The Sea, the Sea

Beautiful, immersive writing about one of the most insufferable guys you can imagine. Sedate to start with but gripping once it gets rolling. I enjoyed the meticulous descriptions of food, nature and domesticity by the sea. Looking forward to reading more Murdoch!

I've had The Sea, The Sea on my radar for a looong time, years and years, mainly because the title stuck in my head and wouldn't budge. Somehow I ended up with a lot of preconceptions about this book but other than really beautiful descriptions of water, none of them were accurate. I think I was expecting something vaguely dreamy and ethereal, but The Sea, The Sea is grounded firmly in reality.

Murdoch does character studies wonderfully. She records almost every detail of the minutiae of life until it feels like we're following along in real time, but whilst in unskilled hands this would be a huge slog, Murdoch turns the mundane ins and outs of everyday living into something fascinating.

These are the notes I jotted down as I was reading:

egotist
misogynist
fantasist
bully
unreliable
weirdly focused on food
rose coloured glasses of first love
Hartley clearly has mental issues
justification of others' actions in his favour
obsessive
writing a memoir/autobiography
self declared Prospero
self absorbed
manipulative
ignorant of his own motivations

Despite all that, Murdoch managed to make me empathise with and feel sorry for this character by the end of the book. Her writing is addictive and I did not want to stop reading, though I found myself often questioning exactly why that was. I am head over heels, and really looking forward to reading more.

Whew. I wasn't sure I was going to make it through this one; though I loved the language, sometimes the plot felt pretty soap-operatic. By the end, however, I became fascinated with the central character, especially the ways in which I felt a kinship with him–which, given that he's pretty much a complete asshat, is kind of embarrassing to admit. In the end, I think I will very often think of this book when ruminating on desire and grasping, and how they affect my life.