Bibliograph

Living on paper, letters from Iris Murdoch 1934-1995, Iris Murdoch ; edited by Avril Horner and Anne Rowe

Type

Label

Living on paper, letters from Iris Murdoch 1934-1995, Iris Murdoch ; edited by Avril Horner and Anne Rowe

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references and index

resource.biographical

contains biographical information

Illustrations

illustrationsportraitsplates

Index

index present

Literary Form

letters

Main title

Living on paper

Nature of contents

bibliography

Responsibility statement

Iris Murdoch ; edited by Avril Horner and Anne Rowe

Sub title

letters from Iris Murdoch 1934-1995

Summary

'Love is the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real'. This selection of Iris Murdoch's most interesting and important letters gives us a living portrait of one of the twentieth century's greatest writers and thinkers. Here for the first time is Murdoch in her own words, from her schoolgirl days to her last years. The letters show a great mind at work - we watch the young Murdoch struggling with philosophical issues, often unsure of herself; witness her anguish when a novel won't come together; observe her involved in world events and exploring sensuality. They are full of sharp humour and irreverence. They also reveal her personal life, the subject of much speculation, in all its intriguing complexity: her emotional hunger and her tendency to live on the edge of what was socially acceptable. Gradually, we see how this fed into her novels' plots and characters, despite her claims that her fiction was not drawn from reality. Quite apart from giving these valuable insights, her letters bring us closer than ever before to Iris Murdoch as a person. They make for an extraordinary and intimate reading experience: she is wonderful company

Table Of Contents

Pt. One Schoolgirl, and Student, August 1934 to December 1941 -- pt. Two Work and War, July 1942 to October 1947 -- pt. Three Academic and Author, October 1947 to September 1954 -- pt. Four Decisions, February 1955 to December 1962 -- pt. Five The RCA Years, January 1963 to November 1967 -- pt. Six Woman of Letters, January 1968 to December 1978 -- pt. Seven Dame Iris, January 1979 to December 1989 -- pt. Eight Last Letters, February 1990 to September 1995 -- Directory of Names and Terms -- Murdoch's Novels and Their Dedicatees -- Sources of Letters

resource.variantTitle

Letters from Iris Murdoch 1934-1995

Classification