Under the Net

Rating:
Summary: Caught in a Magnificent Net
Review: 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?