The Sea, The Sea – Iris Murdoch

Amazon Editorial Review: First published in 1978, this is the story of Charles Arrowby who, retiring from his glittering London world in order to abjure magic and become a hermit turns to the sea: turbulent and leaden, transparent and opaque, magician and mother. But he finds his solitude is peopled by the drama of his own fantasies and obsessions, I was sure I had read this before – many years ago, and now reading it for the Murdoch a month challenge – i am not sure I did. The thing I "remembered" was Charles swimming off the slippery cliffs – attaching a rope to the rail of the steps with which to haul himself out. I  think this is however a false memory – as what I recall may be from the book Iris by John Bayley in which he describes the swimming he and Iris frequently did. The Sea, The sea – is a big magical novel about obsession. The sea is a metaphor running through the novel for the swiftly changing emotions and fortunes of the characters. There is farce, humor and tragedy in abundance, along with some marvelous descriptions, some of them about food. A fascinating page turner, and really quite brilliant, and no wonder it won a Booker.