Sisters by Margaret Drabble; meeting on Sept. 12th. In the meantime I'll finish up Norwegian Wood, which is growing on me, perhaps because I have lowered my expectations, and will read Eats, Shoots & Leaves and The Two Mile Time Machine. I carpooled to a board meeting with a bunch of smart people, two of whom were currently reading The Moral Animal. That's one of my favorite books ever, and we had an animated conversation about evolutionary psychology and decided we'd get a group of friends to read and discuss that book in the upcoming month. I'm taking suggestions for the next work of fiction I should read....

Comments

[ML]

It's not fiction, but a wonderful unputdownable memoir is "Father Joe," by Tony Hendra. You'll love it.

[A. Rickey]

Deep River, by Endo. Definitely one of the best discussions about Christianity ever written. And if you didn't like Norwegian Wood--sorry about that--you might try Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by the same author. Different in style and story, but similarly brilliant.

[gretchen]

My favorite book of all time is Possession, by A.S. Byatt. It's really wonderful, though also dense and multilayered. Don't be thrown off by the first 100 pages or so--slow, but totally worth it.

[jdz]

If you haven't read it yet, I would definitly reccomend "Life of Pi" by Yan Martel. This may seem overly obvious since for the past year or so its been nearly impossible to walk into your local bookstore without seeing it promenently displayed as a bestseller or whatever. Still, great read. Lots of religious undertones that I was not quick enough to pick up on till I read discussions of it later. Finished it a month or so ago, but I'm still intrigued by the ending...