Show Notes
Iris Murdoch was a prolific writer, completing 26 novels and several philosophy books in her lifetime. She still holds the record for most Booker Prize shortlistings (a joint record with Margaret Atwood) and the Booker Prize trophy has recently been renamed the 'Iris' in her honour. This month, we've picked The Black Prince, which was shortlisted for the Booker in 1973, as our Book of the Month. It's a part-thriller, part-love story that follows Bradley Pearson – an elderly writer with a ‘block’. Adding and contributing to his torment are a host of predatory friends and relations: his melancholic sister, his ex-wife and her delinquent brother, and a younger, deplorably successful writer, Arnold Baffin.
In this episode Jo and James share:
Their thoughts on Iris Murdoch's novels
Why Murdoch was an exceptionally funny writer, as well as a gifted one
A brief biography of Murdoch
A summary of The Black Prince
What they thought about The Black Prince
Who should read The Black Prince
Reading list:
The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/the-black-prince
The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/the-sea-the-sea
Under the Net by Iris Murdoch
A Severed Head by Iris Murdoch
The Bloater by Rosemary Tonks
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