Under The Net

Had been meaning to get round to Murdoch for some years but was expecting a fairly heavy read. In fact, after the first 70 pages or so in which I was unsure about the direction I was being taken, I found that I was laughing aloud for much of the book (rare in my case), which is not something I had expected. The set pieces of the book are conceived with great originality & a deeply quirky, Irish type of humour. The characters themselves remain - intentionally - rather hard to fathom for most of the book, adding to a mildly dark sense of mystery which leads us (and them) on from one episode to the next. This also adds to our questioning about what direction the author is trying to take us. Inevitably, the answer is largely subjective - but what added to my appreciation of the novel after I finished reading was that rather than attempting to draw a broad prescriptive lesson about life, it is rather a celebration of the individual and offers humour and a kind of resolution - or at least positive progress - even in the midst of the most confused and unheroic of lives. This is a picaresque novel peopled principally by (lovable) roguish empiricists - not one for those craving a strong plot. I loved it. And I have an implicit confidence that this is an author of such skill & originality that I shall enjoy any of her remaining 25 novels (this being her first). Even when I have hugely enjoyed reading a book, I have rarely, if ever, looked forward to reading other novels by the same author with such confidence and relish.

I audibly laughed through half the scenes of this amazing first novel. It is a great thing to make someone laugh out loud while reading and this book did it continually. Whether it be the point where Jake Donaghue sits outside Sadie's flat listening to the "plot" against him with the neighbours poking him to see what he'll do or the superhero stunts of Jake and Hugo at the Roman set saving Lefty. I couldn't stop myself from laughing at the clever wit of the situation. But, what is amazing is that behind all of this there are deep philosophical thoughts at work, but the spaciousness of these thoughts never intrude upon the enjoyability of the story. It is similar in that way to Bellow's Henderson the Rain King, but the comedy in this is up a few notches more. The story is deeply routed in London (with a side-trip to Paris) and this location no doubt gives all the more joy to readers familiar to the area with its deep descriptions of particular sections and jabs at the reputations of others. Yet, this too did not detract from the book's enjoyability because of the eloquence of her descriptions. "When caught unawares," Jake reflects, "I usually tell the truth, and what's duller that that." The book is one long reflection and so, according to this line, we are thenceforth suspicious of all we are told. Many points of his memory are probably deeply exaggerated and this would explain some of the all too convenient coincidences. But, who cares? It's a good, entertaining story. Ultimately, Murdoch is presenting a rather ideal view of the independent will of the free spirit. Jake's hope is neatly set forth at the end. But the ideals of living in regards to work and love, wealth and fame seem to be given a manageable frame in which to work in. What Murdoch seems to be saying is that we must be swept along by the course of our own story and not be caught "under the net." The old argument which Bellow echoes also of Being and Becoming. Living, not without reflection, but containing the dialogue between oneself and existence within because once it is set out on paper it becomes a story, not life. "The substance of my life is a private conversation with myself which to turn into a dialogue would be equivalent to self destruction." Jake is learning to live more fully by instinct and self-forgetfulness. He is learning to allow other people's point of views into his own life. He finds that by constantly looking only within himself he isn't able to see anyone there. The being has left.

This isn't merely Murdoch's first novel, it is also (one of) her best. The story of the would-be writer Jake D. who struggles to find a proper literary philosophy to ignite his career, nicely reflects Murdoch's own intellectual struggles in writing "Under the Net". Although this might sound rather high-blown and tedious, it is not, for by mixing the philosophical musings with the picaresque form, Murdoch ensures that the story is highly dynamic and entertaining. We follow Jake through a series of bizarrely comic and breathtaking incidents, and observe how he develops his initial egoistical Sartrean world-view to a truer and more profound understanding of his fellow-beings. It is fascinating to watch how this development unveils Jake's pretentiousness and shapes him into a mature artist. In sum, this novel simply has and is everything, drama, farce, mask, satire etc. and Murdoch has mixed these elements with such dexterity that one can doubt whether she ever wrote a better book. In saying so it must also be emphasised that "Under the Net" foreshadows much of Murdoch's later work.

Very few books have I ever picked up to immediately find myself thinking, "Oh!" Such was the case with "Under the Net". This was my first Iris Murdoch novel, but by no means will it be my last.She deftly creates empathy for our anti-hero, Jake, while making him less than sympathetic, drawing the reader into the story while at the same time keeping us far enough away that we can comfortably laugh at the proceedings. Murdoch also reveals her story slowly, layer by layer, turning what we believe will be little more than mild humor into a mystery of character assassination.And it reads very much like a mystery, the kind that you just don't find anymore. But here it is not a dead body that is the victim, but rather a living, breathing one. But is he as much a victim as he likes to think he is? Our hero finds that nothing is as he believes it to be.Is it ever?