166:
that only the tower and the rectory remain standing. His twenty-four-year-old daughter, Muriel, and nineteen-year old niece
Elizabeth, a semi-invalid recluse, live with him. The household also includes Pattie O'Driscoll, Carel Fisher's half-Jamaican housekeeper and former mistress, Eugene Peshkov, a Russian émigré who works as the rectory's janitor, and Eugene's son Leo, a student at a technical college. Carel Fisher performs no church functions and refuses to admit anyone to the rectory or to communicate with anyone, including his brother, Marcus, who is nominally the co-guardian of their niece Elizabeth. Marcus is the headmaster of a school, on leave in order to write a book on "morality in a secular age". Marcus twice gains entrance to the house by stealth, and on each occasion he has a harrowing conversation with his brother, who insists that there is no God, and that in any case "goodness is impossible for us".
305:, and particularly Marcus's book on ethics, as examples of "placed philosophy". Such passages tell the novel's readers "what the author thinks the discourse in the novel is about". According to Paton Walsh, inserting philosophical content into novels is "dangerous" because it can hinder the narrative flow. "Placed philosophy either sticks out a lot, and risks the reader feeling got at; or it is dissolved into the substance of fiction, and gets itself thought of fictionally".
170:
steals a treasured icon from his father and sells it. Muriel befriends Leo and forms a plan of introducing him to
Elizabeth. However this plan is aborted when, on the way to Elizabeth's room, Muriel and Leo hide in an adjacent room to escape detection by Pattie, and Muriel, looking through a crack in the wall, sees her father in bed with Elizabeth. Later, Carel tells Muriel to move out of the rectory, where he intends to remain with Elizabeth.
29:
153:. First published in 1966, it was her tenth novel. The novel centres on Carel Fisher, an eccentric Anglican priest who is the rector of a London church which was destroyed by bombing during World War II. Fisher denies the existence of God and the possibility of human goodness in a post-theistic world. The novel, which has elements of
178:
with
Elizabeth. Muriel takes no action to forestall his suicide attempt and he dies. After his death Muriel and Elizabeth set up house together elsewhere in London, while Pattie goes to Africa to work in a refugee camp, and the rectory and church tower are demolished to make way for new development.
177:
Just as Muriel is about to leave the rectory to stay with Norah Shadox-Brown, she goes to her father's room and finds that he has taken an overdose of pills and is dying. He has received a letter from Pattie, disclosing that both Pattie and Muriel know the truth about Carel's incestuous relationship
165:
The action takes place over the course of several winter days in London. The plot centres on Carel Fisher, an eccentric
Anglican priest who has lost his faith. At the beginning of the novel, he has just been put in charge of a church that was heavily damaged by bombing in the Second World War, so
169:
Leo
Peshkov was formerly a student at Marcus's school, where his fees were paid by Marcus and his friend Norah Shadox-Brown, a retired headmistress. Leo is a charming but untrustworthy boy who repeatedly lies to his acquaintances, including Marcus, in order to extract money from them. Later he
186:
The central theme of the novel is the question of how, and whether, morality is possible in a post-religious age. This is also the subject of the book that the character Marcus Fisher is writing. During the time when
Murdoch was writing the novel, she was engaged as a philosopher with this and
173:
During the course of the novel Pattie and Muriel both fall in love with Eugene. Eugene asks Pattie to marry him, but she is reluctant to accept him because of her relationship with Carel, to whom she still feels bound. Eventually she agrees, but the jealous Muriel tells Eugene about the affair
284:
has characterized it as a "mythical" novel in which the thematic patterns and underlying structure have "more aesthetic power than the individual characters". She argues that it is "best read as a mannered philosophical myth, or fantasy" and that
Murdoch's inclusion of passages of "emotional
196:
Other important themes are "the abuse of power and sexual domination", both embodied in Carel Fisher, who has been described as one of
Murdoch's "most convincingly evil character(s)". Carel is presented as a demonic
174:
between Pattie and her father. Later, confronted by Pattie, Muriel tells her that Carel is having an affair with
Elizabeth, whereupon Pattie reveals that Elizabeth is actually Carel's daughter rather than his niece.
227:, though critical of Murdoch's novels becoming "predictable", was generally positive, writing that "mystery is genuinely embodied; the reader's imagination is addressed, responds and is satisfied." Also in the
289:" novel, in which a sinister priest presides over a ruined church in an atmosphere of cold fog and darkness. Conradi calls it "a Gothic and a religious novel", and thus similar to Murdoch's 1963 novel
254:
described the novel as a "mediocre work" partially because of her frequent novel writing, writing that the plot resembles her own earlier work and that
Murdoch's "prose has become flabby". Writing in
285:
immediacy" such as her initial description of Pattie O'Driscoll's origins and early life tends to create "jarring effects or difficulties" for readers. Others have described it as a "
269:
concluded that the novel was a B+, writing that it was a "Bizarre, fascinating, certainly very readable -- and with some interesting philosophical issues cleverly considered --
260:, Robert Garis noted that Murdoch had published ten novels in twelve years and similarly attributed the novel's shortcomings to her speedy production of novels.
28:
316:
reading centred on the themes of incest and patriarchal power. It has also been interpreted as an allegory about the "reconciliation of love and death".
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231:, Charles Poore, while noting Murdoch's "preachy passages" and the book's "gothick novel" aspects, described her as a "born storyteller" and
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201:-like character who has "rejected redemption" by denying the existence of both God and Good. Murdoch biographer and literary critic
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Philosophical readings of the novel have included an analysis of Murdoch's relation to and understanding of
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248:", "an anthology of defeats: magic, belief, prayer, love, and now perhaps poetry itself."
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notes that incest and theft, which are committed by Carel and Leo Peshkov respectively in
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209:, are used by Murdoch as "paradigm forms of law-breaking" in several of her novels.
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334:
Iris Murdoch: A Descriptive Primary and Annotated Secondary Bibliography
661:. Harlow, England: Published for the British Council by Longman Group.
423:(2 ed.). Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
217:
After the initial publication of the novel, reception was mixed. The
198:
482:
The Saint and the Artist: a Study of the Fiction of Iris Murdoch
740:
710:
Rice, Thomas Jackson (1995). "Death and love in Iris Murdoch's
689:. Madison, New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.
126:
235:
as the "newest and best" of her "excellent melodramas". In
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related issues, and published her own book on the subject,
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Sexuality, gender, and power in Iris Murdoch's fiction
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1037:The Three Arrows & the Servants and the Snow
301:characterizes the philosophical discussions in
273:is nevertheless a somewhat unsatisfying work."
355:
353:
332:Fletcher, John; Bove, Cheryl Browning (1994).
752:
336:. New York: Garland Publishing. p. 122.
157:, received mixed reviews on its publication.
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745:
737:
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20:
716:Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction
611:"The Time of the Angels, by Iris Murdoch"
472:
470:
630:"The Time of the Angels by Iris Murdoch"
484:(3rd ed.). London: Harper Collins.
442:
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412:
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381:
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280:primarily as a philosophical novel.
7:
585:"The Time of Angels by Iris Murdoch"
558:Donoghue, Denis (17 November 1966).
531:Poore, Charles (29 September 1966).
450:Iris Murdoch: Philosophical Novelist
904:The Sacred and Profane Love Machine
628:Orthofer, M.A. (3 September 2011).
505:Allen, Walter (25 September 1966).
213:Literary significance and reception
14:
1131:Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals
1053:Acastos: Two Platonic Dialogues
609:Garis, Robert (1 March 1967).
533:"The walls came tumbling down"
1:
792:The Flight from the Enchanter
728:10.1080/00111619.1995.9935248
263:A 2011 review by the website
1172:British philosophical novels
1107:Sartre: Romantic Rationalist
1024:(with J. B. Priestley, 1964)
960:The Book and the Brotherhood
564:The New York Review of Books
238:The New York Review of Books
1139:Existentialists and Mystics
1032:(with James Saunders, 1969)
1193:
880:A Fairly Honourable Defeat
388:Paton Walsh, Jill (2011).
1177:Chatto & Windus books
968:The Message to the Planet
364:. London: Vintage Books.
26:
685:Grimshaw, Tammy (2005).
511:The New York Times Books
390:"Philosophy and fiction"
244:described the novel as "
1115:The Sovereignty of Good
944:The Philosopher's Pupil
419:Spear, Hilda D (2007).
397:The Iris Murdoch Review
190:The Sovereignty of Good
22:The Time of the Angels
1167:Novels by Iris Murdoch
856:The Time of the Angels
712:The Time of the Angels
447:Leeson, Miles (2010).
362:The Time of the Angels
360:Murdoch, Iris (2002).
303:The Time of the Angels
278:The Time of the Angels
271:The Time of the Angels
233:The Time of the Angels
207:The Time of the Angels
142:The Time of the Angels
1088:Poems by Iris Murdoch
864:The Nice and the Good
848:The Red and the Green
453:. London: Continuum.
276:Critics have treated
71:Philosophical fiction
16:Novel by Iris Murdoch
1123:The Fire and the Sun
149:by British novelist
1162:1966 British novels
952:The Good Apprentice
634:The Complete Review
147:philosophical novel
81:Chatto & Windus
33:First edition cover
23:
824:An Unofficial Rose
537:The New York Times
1149:
1148:
1083:(1978, rev. 1984)
1003:Something Special
984:Jackson's Dilemma
936:Nuns and Soldiers
888:An Accidental Man
696:978-0-8386-4061-6
668:978-0-582-01252-3
491:978-0-00-712019-2
478:Conradi, Peter J.
460:978-1-4411-2763-1
430:978-1-4039-8709-9
371:978-0-09-942909-8
138:
137:
97:Publication place
49:Cover artist
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1061:The Black Prince
1029:The Italian Girl
976:The Green Knight
928:The Sea, The Sea
896:The Black Prince
840:The Italian Girl
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655:Byatt, A. S.
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637:. Retrieved
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539:. p. 45
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182:Major themes
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151:Iris Murdoch
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53:John Craxton
43:Iris Murdoch
18:
832:The Unicorn
403:(3): 16–28.
314:Foucauldian
292:The Unicorn
193:, in 1970.
1156:Categories
1099:Philosophy
615:Commentary
343:0824089103
320:References
282:A.S. Byatt
257:Commentary
767:Works by
310:Heidegger
223:reviewer
110:Hardcover
77:Publisher
1005:" (1957)
808:The Bell
657:(1976).
480:(2001).
133:12071239
59:Language
246:elegiac
108:Print (
62:English
1142:(1997)
1134:(1992)
1126:(1977)
1118:(1970)
1110:(1953)
1091:(1997)
1072:Poetry
1064:(1987)
1056:(1986)
1048:(1980)
1040:(1973)
987:(1995)
979:(1993)
971:(1989)
963:(1987)
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939:(1980)
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859:(1966)
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787:(1954)
776:Novels
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569:10 May
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312:and a
287:gothic
39:Author
1013:Plays
639:5 May
594:6 May
543:3 May
516:5 May
393:(PDF)
199:Faust
145:is a
117:Pages
67:Genre
691:ISBN
663:ISBN
641:2016
596:2016
571:2016
545:2016
518:2016
486:ISBN
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425:ISBN
366:ISBN
338:ISBN
161:Plot
127:OCLC
92:1966
724:doi
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