Word Child

Rating:
Summary: Iris Murdoch wrote about goodness
Review: Hilary Burde is the word child. He is not a writer, but just likes words. We accompany a very low level civil servant, Hilary, for a number of weeks prior to Christmas Day. The book is funny in parts. How little the bottomless misery of children is understood. Our hero is an orphan. He was saved for civil society by a teacher, Mr. Osmand, who taught him Latin and to value learning. Hilary Burde describes himself as a brilliant plodder, with an aptitude for grammar and an adoration for words.

Hilary went to Oxford. He found that it was very hard to change. Hilary worked in an office with two people, Edith Witcher and Reginald Fairbottom. He rode the entire circle of the underground on Fridays trying to decide which bar to frequent. His mistress Tommy had long perfect legs. Friends he visited Thursday evenings were snobs. Wittgenstein would have loved dinner at Arthur's. Arthur was the friend of Hilary's sister, Crystal. Dinner at Arthur's was always the same.

Hilary knew Gunnar Jopling at Oxford. Hilary had been elected to a fellowship at Gunnar's college after he had gotten his first. Hilary fell madly in love with Gunnar's wife Anne. Anne's face changed. It lost its joy. Gunnar found out and Anne was pregnant with Gunnar's child. Then Hilary and Anne were in a car accident and Anne died.

Both Hilary and Gunnar resigned their fellowships. Hilary had lost his moral self-respect. Hilary became engaged to be married and Gunnar's second wife sent him a letter. He was asked to take the initiative and speak to Gunnar after all the years that had gone by. Hilary resigned his job so that Gunnar would not have to see him. He was prepared to teach grammar to little children.

Rating:
Summary: Iris Murdoch wrote about goodness
Review: Hilary Burde is the word child. He is not a writer, but just likes words. We accompany a very low level civil servant, Hilary, for a number of weeks prior to Christmas Day. The book is funny in parts. How little the bottomless misery of children is understood. Our hero is an orphan. He was saved for civil society by a teacher, Mr. Osmand, who taught him Latin and to value learning. Hilary Burde describes himself as a brilliant plodder, with an aptitude for grammar and an adoration for words.

Hilary went to Oxford. He found that it was very hard to change. Hilary worked in an office with two people, Edith Witcher and Reginald Fairbottom. He rode the entire circle of the underground on Fridays trying to decide which bar to frequent. His mistress Tommy had long perfect legs. Friends he visited Thursday evenings were snobs. Wittgenstein would have loved dinner at Arthur's. Arthur was the friend of Hilary's sister, Crystal. Dinner at Arthur's was always the same.

Hilary knew Gunnar Jopling at Oxford. Hilary had been elected to a fellowship at Gunnar's college after he had gotten his first. Hilary fell madly in love with Gunnar's wife Anne. Anne's face changed. It lost its joy. Gunnar found out and Anne was pregnant with Gunnar's child. Then Hilary and Anne were in a car accident and Anne died.

Both Hilary and Gunnar resigned their fellowships. Hilary had lost his moral self-respect. Hilary became engaged to be married and Gunnar's second wife sent him a letter. He was asked to take the initiative and speak to Gunnar after all the years that had gone by. Hilary resigned his job so that Gunnar would not have to see him. He was prepared to teach grammar to little children.

Rating:
Summary: One of Iris's best
Review: I've read a fair number of Ms.Murdoch's books and enjoyed them all. This book focuses on Hilary, a low level English civil servant who has been his own worst enemy since a brutal childhood. His own personal history repeats itself here and we wonder if he will ever learn.

Rating:
Summary: The Best of the Best
Review: Oh, Iris, how I miss you. I first began reading Iris Murdoch in college, for a Philosophy in Lit. class, and was immediately captivated by "A Severed Head", which remains high on my list of favorites. But it is "A Word Child" to which I return most often.
Iris Murdoch's breathtakingly simple and yet piercing prose is at its best in this novel. Her theme is obsession, as always, and while we cannot approve of Hilary, the narrator, we find ourselves liking him for his honesty and his uncompromising view of himself. At first I was disappointed with the outcome of this brilliant novel, then I realized it truly was redemptive. Anyone who adores stellar writing and an eye that sees straight into the human heart must own this novel.

Rating:
Summary: dis book ok but not so very good
Review: The plot concerns a deeply unappealing and uncivil servant called Hilary whose current angst has arisen from, as the blurb puts it, "a tragic love tangle". I found the first third the book a little difficult to get through but what kept me turning pages was Murdoch's remarkable insight into human action. Once the reason for Hilary's abominable behavior becomes clear, you can't help but share Murdoch's empathy for him and, thereafter, the novel blooms and rips along with all the key relationships intertwining in increasingly intense ways. The conclusion is deeply satisfying on every level: dramatically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. This was my first sampling of Murdoch. She is a stunning writer and I'm very glad to have "discovered" her for myself.

Rating:
Summary: Unique style
Review: This is a deeply satisfying novel, surpassed in my affection only by The Black Prince. Like The Black Prince, it seems to be from Murdoch's "middle period," when she communicated to us what it was like to be her. She was interesting. When I read these two novels I feel similar emotions to those I feel about Shakespeare when I read Hamlet, or Joyce when I read Ulysses.

Rating:
Summary: An astonishingly fantastic read
Review: This is one of those books that you simply cannot put down once you begin. Murdoch does such an excellent job of creating a most complex and entertaining character (Hilary) -- I laughed while reading it so much I think my husband will be reading it next. An amazingly developed character, a plot that will keep you turning the page, and sorrow so palpable you will want to weep on poor Hilary's behalf.

Rating:
Summary: An astonishingly fantastic read
Review: This is one of those books that you simply cannot put down once you begin. Murdoch does such an excellent job of creating a most complex and entertaining character (Hilary) -- I laughed while reading it so much I think my husband will be reading it next. An amazingly developed character, a plot that will keep you turning the page, and sorrow so palpable you will want to weep on poor Hilary's behalf.